Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

I also decided to stay away from any spices, letting the yeast and hop character carry the beer. It uses a fair amount of Saaz Hops. The flavor should come through in the First Wort as well as a flavor and aroma addition, but the beer is not very bitter at all, coming in less than .5 on the BU:GU scale. Hoping it will finish dry enough that the beer does not come across as overly sweet.

I am calling my new beer, "Arctic Vortex Winter Saison". I had never heard of the Arctic Vortex before the winter of 2013, and the name fascinated me enough that I decided to use it to name a beer. When I first thought of the name, I didn't see any other beers on untappd using "Arctic Vortex". By the time I brewed it, however, there are a couple. Hopefully no one comes after me in a trademark dispute. We'll see.

The beer turned out fantastic, and very unique. Its aroma is slightly lemony with the signature farm-house pepper and funk of a saison. There is a noticeable saaz hop aroma.

Its flavor is complex. A bit of chocolate subdues the saison farm-house flavor pushing it into the blackground. A bit of pepper tries to come out in the beginning, but quickly comes across as more tart lemony flavor. Then a deep berry flavor replaces that ... sort of reminds me of maybe a combination of blackberry and blueberry. The balance starts off tart, goes a little sweet, and finishes off dry with some significant hop spiciness.



I honestly love this beer.

Batch 2 was brewed in the winter of 2014 with no changes to the recipe. It was brewed much earlier in the winter so that it might possibly be consumed before Spring.

Batch 3 was going to be the same recipe except the water salts were modified slightly to add more calcium and maybe accentuate hops more. However, the LHBS was out of 3711 and the manager suggested I try INIS-291 Saison : Farmhouse. Then, I noticed that I had gotten Spalt hops instead of Saaz. I had some Goldings to use up, so I decided to throw those in.

In Batch 4, I went back to WY3711, and this year I added about half a pound of table sugar in hopes that the beer would dry out just a bit. 

Batch 5, I added in just a touch more of the mid-night wheat to make it a little darker in color.

For batch 6, I increased the batch size just a touch to 6.25 gallons.

Batch 8 was tweaked to be brewed on the Anvil Foundry.

On untappd: Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

For more about SheppyBrew's Seasonal Saisons on my blog see Sheppy's Blog: Seasonal Saisons.

If you would like to read more about this beer, check out Sheppy's Blog: Arctic Vortex.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison --- Batch 11 (349)

Style		Saison		Batch Size		5.50 gal
Type		All Grain		Boil Size		6.60 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency		68.00		Boil Time		60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity		1.058 SG		Estimated FG		1.009 SG
Recipe Bitterness		27.6 IBUs (Rager)		Alcohol by Volume		6.4 %
BU : GU		0.478
Recipe Color		31.3 SRM		Color
Measured OG:		1.057		Measured FG:		1.004
ADF:		92.7		Measured ABV:		7.0%

Ingredients

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU	Volume
7.97 gal	Denver, Colorado	Water	1	-	-
8.00 g	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash)	Water Agent	2	-	-
3.00 g	Calcium Chloride (Mash)	Water Agent	3	-	-
7 lbs	Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)	Grain	4	56.6 %	0.55 gal
2 lbs	White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)	Grain	5	16.2 %	0.16 gal
2 lbs	Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)	Grain	6	16.1 %	0.16 gal
14.0 oz	Midnight Wheat Malt (550.0 SRM)	Grain	7	7.1 %	0.07 gal
8.0 oz	Cane (Beet) Sugar [Boil] (0.0 SRM)	Sugar	8	4.0 %	0.04 gal
2.250 oz	Spent Hops [7.20 %] - Boil 20.0 min	Hop	9	22.1 IBUs	-
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	10	-	-
1.00 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins)	Other	11	-	-
2.000 oz	Saaz [2.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min	Hop	12	3.9 IBUs	-
1.000 oz	Saaz [2.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min	Hop	13	1.6 IBUs	-
1.0 pkg	French Saison Ale (White Labs #WLP590)	Yeast	14	-	-

Mash Profile

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Saccharification	Add 31.88 qt of water at 156.6 F	150.0 F	240 min

If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
Make a small starter of the yeast the day before brew day to make sure it is active going into fermentation.
Water salts to get the water Calcium up above 100 ppm.
From Denver water, this puts my water at:
Ca=120,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=199,Cl=71,HCO3=104
Keep the mash on the low side. Err on the side of lower temp. Let the mash go at least 1.5 hours. Ok longer.
For 3711:
Yeast url: http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=199
Optimum Temp range for yeast: 65 - 77
For INIS-291:
http://inlandislandyeast.com/yeast-library/inis-291-Saison-Farmhouse/
Optimum Temp range for yeast: 70 - 95
Pitch a little below 65 degrees. Let rise as it wants after that.
Carbonate high.

Brewing Record

Brew Date:				Strike Temp:
Mash Temps:
Pre-boil OG		(1.053 SG)		Pre-boil Vol		(6.60 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency				Pitch Temp
Fermentation
Day 1:
Day ...
Day ...