Juniper Saison (January 2021)

About This Beer

Owen’s earliest captured Saison — notebook batch 10, brewed 28 January 2021 (his 2020 kit brews, batches 1–9, come before it). A Saison with a juniper tea addition that becomes the founding entry in what evolves into the Saison / Summer Haze family. The same grain bill, same yeast, and same juniper-tea concept reappear nine months later as the September 2021 Juniper Saison, confirming this was a recipe Owen wanted to come back to and refine.

Grain Bill

5.3 kg, identical to the September 2021 re-brew:

• 4.5 kg Gladfield Pilsner Malt (base)
• 0.6 kg Gladfield Wheat Malt (body, head retention)
• 0.2 kg Gladfield Supernova Malt (subtle malt depth)

Hop Schedule — Lean

Just 48 g total, no dry hop. Three NZ varieties:

• Waimea 14 g at 60 min — bittering (high alpha)
• Motueka 17 g at flameout — flavour and aroma
• Taiheke 17 g at flameout — flavour and aroma

Different from the September re-brew’s Pacific Jade + Motueka schedule. This three-hop NZ stack is the same family that carries through to the Tasman Pale Ale (April 2021) brewed just over two months later.

Fermentation

1 packet of Mangrove Jacks M29 French Saison pitched. The plan: a deliberately wide temperature ramp from 26 °C up to 32 °C across primary, to push the M29 ester profile.

FG stalled at 1.015 — 7 points over the 1.008 target. Apparent attenuation 70.6 % — well below the 82–84 % typical for the strain. Possible causes: under-pitching (single packet for a 22 L saison is on the low side), nutrient timing (added at 10 min rather than 15 min as in later batches), temperature execution, or early-setup inconsistency.

Compare the September 2021 re-brew: same yeast, same family of recipe, hits 1.052 → 1.010 (80.8 %) at a steady 26 °C. The improvement reflects Owen’s system, process, and consistency dialling in across 2021.

Water treatment split between mash and sparge — 4 g calcium chloride mash + 3.9 g sparge, 2.2 g calcium sulphate mash + 2.1 g sparge, 0.8 g magnesium sulphate in the mash only.

Juniper Tea Addition

On 2 February (day 5 from pitch): 28 g of juniper berries crushed and steeped in 1.5 cups of boiling water for 10 minutes, then added to the fermenter. The same coffee-grinder-tea technique that the September re-brew uses (with 30 g instead of 28 g, and where Owen’s verdict is “too subtle”).

This batch’s tasting isn’t recorded, but with 2 g less juniper and the same extraction method, the result was likely similarly subtle.

Packaging

Bottled 9 February 2021 — 12 days after brew. 22 L bottled at target.

Numbers

OG fell 3 points short. FG over-shot by 7 points (the stalled fermentation). Combined: ABV well under target.

System Power Notes

The top of this notebook page captures Owen’s earliest notes on system power draw — a record of an early-days electrical reality check:

• Grainfather on max: 2.0 kW
• Sparge heater on: 2–3 kW
• House: 0.3 kW
• Total ≈ 4.0 kW — close to inverter maximum

Useful context for understanding the operating envelope of Owen’s early electric brewing setup.

Lineage

Owen’s earliest captured Saison. Re-brewed nine months later as the September 2021 Juniper Saison — same grain bill and yeast, different hops, fixed 26 °C ferment, 30 g juniper tea instead of 28 g, with the verdict “too subtle.” Owen’s 2020 kit brews (batches 1–9) have since been added and precede it chronologically.