I have had a riff on this beer twice. Once at the Ballast Point Linda Vista location and the other time last summer at Pizza Port in OB. The version at Pizza Port was sublime. Epic makes a version that is pretty well received and they have the basic ingredients on their site and Ballast Point is a little more cagey besides saying there is sage in theirs. Took these ideas and started tweaking to get what I wanted. I think the Citra and Calypso should play nice with the Saison yeast and herbs. A quick search out there reveals some people adding an ounce of rosemary. In my opinion that would be a huge amount of this powerful herb. I went for restraint having learned my lessons in the past the hard way on herb and spice additions. 4 grams rosemary, 4 grams dried thyme and 14 grams fresh sage should be plenty. You want background notes not Thanksgiving dinner.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.067
Estimated FG: 1.015
Estimated Color: 5.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 35.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 7.0%

Grain
6 lbs Pilsner (2.0 SRM) 35.3%
4 lbs Pale Malt (2.0 SRM) 23.5%
4 lbs  Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)  23.5%
1 lb  Flaked Barley (1.7 SRM) 5.9%
1 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) 5.9%
1 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 5.9%

Schedule
28.00 g  Centennial [10 %] – Boil 60.0 min  27.2 IBUs
14.00 g  Citra [12 %] – Boil 15.0 min  8.1 IBUs
14.00 g  Citra [12 %] – Boil 0 min
28.00 g  Calypso [15 %] – Boil 0 min
4.00 g Dried Thyme – Boil 0 min
14 g Fresh Sage – Boil 0 min
4.00 g Fresh Rosemary 0 min
28.00 g  Calypso [15 %] – Dy Hop 7 days
28.00 g  Citra [12 %] – Dy Hop 7 days

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
Half RO water
Half Ventura water(high bicarbonates and sulfates)
5.00 g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
Mash in 26.5 qt water 156.9F and let stabilize to 148F for 75 min
Batch Sparge 4.00 gallons 170F

Yeast
WLP 565 Saison I (Dupont strain) – 2L starter

Notes: Saison I from White labs is the notoriously fickle Dupont strain. I’ve used it once a long time ago and it performed great for me. I did a 2L starter this time and it ramped to 80F and pitched it at high krausen into 68F wort. Started rapidly and free rose to 74F and as of today 6 days later it is still at 74F and finally slowing down. I aerated the shit out of my wort and shook the starter vigorously before pitching. So far so good.