Roadhouse Brewing Co.’s Saison en Regalia clone

Roadhouse Brewing Co.’s Saison en Regalia clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all- grain)
OG = 1.057 FG = 1.006
IBU = 31 SRM = 4 ABV = 7%

2014 Great American Beer Festival – Silver (Belgian-Style Fruit Beer)

Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) Pilsner malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) wheat malt
4 oz. (113 g) honey malt
4.5 AAU Bravo hops (60 min.) (0.3 oz./9 g at 15% alpha acids)
2.4 AAU Glacier hops (15 min.) (0.4 oz./11 g at 6% alpha acids)
4.4 AAU Zythos® hops (15 min.) (0.4 oz./11 g at 11% alpha acids)
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Oregon Specialty Fruit peach purée (added at the end of primary fermentation)
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Oregon Specialty Fruit apricot purée (added at the end of primary fermentation)
White Labs WLP566 (Belgian Saison II) yeast
5 oz. (142 g) corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mill the grains and mash in 3.9 gallons (14.7 L) of water at 148 °F (64 °C) for 45 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear and sparge the grains with enough 168 °F (75 °C) water to obtain a 6-gallon (23 L) pre-boil volume. Boil the wort for 90 minutes adding the hops at the times indicated in the ingredients list. After the boil, turn off the heat and chill the wort to about 69 °F (21 °C), transfer the wort to the fermenter, aerate, and pitch the yeast.

Allow the fermentation temperature to free-rise up to 78 °F (26 °C), ferment for 10 days and add the peach and apricot purée. Ferment for an additional seven days, rack to a secondary fermenter for additional clearing if desired, and then bottle or keg the beer and carbonate.

Roadhouse Brewing Co.’s Saison en Regalia clone

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.057 FG = 1.006
IBU = 31 SRM = 4 ABV = 7%

Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3.3 kg) Pilsen liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) wheat dried malt extract
4 oz. (113 g) honey malt
4.5 AAU Bravo hops (60 min.) (0.3 oz./9 g at 15% alpha acids)
2.4 AAU Glacier hops (15 min.) (0.4 oz./11 g at 6% alpha acids)
4.4 AAU Zythos® hops (15 min.) (0.4 oz./11 g at 11% alpha acids)
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Oregon Specialty Fruit peach purée (added at the end of primary fermentation)
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Oregon Specialty Fruit apricot purée (added at the end of primary fermentation)
White Labs WLP566 (Belgian Saison II) yeast
5 oz. (142 g) corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep in the brewing water as it heats up. Remove the grain bag when the temperature reaches 168 °F (75 °C). Add the liquid and dried malt extracts and bring to a boil. Boil the wort for 60 minutes adding the hops at the times indicated in the ingredients list.

After the boil, turn off the heat and chill the wort to about 69 °F (21 °C), transfer the wort to the fermenter, aerate, and pitch the yeast. Allow the fermentation temperature to free-rise up to 78 °F (26 °C), ferment for 10 days and add the peach and apricot purée. Ferment for an additional 7 days, rack to a secondary fermenter for additional clearing if desired, and then bottle or keg the beer and carbonate.

Tips for Success:
Roadhouse Brewing Co. utilizes White Labs WLP566 (Saison II) yeast in this beer because they love the fruitiness and subtle tartness it creates in their beer. It also produces a velvety characteristic, which gives it a unique mouthfeel. They are able to coax this profile out of the yeast by giving it a longer primary ferment and allowing the temperature to free-rise up to 78 °F (25 °C). It is important that this yeast be allowed to do its work and reach the proper terminal gravity as an under attenuated saison will not have the proper flavor profile.

Because of the long fermentation period required, and the sometimes fickle nature of saison yeast, it’s not a bad idea to pitch the yeast as a yeast starter to ensure a good, healthy population of cells. Try using a 0.5 gallon (~2 L) starter for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch. Aerate the wort well, and even consider using a pure oxygen setup in the fermenter to be cautious.

Regarding the “additional cellaring” as referenced in the recipes, BYO author Horst Dornbusch recommends, laying a saison down for three months of bottle-conditioning and maturation at a room temperature of 73 °F (23 °C). He adds, “However, serve the brew at a cool cellar temperature of roughly 50–55 °F (10–13 °C).”