Saison Brew Session

So I brewed the saison yesterday with my dad helping me out. Brewing went well, hit mash temp of 145 deg right on, mashed for about 70 minutes. Collected 7.5 gallons, boiled down to about 5.5 gallons in 90 minutes. Hit the og of 1.056 for 82% efficiency. Pitched yeast at about 72 degrees, fermenting away in the basement at 74 degrees. Very short lag. We'll see how it goes. Cheers

Belgian Saison

So, Wyeast released some limited edition strains for the summer. I picked up a pack of WY3724, Belgian Saison, since I wanted to make a saison this summer after reading about the style in BYO and trying Smuttynose's Farmhouse Ale last year. Here's the recipe I came up with, no real rhyme or reason to the hop schedule and varieties. We'll see...
7lbs 9 oz. Pilsner Malt
1 lb 5 oz. Light Munich
1 lb Flaked Wheat
2 oz. Saaz (3.0% AA) pellets at 60 min.
1 oz. Liberty (3.2% AA) pellets at 5 min.
Whirlfloc at 15 min.
Slurry from 2 liter starter of WY3724
OG of 1.055 at 80% eff. for 5.5 gallons

Chinook IPA

So the IPA I made using some hops I dug out of the freezer is in the keg. Ended up at about 1.009, really dry, which is what I was shooting for. The problem I have with this beer is it's not as bitter as I thought, which makes some sense since the hops were from the 2005 crop. But, it is really fruity/citrusy, I think as a result of the Cascade and Bramling Cross hops used as flavor/aroma additions.
We had a party this weekend and everyone seemed to enjoy the IPA, so it can;t be all that bad. Guess I can choke down the other keg! Cheers.