Saison is probably my favorite style of beer to brew because I’ve been experimenting on each batch. The last Saison I brewed was a standard Saison that meets an IPA, I used Amarillo hops as the flavoring hop. That produced a bold, spicy ‘bite’ on the back end yet still keeping that smooth flavor of a traditional Saison.
This current batch waiting to be kegged/bottled was brewed with a quart of wild Mountain Black raspberries in the boil. Since I had a 10gal batch the raspberries only imparted a very, very slight flavor but did impart an unmistakable floral bouquet. If the bottles set up by April 8th, I’m going to enter this beer in the nationals.
The raspberries sound like a nice touch. You’ll probably get a nice garnet color in the brew from those too.
I’ve had success adding (unboiled) fruit to the secondary. I’ve not had problems with infection, probably due to the alcohol content produced in the primary. Same with dry-hopping.
Some people get nervous about adding the fruit so they blanch for a short period in boiling water. I’ve found that this takes away from the fruit character.