Grisette

Grisette is a sub-style of Saison, which comes from the Hainut province in southern Belgium. Traditionally, Grisettes were made to quench the thirst of miners just like Saison was used for the farm labourers. In his book Great Beers of Belgium, Michael Jackson describes Friart’s Grisette as “grainy dryness and a refreshing acidity”. Phil Markowski, in Farmhouse Ales, describe them as “low-alcohol, light bodied, saison-like golden ales of no great distinction". Being such a fan of the saison style and since I never had a Grisette before; I was interested to try it.

For the grain grist, I adhered closely to the recipe in Famehouse Ales but added some acid malt to get that “refreshing acidity”. The hops consist of Brewer’s Gold for its spicy and lemony notes, which is then complemented with Saaz’s herbal character. When I was brainstorming for my recipe, I thought about using some lemon peel in the boil (similar to using orange peel in a wit) then remembered I had just received some Sorachi Ace. While researching this particular hop, I learned that it has Brewer's Gold and Saaz as heritage so I thought it would be a perfect pairing.

I brewed 18 gallons, split three ways with two other friends. It fermented with three different yeast strains: 3522 Ardennes, like the Farmhouse Ales recipe; 3726-PC Farmhouse since it’s from Hainut (Blaugies); and for the third one I’m trying Mangrove Jack M27 which sounds alot like Wyeast French Saison.

Santé!

Recipe Specifications

Batch Size (Gal): 18.00

Total Grain (Lbs): 28.69

Estimated OG: 1.045

Anticipated SRM: 3.0

Anticipated IBU: 29.4 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %

Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Grains

73.2% (21 lbs) - Floor Malted Pilsner

17.4% (5 lbs) - Wheat

7.0% (2 lbs) - Flaked Wheat

2.4% (11 oz) - Acid Malt

Hops

2.00 oz Brewer's Gold (8.7%) @ 60 min

2.50 oz Saaz (3.2%) @ 20 min

1.00 oz Sorachi Ace (13.0%) @ 10 min

2.00 oz Saaz (3.2%) @ 0 min

1.00 oz Sorachi Ace (13.0%) @ 0 min

Yeast

6gal -> WY3522 Ardennes 

6gal -> WY3726 Farmhouse Ale

6gal -> Mangrove Jack M27 

Mash Schedule

Sacc Rest - 60 min @ 152F

Notes

04/15/14: harvested WY3522 and WY3726 from a belgian pale ale I brewed last month

04/18/14: Brew day

Fly sparge with 170F water

Collected 18 gallons

OG = 1.045

Ferment at 58F for first 2 days, 70-72F for remaining

05/15/14: bottled @ 2.8 vol CO2.  FG: 3522=1.010 ; 3726=1.002 ; M27=1.002