BLUE Wheat Ale

Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Heat 15 L of brewing water to approximately 74°C to achieve a mash temperature around 66°C when mixing with grains.

Heat strike water

Add milled grains to the mash tun and slowly add the strike water while stirring to avoid lumps. Target mash temperature: 65–67°C. Mash for 60 minutes to achieve a clean fermentable profile with moderate dextrins for body.

Mash-in

If using a significant portion of wheat or if the malt is under-modified, hold at 52–55°C for 15 minutes before ramping to 65–67°C. Otherwise, skip.

Mash step (optional protein rest)

Raise temperature to 75–77°C for 10 minutes to rest and make lautering easier.

Mash out

Begin lautering and sparge with water heated to 75–78°C until you collect roughly 25 L of wort (accounting for boil-off and trub loss).

Sparge

Bring collected wort to a vigorous boil. Watch for boil-overs as pilsner-heavy worts can foam aggressively.

Bring to boil

With 60 minutes remaining in the boil, add 20 g Saaz (or Styrian) pellets. This low bittering addition gives a restrained bitterness; target IBU ~20–25 for a crisp finish.

Bittering hop addition

With 10–15 minutes remaining in the boil, add 1 tsp Irish moss or a whirlfloc tablet for improved clarity.

Irish moss / whirlfloc

Turn off heat at the end of the 60-minute boil and add 10 g Saaz for aroma. Stir and allow to sit (whirlpool) for 10–15 minutes before chilling.

Late hop / whirlpool

Dissolve 250 g table sugar in a small amount of boiling wort or water and add to the kettle in the last 5 minutes or at flameout to boost fermentability and create a dry finish.

Sugar addition

Rapidly chill the wort to 18–20°C using an immersion or counterflow chiller. Aim to minimize time in the 45–80°C range to reduce DMS and contamination risk.

Chill wort

Transfer the chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter. Aerate vigorously (large splash or oxygenate to ~8–10 ppm) because Saison yeast benefits from oxygen for healthy fermentation.

Aeration and transfer

Pitch the Saison yeast (prepared starter recommended for one 20+ L batch) into the wort at 18–20°C. If using dry yeast, rehydrate per manufacturer instructions. Add yeast nutrient if using.

Pitch yeast

Allow fermentation to begin at 20°C. Expect a vigorous ferment; after 48–72 hours, temperature can be allowed to free-rise to 24–28°C (some brewers up to 30°C) to encourage phenolic and ester complexity typical of Saison Dupont. Total active fermentation typically 4–7 days.

Primary fermentation

After gravity has dropped near final gravity (target FG 1.004–1.010 depending on attenuation), allow the beer to settle for 3–7 days at the higher fermentation temperature, then lower temperature slowly to 12–15°C for a couple days to help clean up volatile esters.

Conditioning

For bottle conditioning: dissolve 5 g priming sugar per 500 mL bottle equivalent (adjust total priming for batch size — the listed 5 g is per bottle-equivalent; for a 20 L batch use about 125 g priming sugar) and add to bottling bucket, then rack beer onto the priming solution and bottle. Target carbonation: very high for saison — 3.0–3.5 volumes CO2.

Carbonation

If kegging, force carbonate to 3.0–3.5 volumes CO2 at recommended pressures and temperatures. Chill before serving.

Kegging

Allow bottles to condition at 20–24°C for 2–3 weeks to build carbonation and develop characteristic peppery/fruitiness. Then cold-condition at 4–8°C for a few days before serving. Serve cold (8–12°C) in a tulip or goblet glass.

Saison Dupont Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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