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Blackberry Farm’s Classic Saison Recipe

Blackberry Farm Brewery Head Brewer Daniel Heisler’s saison recipe pays homage to the traditional beers of the Wallonia region of Belgium.

Feb 28, 2017 - 3 min read

Blackberry Farm’s Classic Saison Recipe Primary Image

Blackberry Farm’s Classic Saison is named so to pay homage to the traditional beers of the Wallonia region of Belgium and to honor simplicity. “It’s basically a lager beer with different yeast,” explains Daniel Heisler, the head brewer at Blackberry Farm Brewery in Walland, Tennessee.

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: Our style of beer-making here sacrifices efficiency and cost for quality and authenticity, which is something every homebrewer can do.
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.006
IBUs: 33
ABV: 6%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

We use floor-malted barley and wheat for an authentic Old-World flavor.

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8.5 lb (3.9 kg) Pilsner malt
1 lb (454 g) Munich malt
1 lb (454 g) wheat malt
4 oz (113 g) Cara-Pils Malt

HOPS AND ADDITIONS SCHEDULE

1 oz (28 g) EKG [5% AA] at 60 minutes
0.5 oz (14 g) each EKG [5% AA] and Saaz [3% AA] at 30 minutes
0.5 oz (14 g) each EKG and Saaz at flameout

YEAST

1 packet of White Labs WLP565 Belgian Saison

DIRECTIONS

Mash at a saccharification rest of 145°F (63°C). Step mash if possible, resting at 121°F (50°C) and 133°F (56°C) for 15 minutes respectively before heating to 145°F (63°C).

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Hops charges should include classic noble varieties such as CZ Saaz and UK Golding. I like a large flame-out addition for lots of noble hops flavor.

With WLP 565, fermentation can be tricky. It likes to slow down drastically about 75 percent of the way through. I prefer to start fermentation cool (64°F/18°C) and free rise into the high 80s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius). WLP 565 will ferment down to a SG of 1.006 given enough time. As the beer cools back down, it will continue to ferment, though slowly. Patience is key.

Once terminal gravity is achieved, bottle with 8 g/l dextrose to achieve 4−4.5 volumes of CO2 for that classic spirited bubble. If you don’t wait for the beer to achieve terminal gravity, you’ll get over-carbed bottle bombs.

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