Strange Wit (Batch 02): Recipe

RETRO: Post written on November 13, 2014, but set to publish on the date of the original brew session to maintain order within the blog.

This was my second batch of Strange Wit, a wild witbier inspired by Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 52
Brew Date: November 24, 2012
Bottle Date: Not recorded
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.045 (estimate)
FG: 1.002 (estimate)
Fermentation Temperature: 65-70*F (room temperature throughout)
IBU: 16.6
ABV: 5.6%
SRM: 3.4

Mash: Single infusion at 152*F for 60 minutes

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

4lb 8oz Pilsner Malt
4lb 0oz Wheat, Flaked
1lb 0oz Oats, Flaked
0lb 4oz Munich Malt

0lb 4oz Rice Hulls

Salts & Water

At this point I wasn't doing anything besides filtering the water and adding 5.2 buffer, so that's probably it.

Hops

0.5oz Citra (pellet, 12.4 AAU) at 15 minutes
0.5oz Citra (pellet, 12.4 AAU) at 5 minutes

Other
Whirlfloc
Yeast Nutrient

0.25oz Coriander at 5 minutes

0.25oz Dried Orange Peel (Bitter) at 5 minutes

Yeast

Wyeast Belgian Witbier (WY3944)

Dregs, as identified below

Notes

11.24.2012: After pitching the starter yeast, I also added dregs from bottles of Cantillon Gueuze (2011) and Ambrosia Citrine (Batch 1).

11.26.2012: Added the dregs from bottles of Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek (2009) and Tilquin Gueuze (2012).

12.03.2012: Added the dregs from a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca (2011).

Repeating Numbers: Recipe & Tasting Notes

Review written on July 23, 2014.  Set to publish to original brew date to keep time order of posts.

It's been nearly two years since I brewed this beer, but am starting the process of getting some of my old saison recipes onto the blog.  This was the first beer that I brewed using grown up Hill Farmstead dregs.  The original yeast came from Arthur, Clara, and Vera Mae, as detailed in the recipe for batch one of Demeter Auran, which was the second generation of this blend.

The beer was based on the clone recipe of Stone 02.02.02 Vertical Epic.  We were doing the tasting and had all except that one, and I really didn't want a huge witbier, so I opted to use this blend instead.  My notes on the batch aren't the best (seems to be a mix-up somewhere between it being 2.5 and 3.5 gallons, though I think the latter, so the gravity and ABV probably aren't too accurate).  Given that my notes so I bottled 3.5 gallons and the yield in bottles supports that, I'm guessing there was a mixup somewhere and the gravity is for a 3.5 gallon batch, so I've adjusted that from what I originally had.  Aside from that, I still wanted to get some thoughts down since after this, I've only got a single bottle left.

Appearance: Clear light golden with ample carbonation and very nice retention of a fluffy white head.

Aroma: A bit of sulfur on the front end, followed up with a touch of orange and faint lemon.

Flavor: Moderate generic citrus with a touch of backing wheat.  Mild lemon and a faint tartness.

Body: Very light and crisp.  A bit tart through the finish.  Plenty of carbonation.

Overall: Has certainly fallen off since the first 3-12 months that I had it.  Still a good beer, but doesn't really pop at this point.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 51
Brew Date: November 21, 2012
Bottle/Keg Date: December 9, 2012
Batch Size: 3.5 Gallon
OG: 1.053
FG: 1.002 (estimate)
Fermentation Temperature: 65-70*F
IBU: 29.2
ABV: 6.7% (est.)
SRM: 3.2

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 148*F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

3lb 12oz Pale Malt
3lb Red Wheat (Torrified)

8oz Flaked Oats

Salts & Water
I wasn't really dealing with water chemistry at this point, so just would have been filtered Alexandria, Virginia water with 5.2 buffer.

Hops

0.5oz Chinook (11.0 AAU) at 60 minutes

Other

.14oz Bitter Orange Peel at flameout

.12oz Coriander at flameout

.09oz Sweet Orange Peel at flameout

.01oz Black Pepper at flameout

Yeast

Hill Farmstead dreg mixture mentioned above

Notes

Femented in a bucket.  Got approximately 3.5 gallons.  Gave 30 seconds of oxygen.

12.09.2012 -- Bottled approximately 3.5 gallons with 2.7oz of cane sugar, aiming for 2.5 volumes of carbonation.  Yield was 17 Jolly Pumpkin-style 750mL bottles.  Initial taste is quite lemony with a bit of coriander and orange in the background.  Slight spice.  Very mild acidity.

