A most excellent recipe. I have brewed this twice. I had brewed it about a year ago and it came out fantastic. I entered it in to a competition and it scored a 37 and a 38. Some of the comments were "one of the most interesting beers I've judged," Hibiscus comes through in the flavor, well balanced with the ginger subdued, peppery flavor, tart, dry finish," "Very complex, but possible entered in the wrong category. Should be experimental category," "Brilliantly bright red. The reddest beer I've ever seen." (note: I entered it in the 16E Belgian Specialty Ale category, so that might have knocked me down a few points). As a note, the second time I brewed it a few months back I used the Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast. It fermented out much drier than my first batch (1.004 vs. 1.013) and quite significantly changed the flavor. It wasn't a bad change in flavor, just different from my first. Of the two, I prefer the WLP568 Belgian Saison yeast for this beer over the 3711. Also, it takes about 3 months for this beer to really get prime, imo, especially with the WLP568. The 3711 batch got good a little earlier. Drinking one now. Delicious.
