[Tully]

Hi!
This is my first time posting in this forum.
Denny invited me over, very cool group of brewers, by the looks.
Thanks Denn!

I need to put fresh Rosemary into my Saison. I brewed it Sunday, was planning on adding the Rosemary and black pepper into primary along with the simple sugar, near the end of primary.

I'd like to solicit some input on the quantity I should use, and the method of infusion.

Any ideas?

[richardt]

Have you made a saison before?  The saison yeast produce a lot of peppery flavors and aromas on their own. 
The esters and phenols are yeast-derived.
You may want to hold off adding any additional pepper, or consider a split batch fermentation with half getting the spice addition and half receiving none.  I did that with a saison last year (probably about 10 peppercorns among other spices)--I much preferred the saison that received no additional spices (except for ginger in the boil).

[morticaixavier]

On the rosemary I will only say go lightly. i have a mead that is now nearly 2 years old with about 4 ounces of rosemary and it is still very strong. kind of medicinal. maybe start with .5 oz. it's a balancing act cause you don't want so much that it is unbearable young but it will fade over time so you don't want it to go away to soon either. Ideally you would get a bottle of saison (yours or commercial) and make a infusion in water or vodka and dose the glass with measured amounts until you acheive the effect you are after then scale up to the batch size.

[Tully]

Yes.
I've brewed Saisons before.
My intention is to enhance the spiciness, with the black pepper.
I've been experimenting with it for a while.
I'm using French 3511.
I'm mostly looking for input on the Rosemary, as I have never used that before, or any other fresh spice for that matter.
It is a 10 gallon batch and my starting amount was 1 oz, so that seems like what you're saying...

[Tully]

Richard, what were the other spices you mentioned in yours?

[richardt]

Last 15 minutes of boil:  Crystallized ginger (homemade is much better)--approximately 4 oz for a 10 gallon batch.

In Secondary:  I tried Grains of Paradise, Malabar Peppercorns, juniper berries, and peels of Lemon, Lime, and Grapefruit.
Good, but "muddled" result, IMO.  I much preferred the yeast derived phenols and esters along with the subtle ginger flavor and aroma; so did nearly everyone else.