Amaranth Saison Brewday

Apparently, amaranth is more of a brewing oddity than I thought. When I went looking for ideas, I found the recipe from Ryan Brews in 2011 and mention of the soon to be released Saison Z from Jolly Pumpkin. And that was pretty much it. I didn’t release amaranth was such a brewing rarity. Anyway, I toasted the amaranth at 225° F for about 45 minutes before mashing it; I chose toasting over boiling since I am more interested in the flavor amaranth imparts in the beer than making the starches fermentable. I would have used more (a pound would have been nice), but this is all I harvested last year from the back yard. Yes, this is home grown amaranth. Making this yard saison number two.

228. Amaranth Saison 

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

½ lb. Acidulated 
¼ lb. Amaranth

Mash @ 150° F for 70 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 2 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.054

Batch sparge @ 165° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.014

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: ½ Comet pellet 8.6% AA
½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/10 to go: ½ Comet pellet 8.6% AA
½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/0 to go: ½ Comet pellet 8.6% AA
½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & racked on to Wyeast 3276 yeast cake from 227. Table Saison w/ Dandelion Flowers

Brewed: 4/30/2016 @ 66° F

Secondary: 

Bottle: 

OG: 1.032

FG:

Tasting Notes: 

Dandelion Flower Saison Brewday

The dandelion saisons I made last year were all delightful, so it is time to start another round of them while all the flowers are bright and fresh and plentiful. In last year’s version, I was also experimenting with corn; I’ve dropped the corn for now to focus on making a table-strength version of this beer. I also cut the flower petals off of the head/stem for this year’s version to try and emphasize the flower-based contributions to the beer, and to minimize some the green/grassy flavors found in last year’s version.. This is the first in a run of yard-inspired table saisons to start off the spring in the correct manner.

227. Table Saison w/ Dandelion Flowers

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 152° F for 70 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 3 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.058

Batch sparge @ 167° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.012

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/0 to go: 3.15 oz. dandelion flowers (snipped off base so mainly just petals)
1 g. coriander
1 g. grain of paradise

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & pitched vial of Wyeast 3276 from Brett Smith

Brewed: 4/24/2016 @ 69° F

Secondary: 4/30/2016 @ 1.006

Bottle: 

OG: 1.030

FG:

Tasting Notes: