It’s been 5 weeks since Big Brew Day, and the Saison that I carried home is finally ready! I experienced quite a delay with the Wyeast 3274 Belgian Saison yeast that I used. It got stuck at around 1.022, so I had to add some 1056 to get it down to about 1.008 when I bottled.

For those of you that don’t understand brewer geek speak, that means the first yeast I used fell asleep for a little while, and I didn’t have the patience to wait around for it to wake up, so I added some more lively yeast to finish up the fermentation.

I don’t think the yeast snafu turned out badly at all. I cracked open my first bottle today, and it is delicious! It came out a cloudy orange color. Pretty true to the Belgian style. The aroma has a little bit of that farmhouse funk, but it isn’t offensive. I can also smell oranges.

The flavor is as complex as you would expect from a Belgian ale. It starts out with a slightly sour taste. On its way down, I get hit with a little sweetness, then it finishes up with a tart orange citrus left on the tongue. It’s a very citrusy beer with a decent amount of spice contributed by the corriander and grains of paradise.

It’s a very enjoyable beer. One of the best homebrews I’ve had. I gave a sample to a friend, and they described it as “Blue Moon, but much better.” That’s one of the best compliments a homebrewer can receive!

My hat goes off to Brewmaster Steve-O, who led the Brewtopians expedition that day. I had a great time, and even though I pretty much just videoed the day, I was very fortunate to have received five gallons of this wonderful brew.

Any others out there participate in Big Brew Day? How did it turn out for you?