Monnik Blonde (Brett Trois): Recipe & Tasting

Base Recipe

I brewed this recipe with the plan of splitting the batch, giving half White Labs Abbey Ale (WLP530) and giving the other half White Labs Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois (WLP644), which is a Brettanomyces strain isolated from Drie Fonteinen.  The goal was to see the effect of the different yeasts on the ultimate beer, and also to get a better feel for the Brett character that would come out of a primary fermentation with this strain.  I also wanted to build up a large amount of WLP644 to save for future batches.  A week after kegging this, I brewed Atlas Trois IPA, another beer with WLP644 as the primary yeast strain, coupled with an IPA hop bill comprised entirely of Galaxy hops.

The tasting notes for the Brett portion of this beer are below; I plan to do a write up of the "clean" version soon.  The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 40/41

Brew Date: June 21, 2012

Keg Date: July 28, 2012
Batch Size: 8 Gallon
OG: 1.046 (measured)
FG: 1.008 (Brett version)
IBU: 36.8
ABV: 5.0%
SRM: 3.7

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 151 F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

7lb 13oz  French Pilsner

5lb 8oz    White Wheat Malt
2lb 5oz    Flaked Wheat
8oz          Rice Hulls

Hops

3.0 oz Styrian Celeja (4.0 AAU) at 60 minutes
1.5 oz Styrian Celeja (4.0 AAU) at 15 minutes

1.5 oz Styrian Celeja (4.0 AAU) at 0 minutes

Other

1 ea. Whirlfloc tablet at 10 minutes
1/2 tsp Yeast nutrient at 10 minutes

Yeast

White Labs Abbey Ale (WLP530) (half batch)
White Labs Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois (WLP644) (half batch)

 

Tasting

Appearance: Pours a mostly-clear pale orange / deep golden color with some light copper highlights.  Nice fluffy white head with good retention and plenty of sticky lacing on the sides of the glass.  Long-lasting cap on the top of the brew as well.  It could be a bit clearer, but other than that, this aspect of the beer turned out quite well.  2.5/3.

Aroma: The nose is fairly-faint compared with the flavor, which has a lot more fruit and general Brettanomyces character.  The background provides a bit of citrus character and floral hops along with a bit of earth.  As it warms more, a bit of a grapefruit-pith character comes through, alongside some standard horse blanket Brettanomyces character.  7.5/12.

Flavor: The flavor starts out with a nice burst of tropical-fruit flavors, including some mango and a touch of pineapple.  Behind that is a bit of peach and apricot character.  Slight tartness comes through as well alongside a very mild earthy funk.  Light floral hop character in the background, and coming through the finish a bit more as it warms.  There is some bitterness there, but that could probably go up a touch, or at least have some additional mineral additions to up the perceived bitterness.  Warmth brings more Brettanomyces character as some of the fruitiness and hop citrus character fades away.  15/20.

Feel: The body is fairly light, though feels a bit heavier than it actually is because the carbonation isn't as high as I would like it to be.  I need to turn that up a factor, and there might be an additional boost here.  The bitterness level is also a bit low for what I would prefer.  3/5.

Overall: I'm not disappointed with the way this one came up, but I was hoping for a bit more.  For a future batch, I'd go with a bit more bitterness, a slightly lighter body, and additional carbonation.  Luckily, given that I kegged all of this batch, I'll be able to correct the last of these issues.  After upping the carbonation, I plan to use my Blichmann Beer Gun to bottle at least a bit of this to see if any Brett that is still in suspension can do some additional work on the beer.  In the future, this beer might be a good base to experiment with the usage of multiple strains of Brett, using one in the primary to get its more-fruity character, and then another for bottle conditioning to get a drier, more-leathery and earthy feel to the beer.  Using this in primary along with a separate Bruxellensis or Lambicus variety could prove interesting.  7/10.

Overall score: 35/50

Demeter Vert (Batch 02): Recipe

RETRO: Post written on November 13, 2014, but set to publish on the date of the original brew session to maintain order within the blog.

This was my second batch of what was then known as Sorachi Lime Saison.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 43
Brew Date: June 23, 2012
Bottle Date: Not recorded
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.061 (estimate)
FG: 1.002 (estimate)
Fermentation Temperature: 65-70*F (room temperature throughout)
IBU: 31.8
ABV: 7.6%
SRM: 4.2

Mash: Single infusion at 149*F for 60 minutes

Boil: 90 minute

Fermentables

8lb 0oz Pilsner Malt
2lb 12oz Wheat Malt
1lb 0oz Rye, Flaked

Salts & Water

At this point I wasn't doing anything besides filtering the water and adding 5.2 buffer, so that's probably it.

