Trying out Gigayeast and some new hops

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Gold Pitch pouch of >200 Billion yeast, Saison #2 strain.

There are a number of new yeast companies just starting up and I’m really excited to see these new strains being picked up. Gigayeast, Yeast Bay, and East Coast Yeast, which I’ve written about before, are finding, isolating and stepping up strains found in great commercial beers and making them available to homebrewers. Some of this comes from the big yeast companies (White Labs, and Wyeast for homebrew) selling their services. The Gold Pitch from Gigayeast sure looks like a Wyeast yeast pouch, and the Yeast Bay vials sure look like a White Labs tube.

yeastbay-vials

Yeast Bay vials via Ales of the Riverwards Blog.

The Saison #2 strain caught my attention, mostly due to the description of having a tart finish. It’s no secret that I have a passion for sour beers, and while I know this yeast won’t produce a sour beer without some bacteria like lactobacillus, I am interested in getting tart beers as well. There are a number of really great saisons that taste tart but aren’t sours. I plan to find out if I can get that same effect with this yeast.

Gigayeast describes the flavors as fruity and spicy, so when choosing the recipe I started with my house saison, and dropped the gravity a bit so the pouch could be used without a starter and then switched in some spicy and fruity hops. I’m getting to try out a new (to me) hop, Summer Saaz, which is both spicy and with a touch of fruit when used for aroma and dry-hopping. Another hop favorite, Meridian, which was used in an amazing Sour Pale Ale (Dr. Vainglory at Black Star Coop), which has lots of fruity, punch-like flavors. And some traditional english Fuggle for that nice earthy spice. I also didn’t want to change the recipe up too much to help detect the differences between how Rekkae is normally brewed and what the new ingredients are bringing to the familiar beer.

Take a look:

Recipe Details

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV
6 gal 60 min 37.4 IBUs 6.7 SRM 1.058 1.006 6.9 %
Actuals 1.054 1.01 5.8 %

Style Details

Name Cat. OG Range FG Range IBU SRM Carb ABV
Saison 16 C 1.048 - 1.065 1.002 - 1.012 20 - 35 5 - 14 2.3 - 2.9 5 - 7 %

Fermentables

Name Amount %
Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 9.5 lbs 70.37
Rye Malt 1.5 lbs 11.11
White Wheat Malt 1 lbs 7.41
Caramunich Malt 8 oz 3.7
Oats, Flaked 8 oz 3.7
Sugar, Table (Sucrose) 8 oz 3.7

Hops

Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha %
Fuggles 0.49 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 5.7
Summer (Summer Saaz) 0.49 oz 60 min First Wort Pellet 5.5
Meridian 0.49 oz 30 min Boil Pellet 6.5
Tettnang 1 oz 15 min Boil Pellet 4.6
Summer (Summer Saaz) 1 oz 5 min Boil Pellet 5.5

Miscs

Name Amount Time Use Type
Calcium Chloride 3.20 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 3.20 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 0.40 g 60 min Mash Water Agent
Ground Pepper 1.64 tsp 5 min Boil Spice

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Temperature
Saison Yeast #2 (GY027) Gigayeast 81% 64°F - 80°F

Mash

Step Temperature Time
Saccharification 148°F 75 min
Mash Out 168°F 10 min

Notes


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