August Brew of the Month: Golden Promise Saison

By Matt Ross

The Brew of the Month for August pairs well with outdoor patios, camping, grilling and sunshine. It is a diverse recipe that was a lot of fun to create. My inspiration behind it was to make a malt-forward grain bill with fruity hops and saison yeast (of course).

I chose Golden Promise in combination with Vienna and Wheat malt to add a richer malt character that was still going to be light and balanced. For a bit more complexity I added Carahell and Cara Gold (Cara20). These bring out caramel and grain aroma without adding a significant amount of palatable sweetness. This beer was mashed at 150F to create a dryer beer that is easy to drink. I also used Clarity Ferm in this brew. For those who are unfamiliar, Clarity Ferm is a product from White Labs that was initially created as a fining agent but they discovered that when used correctly it greatly reduces Gluten.

When I started draining the mash tun, 0.25 ounces of Simcoe were added as first wort hops. As discussed in previous posts, first wort hopping adds a well-rounded hop flavor through the entire beer. You get higher hop utilization and less sharp bitterness. Simcoe was added two more times, 0.25 ounces at 60 minutes and .5 ounces at 30 minutes. German Hallertau Blanc was selected as the final hop addition at 10 minutes. These hops are newer to us at Siciliano’s Market and I had not used them prior to this brew. When paired with Simcoe, they lend subtle citrus fruit with white grape juice and pineapple aroma.

My love for Wyeast 3711 French Saison goes without saying. This yeast is a work horse and being that it is summer I thought it would be a perfect fit. I fermented on the warm end, around 80 degrees, and had very high attenuation. This beer finished at 1.003 making the attenuation 93% but the ABV about 5.5%. Yikes.

Overall I found this beer mostly balanced but leaning more towards the fruity-hoppy end of the spectrum. The aroma is a great bouquet of yeast and tropical fruit with the malt adding a full grainy and biscuit flavor across the palate. One of my favorite parts about this beer is the bright golden color. If you want a fun beer to beat the heat, this brew is for you. As always, make the recipe your own. Want to try it is a pale ale? Consider adding American Ale yeast instead. Brew on.

All Grain Recipe

• 6lbs Fawcett Golden Promise
• 2lbs Breiss Vienna
• 1lb Briess White Wheat
• 12oz Weyermann Carahell
• 6oz Castle Cara Gold
• .25oz Simcoe First Wort Hops
• .25oz Simcoe @ 60 minutes
• .5oz Simcoe @ 30 minutes
• 1oz German Hallertau Blanc @ 10 minutes
• Wyeast 3711 French Saison

Extract with Specialty Grands

• 4lbs Pilsen Light LME
• 2.5lbs Bavarian Wheat LME
• 12oz Weyermann Carahell
• 6oz Castle Cara Gold
• .5oz Simcoe @ 60 minutes
• .5oz Simcoe @ 30 minutes
• 1oz German Hallertau Blanc @ 10 minutes
• Wyeast 3711 French Saison 

The staff at Siciliano's is always eager to answer your homebrewing questions. Stop by for help developing custom-made recipes like this one!