Hops

1.0oz Sorachi Ace (pellet, 10.7 AAU) at 20 minutes

1.0oz Sorachi Ace (pellet, 10.7 AAU) at 5 minutes

1.0oz Sorachi Ace (pellet, 10.7 AAU) at flameout

Other
Whirlfloc
Yeast Nutrient

2 Tbsp Lime Zest at 5 minutes

Yeast

Wyeast French Saison (WY3711) (1 package)

Wyeast Belgian Saison (WY3724) (1 package)

White Labs Brettanomyces Claussenii (WLP645)

Notes

06.23.2012 - Brewday. Efficiency still seems low based on the OG. Not sure what the issue is. For yeast, used 2-month-old packs of 3711 and 3724 plus a good bit of Brett C slurry from the continuous jug. Hoping to create a house culture to use with different saisons. Can eventually blend in other yeast cultures if necessary, using dregs from favorite bottles.

07.28.2012 - Added the dregs from a bottle of Batch 6 Russian River Sanctification.

Calypso's Ghost: Recipe

RETRO: Post written on November 13, 2014, but set to publish on the date of the original brew session to maintain order within the blog.

Brewed as I continued to focus more and more on saisons.  The name was based on the use of Calypso hops (my first time using them) and Wyeast's Biere de Garde yeast, which is supposedly from Fantôme.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 42
Brew Date: June 23, 2012
Keg Date: August 14, 2012
Batch Size: 6 Gallon
OG: 1.052 (estimate)
FG: 1.002 (measured)
Fermentation Temperature: 65-70*F (room temperature throughout)
IBU: 31.0
ABV: 6.6%
SRM: 3.8

Mash: Single infusion at 150*F for 60 minutes

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

6lb 0oz Pilsner Malt
4lb 8oz Wheat Malt
0lb 12oz Rye, Flaked
0lb 12oz Wheat, Flaked

Salts & Water

At this point I wasn't doing anything besides filtering the water and adding 5.2 buffer, so that's probably it.

Hops

1.0oz Calypso (leaf, 12.8 AAU) at 30 minutes

1.0oz Calypso (leaf, 12.8 AAU) at flameout

Other

Whirlfloc

Yeast Nutrient

Yeast

Wyeast Biere de Garde (WY3725)

Notes

Later on when the keg was about halfway finished, I added raspberries and peaches and let those ferment out with Brett Trois and Brett Lambics.

Farmhouse Mild: Tasting

 
I'm finally getting around to doing some tasting notes for Farmhouse Mild, which I brewed back at the end of March.  I only kegged up two gallons of this batch, so I have been saving it until I had some time to review it and use my Beer Gun to get a few bottles filled.  The other three gallons were split between three one-gallon jugs, with each one getting a dose of a different Brettanomyces strain.  I used White Labs Bruxellensis, Clausseni, and Lambicus.  I plan to bottle each of those after letting them sit with the Brett for a bit.

Appearance: Pours a very pale golden-straw color.  Very clear with a nice, fluffy white head.  Good retention and some spotty lacing as it falls down.  A thin cap remains throughout.  3/3.

Aroma:  The nose brings faint earth and herbal character along with a touch of white pepper.  There isn't much fruitiness, despite the American hops that I used.  I can't say that I miss it, although I expected a bit more given the level I put in there and the otherwise-basic recipe.  Behind that is a bit of light pilsner malt and a touch of straw.  As it warms, there's just a bit of Amarillo in the background.  9/12.

Flavor: It starts out with some crisp pilsner malt with some wheat and straw in the background.  Behind that is a nice yeast presence; most prevalent are notes of faint pepper and just a touch of fruit, which was otherwise missing from the nose.  Behind it all is a nice, smooth bitterness leading to a very crisp finish.  I think the yeast presence is nicely subdued, and I'm not sure I'd want too much more from a beer that is intentionally light and refreshing.  Perhaps a bit more hop flavor would put it over the top.  Perhaps another half ounce or so at 5-10 minutes.  16/20.

