CS1-Robs Belgian Brown-7.4%

[Crusader-Rob]

After getting some 3711 yeast from Finney, (Thanks again), I decided after brewing a saison, to brew a brown saison, which is essentially a belgian brown ale: If 

I gotta say, that 3711 yeast is a real monster. Hope you enjoy it...

Type: Partial Mash Date: 2/03/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 21.00 l Brewer: Rob
Boil Size: 26.69 l Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot ( 5 Gal/19 L) - Mini-BIAB
End of Boil Volume 23.85 l Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 22.67 l Est Mash Efficiency 119.3 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.50 kg Rye Malt (9.3 EBC) Grain 1 10.6 %
0.25 kg Vienna Malt (6.9 EBC) Grain 2 5.3 %
0.20 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 3 4.3 %
0.20 kg Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 4 4.3 %
0.05 kg Carafa II (811.6 EBC) Grain 5 1.1 %
0.50 kg Wheat Dry Extract (15.8 EBC) Dry Extract 6 10.6 %
3.00 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 7 63.8 %
14.00 g Nelson Sauvin [11.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 16.5 IBUs
10.00 g Saaz [2.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 3.1 IBUs
5.00 g Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 10 -
45.00 g Saaz [2.90 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 11 5.0 IBUs
45.00 g Saaz [2.90 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 ml] Yeast 13 -
14.00 g Nelson Sauvin [11.10 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.7 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.4 %
Bitterness: 24.6 IBUs Calories: 599.6 kcal/l
Est Color: 39.7 EBC

[Paul Fraser]

Have just finished this one Rob. Here is my attempt at an evaluation.

Poured with a nice lasting head. Good clarity when held up to the light with ruby highlights.

Aroma- spicy Belgian yeast, touch of alcohol, soft hop aroma

Taste- nice malt character with pleasant warming alcohol, dry finish, not sure what to expect from the Rye malt character (never had a Rye beer before) but I'm getting a bitter or astringent aftertaste which could be from the Rye or excess tannins(?)

Mouthfeel- nice body and carbonation for the style.

Overall- a hit with the Mrs and a good beer for me but I personally wasn't keen on that aftertaste. Hopefully someone with a better palate can identify what I'm tasting.

Cheers

[Crusader-Rob]

thanks Mate.

[oliver]

First time I've had a belgian brown I think, so I'm just going to try describe what I taste/smell/see:

Pours a dark, opaque brown

Creamy thick off-white head

Aroma: musty, phenolic, little solventy, bandaid/medicinal

Flavour: fruity, woody, herbal

Solid nutty, toasty malt base, excellent med/full mouthfeel that carries the beer, nice dry finish.

Good head retention

Really enjoyed this, complex interesting flavours and it went down a treat. Only criticism I have is that the medicinal notes were a bit much for me. Nice work :)

[Crusader-Rob]

Ha, Belgian brown technically isn't a style, it's not recognised as such. 

[Dougal]

Well, I will say that there is a lot going on in this one. 

Spice on the nose. Poured with the persistent head I expect from 3711. That strain produces a lot of glycerol, so it really helps with head retention and that silky mouthfeel in a dry beer, which this had.

For me, the phenolic/medicinal notes in the flavour were just too strong. I really like the restrained dark malts, nothing too roasty to clash with the yeast character, but hot fermentation character mostly overpowered this subtlety, and it was hard to pick up any contribution from the rye.

Also, I'd say that the IBUs are a bit too high. It's a dry beer, so the perceived bitterness is more than in something that finishes higher. I'm also not sure that the dry hops really shone through with so much else happening in the flavour.

I think this recipe has the potential to make a great beer, but in doing that you should think about knocking the IBUs down around 20, pitching cool, say 16C, then keeping it under 18C for the first couple of days. 3711 will always finish dry, as you say, it's a monster.

Thanks for the interesting beer, and make sure you hang onto a few. 3711 beers can age really well (1 year+), and some of the harsher flavours may well age out.  

[Mike]

Robs belgian amber

Appearance: Dark Brown with slight amber coming through when held to light. Clear. Retains head well.

Aroma: Raw bread dough, slight acetaldehyde. strong phenolic/medicinal character. You can tell it's a saison yeast! Funky, not necessarily in a good way.

Taste: Slight acetaldehyde in the mouth, big malts. Raisins. Fermented too hot, the yeast phenolics dominate. But you can't taste the booze so much, would have said this was a 5-6 percenter!

Mouthfeel: Well balanced, no diaceytl. Medium malt backbone, could use more malt, less bitterness.

Finish: Kinda harsh, acetaldehyde there, followed by a smoothness. Maybe too much on the 60 min hop addition?

Overall: I did this side by side with Douglas', so maybe that was a bit unfair. This has the funky saison character, but I think it might be too funky. Seemed a weird match to me with the darkness. That said, it was drinkable, with no major flaws apart from the overly funkiness, reduce ferm temps and ou should have it nailed. Then again, a lot of the advice on Saisons say to ferment high around 30C. 

[Dougal]

Then again, a lot of the advice on Saisons say to ferment high around 30C. 

That advice relates to the Dupont strain, Wyeast 3724. 3711 will finish dry regardless- I've had it finish saisons down to 1.000 at 15C

[Paul Finney]

Hello,

I had this last night, here are my notes.

First up, I think you should really call this a Brown Saison rather than a Belgian. The yeast funk etc was really prevalent.

Poured a nice head which had a slight biscuity coloured tinge. The head was quite large, and settled down to a couple of mil with good retention which was pleasing.

I poured this into a jug and then poured my first glass.

First sniff gets noble hop aroma, spices and the saison yeast funk I have come to know over the last year.

First taste: The body was good, spicy, saison taste and a long bittering. The malts certainly started show casing themselves too when it warmed up which was great.

Now this is the strange part. The first glass was a nice smooth drink with no real off flavour. However, the second glass I starting getting the taste Paul was talking about in the top of the mouth. Of what I can determine I wonder if it was tannin's? I also started getting the hotness from the alcohol. Maybe when the beer is warmer those come through more. 

So that was a bit odd!

Overall I liked it. Like I said at the start, I really see this as a Saison rather than a Belgian. I think if you can nail those couple of off flavours you'll be onto a winner.

cheers

 

 

[Crusader-Rob]

Thanks Finney, and thanks for the yeast on this one :-).

[Paul Finney]

You are more than welcome Rob. I have used the yeast about 4-5 times now and love it. When brewed lower it gives an interesting flavour to a standard pale ale recipe. And it is most forgiving. Unforunately i have ran out after not being prepared to save my last batches yeast cake.

Still, onwards to other yeasts...