cmbrougham
Grandmaster Brewer
A little background first:
I'm working on a documentary that will be premiering on the 70th anniversary of D-Day; it examines the impact of Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Normandy invasion, as well as the rest of the European WWII campaign, and how that led eventually to his presidential career. The producer is doing a local premiere of the film, and we asked our local brewery to provide us with a few options, but they're not sure they'll be able to do so. Good thing I homebrew, right?
I thought I'd try to do a few beers for the premiere that would commemorate the various locales of resistance and battle: a British bitter would be one, a Belgian wit is another, and I'd love to do something fitting to the French countryside. I'm think this would be a perfect case for a saison. I'm planning on using the Wyeast 3711 French Saison strain as it seems to be particularly non-fussy and should be just the ticket.
Problem is a recipe. I want to keep it simple, and culturally relevant. I'm guessing Strisselspalt would be the hop of choice (or Saaz or similar--I can make the case for them being French-grown). What to do for the malt bill, though? Pilsener malt (I'll get MFB) and maybe some malted/unmalted wheat? Seems that is all that is needed, based on most of the recipes I've looked at. This is the beer I really want to shine of the three, so I'm looking for some real insight--I've not brewed a saison before.
Thanks!
I'm working on a documentary that will be premiering on the 70th anniversary of D-Day; it examines the impact of Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Normandy invasion, as well as the rest of the European WWII campaign, and how that led eventually to his presidential career. The producer is doing a local premiere of the film, and we asked our local brewery to provide us with a few options, but they're not sure they'll be able to do so. Good thing I homebrew, right?
I thought I'd try to do a few beers for the premiere that would commemorate the various locales of resistance and battle: a British bitter would be one, a Belgian wit is another, and I'd love to do something fitting to the French countryside. I'm think this would be a perfect case for a saison. I'm planning on using the Wyeast 3711 French Saison strain as it seems to be particularly non-fussy and should be just the ticket.
Problem is a recipe. I want to keep it simple, and culturally relevant. I'm guessing Strisselspalt would be the hop of choice (or Saaz or similar--I can make the case for them being French-grown). What to do for the malt bill, though? Pilsener malt (I'll get MFB) and maybe some malted/unmalted wheat? Seems that is all that is needed, based on most of the recipes I've looked at. This is the beer I really want to shine of the three, so I'm looking for some real insight--I've not brewed a saison before.
Thanks!