Feel: Body is very light and refreshing.  Quite crisp with moderately-high carbonation.  I think that this is something that can comfortably sit around 2.5 volumes.  Bitterness is just right.  There isn't much I'd change about the feel of this one.  It's crisp and dry, and leaves behind just a bit of flavor through the finish.  4/5.

Overall: This is the second iteration of a small saison that I've done.  The first was Petit Saison, and this is the Farmhouse Mild.  There wasn't much variation between the two, and I really like how both turned out.  Perhaps some minor tweaking over time, but not much.  8/10.

Score: 40/50

This is something I could really see ending up as the flagship of a brewpub.  In the past I had thought something like a Kolsch, but this offers a bit more complexity, and also wouldn't require the addition of a separate yeast.  I would really like to follow the model of a place like Tired Hands, basically only using American Ale and Saison yeast, then letting various other critters go to work in a separate barrel-aging area.

Emerald: Recipe

RETRO: Post written on November 13, 2014, but set to publish on the date of the original brew session to maintain order within the blog.

This was originally designed as a Munich Helles with New Zealand hops, and it ended up going on tap that way.  At the time, I had 5-6 beers on tap, and I ended up with about half a keg that had lost it's hop presence and was too tame for my palate.  Based on this, I decided to sour the remaining portion and add kiwi, which seemed an appropriate fruit based on the New Zealand-based ingredients that I had already used.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 36
Brew Date: April 21, 2012
Keg Date: April 1, 2012
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.051 (estimate)
FG: 1.002 (estimate)
Fermentation Temperature: 65-70*F (room temperature throughout)
IBU: 28.6
ABV: 6.7%
SRM: 4.0 (not accounting for fruit)

Mash: Single infusion at 148*F for 60 minutes

Boil: 90 minute

Fermentables

9lb 0oz Pilsner Malt
0lb 8oz Cara-Pils
0lb 8oz Munich

Salts & Water

At this point I wasn't doing anything besides filtering the water and adding 5.2 buffer, so that's probably it.

Hops

1.0oz Nelson Sauvin (pellet, 12.0 AAU) at 20 minutes

1.0oz Nelson Sauvin (pellet, 12.0 AAU) at flameout

Other

Whirlfloc

Yeast Nutrient
Kiwi

Yeast

White Labs German Bock Lager (2 vials) (WLP833)
Brett and bacteria, as identified below

Notes

04.21.2012 - Brewday began at 7:45 AM. Milled the grain and got the hot liquor going. Used 14 quarts of 168 F water, aiming for 153 F. The initial shot was too high, so I added a bit of filtered water out of the hose to bring it down to 153 F. Set the time to 60 minutes and let the mash sit. Sparged with 6 gallons of 180 F water. The final collection was 7.8 gallons of 1.034 runnings.

Did a starter with each of the two vials. Let ferment for 5 days.

05.01.2012 - Gravity down to 1.018. Put chest freezer temperature up to 60 F for a diacetyl rest.

05.04.2012 - Gravity down to 1.012.

05.07.2012 - Transferred to keg to begin lagering.

08.28.2012 - Not sure why I don't have notes on this until now, but didn't really enjoy the character of this beer after the hops faded, so decided to make a sour lager. While this was originally known as "German Nelson," at some point around the Fourth of July, I added 2lb of kiwi per gallon along with a few lambic oak cubes and some lambic dregs. On 08.28, I transferred to a keg. The beer is now known as "Emerald."

Ruby (Batch 01): Recipe

RETRO: Post written on November 13, 2014, but set to publish on the date of the original brew session to maintain order within the blog.

This was the first batch of Flanders Red/Brown that I've done.  Once it was toward the end of fermentation, it spent some time in a 3-gallon whiskey barrel.  That allowed it to pick up acidity faster, and even though it was the second use of the barrel, the beer picked up some nice whiskey notes.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 35
Brew Date: April 6, 2012
Keg Date: October 14, 2012
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.060 (estimate); 1.056 (measured)
FG: 1.004 (estimate)
Fermentation Temperature: 65-70*F (room temperature throughout)
IBU: 16.1
ABV: 6.8%
SRM: 15.0

Mash: Single infusion at 155*F for 60 minutes

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

9lb 0oz Pilsner Malt
1lb 0oz Munich Malt
0lb 8oz Aromatic Malt
0lb 8oz CaraMunich Malt
0lb 8oz Special B
0lb 8oz Wheat, Flaked

Salts & Water

At this point I wasn't doing anything besides filtering the water and adding 5.2 buffer, so that's probably it.

