CS8 - Urban Farmhouse Ale

[Matt Smith]

Looking forward to this swap, my contribution is a Saison with my Smoothcone harvest. It was pretty awesome picking my own hops and throwing em straight into the kettle. Interested to hear all your thoughts and suggestions!

OG 1.054
FG 1.004

78.6% Pils
7.5% Vienna
4.3% Wheat
1.4% CaraMunich 3
8.2% Dextrose

25 ibu Southern Cross @ 60min
7 ibu EKG @ 30min
165g Smoothcone (wet) @ 5min
5g Indian Coriander seed (I think these went in at 5 mins, forgot to write that down)

Wyeast 3726 - Farmhouse Ale Yeast

This is labeled U.F.A.

Ive noticed the yeast is really powdery and gets kicked up easy, just a heads up if you don't like yeast in your glass.

[John H]

Had this one tonight.

Not overly familiar with Saisons - but wow - enjoyed this one. Thanks for sharing - cracker drop!!!

[Matt Smith]

Cheers, glad you like it!

[Stu H]

I cracked this one last night; It poured a cloudy honey like colour, and had a very fluffy, very white head which dissipated rather quickly. On the nose I got wine, sweetness, and a bit of bubblegum. It tasted quite spicy, and was effervescent in the mouth. I enjoyed the high carbonation, and I found the ester/sweetness/bitterness balance to be spot on.

I don't drink Saisons very much so can't really be of any help otherwise, but thanks very much, I enjoyed muchly!

[Haish]

I'm not overly familiar with saisons but I really enjoyed this beer. Pale hazy golden in colour with white head that fades away quite quickly. Nice spicy phenolics on the nose, complex spicy flavour, finishes dry.

Awesome beer, loved it.

[Adrian Tayler]

nice carbonation, white fluffy head.. nice little bubbles and on the nose I get a blast of champaine, or a dry white wine..

 

Taste is quite different, very well balanced flavour profile indeed, nothing that I am familiar with but certainly a learning experience. I do get some spicyness but that is balanced perfectly with what seems to be the late hop addition.

 

I love it and it puts a nice glow on too.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Andrew]

Scrolling down carefully, while drinking, nosing and trying not to read other comments, who says man can't multi-task? Firstly your dead right about the powdery yeast, first pour was fine but the minute you stop it just kicks up off the bottom of the bottle so getting some into my second nosing glass was tricky without getting it full of yeast.

   Nice golden colour with a hint of haze and a really foamy "fizzy" head. If I was to close my eyes and smell this I'd think its a Weissbeir with flatulence. Getting banana/bubblegum (Iso Amyl Acetate) and Clove (4VG) notes and also getting a hint of lemon which must come from the Coriander. Has a real crispness in the aroma and in the bitterness which doesn't taste like 32 IBU, really well rounded bitterness. A little dry but thats not a criticism, it fits the beer well and it tingles the tongue with an effervesence without being "gassy". Its the slightest bit thin but not by much so all in all this is a really nice, crisp beer. Whatever your doing your on the right track with this one.

[Martin Bridges]

Drank this one while watching the Warriors game last night, so apologies if my recollection isn't 100% accurate. I should always type up my notes straight away.

Pours a gorgeous clear pale gold with a big fluffy head which persists well. Definitely nailed the carbonation here, and I didn't get any yeast sediment.

Aroma is yeasty, definitely Belgian. Unfortunately I'm not picking up any hop aroma from the Smoothcone.

If I'd not read the recipe I would have picked this as a Belgian Golden Strong rather than a Saison. Lots of rich malt, some phenolics and almost a hint of banana ester in there.

Really nice beer. Not as Saison-y as I'd expected but still a good Belgian beer. Thanks!

[SR]

Bananas

Cloves

Belgian-y

Reminiscent of a Leffe Blonde, but a bit thinner/lighter

So easy to get caught up with hoppy pale ales, but this one is a reminder of all the other good flavours out there!

Thanks Matt

[Tilt]

What a cracking little beer.  Golden haze which incidentally fades as my glass warms and a thin white head.  Malt, complex yeasty clove and lemony smells fill my nostrils.  Sweeter malt flovours with the Belgian yeast complexity I'm really getting into with this swap.  Dry and crisp on the finish but no distinctly discernible hop aroma for me.  Thanks Matt - much appreciated, Cheers.

[Dan]

I'm a bit behind - I had this a couple of weeks ago, but a have some randon notes on a scrap of paper I think I can translate int tasting notes.

Clear honey colour.

Awesome head - nice & fluffy.

Banana's.

Perfect bitterness with Saison sourness.

Spicey.

yummy - I loved it!

Cheers for sharing this one Matt :)

[Matt Smith]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone.

A couple of people picked up banana in this. Early on I found the yeast profile to be really similar to a hefe which is interesting, it's mellowed alot now though. I'm wondering if this is typical of the strain or if its due to my fermentation.

This is my second attempt at a Saison, they seem pretty hard to nail. My first attempt was probably closer, using the Saison Dupont strain which was a bit of a nightmare to use. Next time I'll use this recipe  with the French Saison strain and something spicy like tettnang, or more EKG instead of the smoothcone.