I recently brewed a Saison using Belma hops exclusively. My goal was to test Belma hops in a beer that I thought would complement them nicely. Here is the recipe for 5 gallons:
3.5 lbs Belgian 2 row
3 lbs Belgian Wheat malt
.5 lb. Munich
.25 oz. Caramunich (56 SRM)
.75 lbs. Orange Blossom Honey
1 oz. Belma in the mash
.25 oz. Belma 60 min.
.25 oz. Belma 10 min.
1 oz. Belma 5 min.
1 oz. Belma hopstand for ~10 min.
No dry hopping
Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast
This resulted in, according to BeerSmith:
5.4% ABV
24 IBU
5.4 SRM
This is my first attempt at brewing a Saison, and I have little experience drinking them too, so I am mainly going off of the BJCP style guidelines for evaluation.
The beer turned out good, but there is very little Belma flavor discernable. Next time I would seriously increase the hop additions (while eliminating the mash addition). So given that this was an experiment to test Belma hops the one thing I learned is that they are very light in flavor - which I had heard - but since I was brewing a Saison, I figured it would show through... but no.
I would also ferment a little warmer, as I got very little of the phenolic character from the yeast that I was hoping for. I fermented at 66*, then ramped up to 73* as I saw primary fermentation ending. I think I'd ferment at 69* next time.
So not a waste. It still is a pleasant, maybe even a good, light-tasting beer. Perhaps a good gateway homebrew for BMC drinkers.