At long last, Saturday was bottling day for the holiday
saison ale that I began brewing in early December. This was a seasonally featured offering from
Northern Brewer called Saison de Noel. I
wanted to try something besides the typical ales I’ve been working with and the
ad copy for this one sold me:
Deceptively dark and beguilingly complex, this holiday
specialty is brewed in the tradition of Belgian farmhouse ales. Unlike most saisons, intended to refresh and sustain
farmers doing manual labor, this one is engineered to complement rich holiday
fare and sustain you through long winter nights. A generous malt bill with highlights of
butter toffee, chocolate, dark fruit, and bread tangles with the earthy, spicy
funk of Wyeast’s French Saison strain and a single addition of bittering hops
to strike an evolving balance.
Now, there is a word of warning in there for home gamers –
this one has the potential to reach 9% alcohol by volume (ABV) – it’s pretty
strong, so my thinking on “sustaining you through long winter nights” should be
translated into “you’ll finish one and probably want to knock off early” - "don't operate heavy machinery after this one."
The beer started fermentation with an O.G. of 1.070, and it finished
at around 1.008. By my calculations,
that means we’re sitting pretty at around 8.4% - and given that this is my
first time doing that particular calculation I am satisfied that we are
definitely looking at more than 8% and less than 8.5%. I’m happy with that.
The strain of yeast used here – a liquid smack pack from
Wyeast – was absolutely robust. I couldn’t
believe what I was seeing already by the morning after I got this started in
primary, and it was still going strong after two weeks, so I left it in primary
for another week. I then moved it to
secondary for two weeks, and that brings us to Saturday, when I did the
bottling chore.
I’ve got some photos of the process here – the bottling
tree, the hydrometer measurement, and the finished bottles. With such a strong beer, I’m going to let it
sit in the bottles for two weeks before I even think about moving them, and
when I share them, I’ll be sure to let folks know it needs to rest in the
fridge overnight before opening.
But for my part, I’m looking forward to this. It appears it will be ready for opening
around Inauguration Day!
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