Perpetual Summer; Saison w/ Nectarines (BU)
First beer since COVID hit. I basically brewed this with whatever I had around the house.
Brewed 5.0 gallons on 2020-05-31
Preboil gravity: 1.029
Original gravity: 1.033
Final gravity: 1.004
ABV: 3.8%
Apparent Attenuation: 87.9%
Process notes
2020-06-01
Temp dropped to 62° overnight.
2020-06-03
It's taken ~3 days for fermentation to kick off. It's going very slow.
2020-06-19
Racked to secondary and added the nectarines and Brett. SG is 1.009 which is pretty high for 3 weeks of fermentation. Doesn't smell terrible, but not great either. Green pepper, maybe butter, it definitely needs to clean up.
2020-09-23
Kegged. Good nectarine aroma. It does seem to have cleaned up a bit. Not getting anything really off. Some brightness, but not really tart. Pretty happy with how this turned out.
Boil for 60 minutes
At 60 minutes
1.5 ounces of 3.6% Alpha Acid German Saphir pellets
At 15 minutes
1.5 ounces of 3.6% Alpha Acid German Saphir pellets
At 15 minutes
Mash
[38.10%] 3 pounds of California Select (Pure California) 2-Row (GreatWesternMalting)
[38.10%] 3 pounds of Goldpils Vienna (Briess)
[12.70%] 1 pound of Dark Munich 30L (Briess)
[11.11%] 14 ounces of Flaked Oats (Briess) (These were whole grain quick oats from our cupboard.)
Single infusion mash. Mashed with 3 gallons (1.52 quarts per pound) of reverse osmosis water for 60 minutes. 7lb 14oz of grain was used in the mash.
Strike water temp: (0.2/1.52) * (149 - 68) + 149 = 159.6
0.80g calcium chloride and 2.00g gypsum added to water
After 0 mins
mash is 149°
After 30 mins
mash is 148°; pH is 5.12
After 60 mins
mash is 147°; pH is 5.20
Sparge
Sparged for 47 minutes with 5 gallons of 170° reverse osmosis water.
1.30g calcium chloride and 3.30g gypsum added to water
After 0 mins
pH is 5.16; specific gravity is 1.075
After 16 mins
pH is 5.17; specific gravity is 1.031
After 27 mins
pH is 5.27; specific gravity is 1.017
After 40 mins
pH is 5.30; specific gravity is 1.014
After 47 mins
pH is 5.27; specific gravity is 1.006; Stopped the sparge and topped of the wort with ~1.1 gallons of water. Before top off SG was 1.037 and after it was 1.029.
Yeast
2020-06-19
Pitch 1 pack of WLP650 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis (WhiteLabs) at 68°. (Pitched after racking to secondary w/ the nectarines.)
2020-05-31
Pitch starter (started on 2020-05-26 with 100mL water, IntermittentShaking, 10 grams DME, 0.25 tsp FermaidK) made from 1 pack of Sante Adairius Cellerman Dregs at 66°. (2020-5-27: 17g DME, 170mL water, and dregs from Sante Adairius's Nonna's B16 added to starter.
2020-5-28: 100g DME, 1/4tsp Fermaid K, 1L water added to starter.)
2020-5-28: 100g DME, 1/4tsp Fermaid K, 1L water added to starter.)
Dry additions
2020-06-19
1 gallon of Nectarine. (Heated up frozen nectarines from our tree that were stored since 2019-8-9 and added a gallon of the puree after racking to secondary.)
Tasting notes (5.33/10; 6 ratings)
2022-01-19
[5/10] Hazy orange with white head that sticks around decently in a thin layer. Overripe nectarine with a bit of a peach character. There's something that I can only describe as a 'funk', but not like the good funk in a lambic, just a really overripe, maybe rotten stone fruit, but not really in a bad way.
Decent body, medium-low, maybe a slight slickness, but not getting any diacetyl.
Flavor is similar to the aroma, lots of stone fruit, some overripe fruit, maybe a hint of tartness with some lemon peel.
Overall, this is OK, but not as bright as I would like. It's got enough stone fruit, but no good funk or good tartness that I'd like in a saison.
Decent body, medium-low, maybe a slight slickness, but not getting any diacetyl.
Flavor is similar to the aroma, lots of stone fruit, some overripe fruit, maybe a hint of tartness with some lemon peel.
Overall, this is OK, but not as bright as I would like. It's got enough stone fruit, but no good funk or good tartness that I'd like in a saison.
2022-02-21
[5/10] Smells dull and kind of like a musty basement. Nectarines are still present. Haven’t really enjoyed this one. Hope the keg kicks soon.
2022-03-09
[6/10] Dull stone fruit and a bit of vanilla. Musty, but not off putting. Medium-full mouthfeel.
2022-03-30
[5/10] Still getting something unpleasant in the aroma. Maybe a slight diacetyl character? Slight tartness. A lot of the nectarine character has fallen off. Some floral, honey-like character throughout.
2022-07-18
[6/10] Slight haze, yellow/orange with a slight pink tone. Persistent head.
Nectarine and a slight, unpleasant earthy aroma. Almost has a sweetness as well.
Thin body, nothing really stands out, kind of flabby. Needs some lactic brightness.
Just blended (~1/1 ratio) with the Sourvisiae Nectarine Sour (CB) and it actually improved both beers a decent amount. It gave a bit of sharpness to the Saison and took away the one dimensional sour note of the Sourvisiae. Rating is for the blend.
Nectarine and a slight, unpleasant earthy aroma. Almost has a sweetness as well.
Thin body, nothing really stands out, kind of flabby. Needs some lactic brightness.
Just blended (~1/1 ratio) with the Sourvisiae Nectarine Sour (CB) and it actually improved both beers a decent amount. It gave a bit of sharpness to the Saison and took away the one dimensional sour note of the Sourvisiae. Rating is for the blend.
2022-08-03
[5/10] Final pour. Tasting notes are the same as the previous few entries, but the beer had some really good clarity. Still just seems stale and dull, though.
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