Chocolate Saison

Saison is a really interesting style. Like other farmhouse Belgian styles, there is a wide spread of interpretation and creativity involved. In addition, saison is a style that has morphed from a low gravity beer produced from what was available on the farm (wheat, spelt, barley), and fermented at whatever ambient summer temperature (upwards of 85-90 degrees), to the American interepretation of a highly spiced, high gravity Belgian ale. The description and guidelines from BJCP regarding the style are all over the place as well:

Vital Statistics:	OG: 1.048 – 1.065
IBUs: 20 – 35	FG: 1.002 – 1.012
SRM: 5 – 14	ABV: 5 – 7%

With a varience of 2% ABV, and more importantly, the SRM goes from medium golden straw, to a light amber, this beer can be all different things. However, as most good homebrewers and commercial brewers will tell, this beer is all about the YEAST. Since saison has become a more popular style, Wyeast and White Labs have released additional strains away from the classic Saison Dupont strain(3724 and 565 respectively). That particular strain is one of the most difficult to work with in order to get the most out of it. You can potentially attain 85+% attenuation from this strain, but it requires a lot of attention by the brewer in terms of wort make up (grain bill, mash temp, boil length), and fermentation temperature. I've used this strain twice with great success only on the second time when I reached nearly 90% attenuation without any additional yeast. It was only because I was able to hold it in the 80s for 2-3 weeks to finish it out.
All that said, as you can see from the title, this beer is going to take a much different track. While I'm still looking for the classic flavors of a saison, I'm also looking for the chocolate to come through along with the funk. Fantome and Jolly Pumpkin, two amazing breweries, both produce chocolate flavored saisons. Both also incorporate different levels of wild yeast and bacteria presence as well as mine will. My goals are: not nearly as high abv (around 6-6.5%), a light roast character supplimented by a solid chocolate flavor from cocoa powder (and possible cocoa nibs and other spices), very dry, estery but not overly so, and a complimentary funk character. I'll start out fermentation in the mid 60s and slowly move it up to 73, then 77-78 to finish it out before racking onto the Roselare.

Stats OG 1.064 FG IBU 22 ABV 6.2 % SRM 17

Specifics Boil Volume 7.5 gallons Batch Size 5.5 gallons Yeast Wyeast 3724, 3763 85% AA

Fermentables

% Weight	Weight (lbs)	Grain	Gravity Points	Color
67.4 %	8.00	Belgian Pils	36.7	2.6
25.3 %	3.00	American Soft White Wheat	15.7	1.5
4.2 %	0.50	Belgian CaraMunich	2.2	6.8
2.1 %	0.25	German Carafa	1.0	13.6
1.1 %	0.13	American Black Patent	0.5	11.4
	11.88		56.0

Hops

% Wt	Weight (oz)	Hop	Form	AA%	AAU	Boil Time		IBU
28.6 %	0.40	Magnum	Whole/Plug	14.1	5.6	60		19.2
71.4 %	.75	Saaz	Whole/Plug	3.5	3.5	5		2.4
	1.40							21.6

6/24/09: Brewed on a hot, sunny morning. No problems with runoff/manifold. Mashed at 148 for 90min, short vorlauf. Managed to get a huge spike in efficiency (was aiming for 1.057, got 1.064). Added 9oz of cocoa powder at flameout. Was quite the opaque mess going into the carboy. I'm a little concerned with the small amount of fat floating on the surface as I don't know the fat content of the cocoa. Picked up a bottle of Saison de Lente from The Bruery and I'll pitch the dregs from it into the beer tonight to get the Brett going early.
7/02/09: Took my first sample today. I'm impressed it's already down to 1.020! The flavor, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The saison esters are certainly coming through nice and spicy, but the cocoa powder is thick and chalky. I added some leftover cake from the Gose to give the Lacto a head start before I hit it with the Roselare. I'm hoping to get it down to 1.010 before racking.
7/11/09: Gravity at 1.010. Racked to secondary and added the Roselare and 4ea cinnamon sticks. Flavor is well, bad. It's astringent, has a slight tartness and is lacking the ester profile. The chocolate is vague, but there. I'll see where it goes but it's not showing a ton of promise at this point.
7/29/09: Took a small sample today. Flavor is progressing really nicely. There's a considerable amount of lactic twang taking hold and the cinnamon is blending in well. The astringency seems to be gone and the chocolate becoming more vague. I think this one will turn out well in several months. I may add some chocolate nibs in another month, but I'll be sure to update if/when I do.