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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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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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