#2 Saison 26Sep08

I made several changes to this beer in order to try and improve on my first beer:
1) Increase the amount of grain and DME by 1 lb each to make up for my low mash efficiency
2) Increase the amount of carapils and add flaked oats to increase body
3) Use 1 lb of malted wheat to increase head retention

Recipe:
3lb Belgian Pilsner (Dingemans)
1lb Weyermann wheat
1lb Cara-pils
6 oz Flaked Oats
4lb Briess light pilsen dry malt extract
1 oz E Kent Golding @ 45 min (5.0%, plug)
0.5 oz E Kent Golding @ 5 min (5.0%, plug)
0.5 oz Saaz @ 5 min (3.0%, plug)
White Labs #568 (Saison Blend), fermented @ 75F (avg house temp) in blanket-wrapped bucket

Notes:
Initial mash temp: 156 F, final mash temp 150 F. Original gravity was 1.056 for a lousy mash efficiency of 56%. Final gravity was 1.015 after 1 week. Transfer to secondary for 2 weeks. Add 6 oz corn sugar before bottling. Condition in basement.

This beer was a big hit. The body and flavors were much improved. Smooth with a nice mouth-feel. The hops were not as bitter, which I'll attribute to limiting my bittering hops to 45 min, and were well integrated throughout the body and finish of the beer.