Brewing Saison Beer with Nathan Smith – BeerSmith Podcast #50

by Brad Smith on November 27, 2012 · 4 comments

This week Nathan Smith joins me to talk about how to brew the perfect Saison or Farmhouse Ale. Saison is a light, refreshing beer that is highly drinkable and Nathan shares his secrets on how to brew a perfect one.

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[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-50-Smith-Saison.mp3]

Topics in This Week’s Episode (48:42)

  • Nathan Smith is my guest this week. Nathan is a nationally award winning home brewer, and also a frequent guest on the Brewing Network.
  • We start with a discussion of the history of Saison or Farmhouse Ale as it is also known
  • Nathan describes the style and taste of a typical Saison
  • We discuss how to brew the perfect Saison starting with the grain bill
  • Nathan talks about which hops are his favorite for use in this style and how to use them
  • We discuss brewing techniques to use and also the mash schedule for a Saison
  • He explans which yeast strains work best with Saison, and also how to ferment them
  • We talk about the sour/acidic finish that some Saisons have and how to achieve those flavors as a home brewer
  • Nathan explains the importance of water in brewing a good Saison
  • We talk briefly about Single Malt and Single Hop brewing – Saison is a popular beer to use with SMASH as it is a fairly simple style
  • Some of the popular Saison recipes on our BeerSmithRecipes.com recipe site

Thanks to Nathan Smith for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Benson Dana December 7, 2012 at 11:00 am

Any reaction to the home made home brew beer carrier on my web site? You’ll find it under extracurricular Activities. I’d be interested in any comments you might have. Thanks.

simon January 26, 2015 at 7:31 am

Hi,

A really enjoyable and informative episode. Many thanks. I was wondering if there was more information regarding the water profile. I know Nathan mentioned a target of at least 100ppm of sulphate but i was intrerested if he had any more information about the S-C ratio and the sodium levels. I know that lager styles are more sensitive to these additions and would like to know what his thoughts are considering designing a great water profile for a Saison.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Simon

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