Hops

1.0oz East Kent Goldings (pellet, 4.5 AAU) at 60 minutes

Other

Whirlfloc

Yeast Nutrient

Yeast

Wyeast Roeselare (WY3763)

Notes

Roeselare package was manufactured January 3, 2012. It popped when I hit the smackpack, so I drained the contents into a sanitized measuring cup with foil on top.

Mashed at 155 F for 60 minutes. Did a single-step batch sparge without stirring and collected 7.5 gallons of 1.048 wort for 83% efficiency.

OG is 1.056. Tried siphoning to the carboy after whirlpooling, but ended up with too little beer. Tried to pour through a thin strainer, but still ended up with quite a bit of trub in the fermenter. Will need to transfer to second. Should do so along with red-wine oak cubes from Saison Lambicus.

Gave pure oxygen for 30 seconds and pitched Roeselare blend.

07.04.2012: I transferred 3 gallons of this to the whiskey barrel that previously held Batch 003 -- Kukulcan Imperial Stout. The two remaining gallons were transferred to two separate one-gallon jugs.

07.18.2012: I added approximately 5-6 grams of red-wine-soaked lambic oak cubes to one of the single-gallon portions. This was 4 cubes. I plan to eventually blend the base portion with wine and whiskey portions. I also have one gallon of Monnik Six soured with currants to add to the blend.

LATER: The single-gallon portions had airlock issues and ended up being too acetic, so were dumped.

Strange Wit: Recipe

One of my favorite warm-weather beers is Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca. Since it's not always the easiest to find around DC and is fairly expensive at $12+ per bottle, I thought I'd do something similar. I'm going to brew a traditional witbier, with spicing on the low side, and then add some dregs from one of my sour program beers. Hopefully I'll get a bit of acidity and some moderate funk out of this, and it won't take nearly as long to finish out as my lambic-style beers.

Since I've never done a Wit before, I adapted Jamil's witbier recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. I took down the spice additions a notch, as I generally prefer spicing on the lighter side in witbiers. I also lowered his recommended mash temperature a bit, as I generally prefer dryer, lighter beers. (Also, in this instance, I'd like for everything -- including the bugs -- to finish up quickly, so I don't need to leave many complex chains for the wild stuff to chew up.)

Batch Number: 34
Brew Date: March 25, 2012
Keg Date: TBD
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.045 (measured)
FG: TBD
IBU: 16.4
ABV: TBD
SRM: 3.4

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 152 F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

4.5 lb French Pilsner
4.0 lb Flaked Wheat
1.0 lb Flaked Oats
0.25 lb Munich Malt
0.50 lb Rice Hulls

Hops

0.5 oz Centennial (8.8 AAU) at 20 minutes
0.5 oz Centennial (8.8 AAU) at 10 minutes

Other

.25 oz Coriander (crushed) at 5 minutes
.25 oz Orange Peel (bitter) at 5 minutes
1/4 tsp Yeast nutrient at 10 minutes

Yeast

Belgian Wit (WLP400)
Sour Program #1 Dregs

Notes

03.20.2012 Made a starter with White Labs Belgian Wit. I forgot to write down the date, but I think the package was 8-10 weeks old. Probably not a concern given the starter and fairly-low starting gravity. The volume is approximately 1.6 liters.

03.25.2012 Brewday. The starter is still quite hazy, but I'm still going to decant. Even if it's not 100% finished, I wouldn't mind selecting for the more-flocculant cells, as this beer could be served clear.

I mashed at 152 F for 60 minutes, infusing with 15 quarts of 167 F water. Initial mash temperature was 152 F. After draining, I batch sparged with 5.25 gallons of 180 F water. That led to 7.5 gallons of 1.036 runnings.

After a 60-minute boil, I was left with 5.5 gallons of 1.045 wort. The wort was chilled to about 75 F, then I used a funnel to transfer to a 6-gallon Better Bottle. I'll let it sit a bit after room temperature before pitching.

After pitching, I also caved and started the souring/funkifying early, after deciding that I'd rather it get a bit too much wild character rather than not enough. I added about a vial's worth of dregs from Sour Program #1, which is the most acidic out of the three "lambics" I've done so far. I also I also threw in the dregs from a 2011 bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, just to get things started. Finally, to keep this mildly authentic in my intentions, I added the dregs from a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca (Batch 810; 05.31.2011).

Farmhouse Mild: Recipe

Last fall, I made a Petit Saison with White Labs' Saison I strain. It was a 4% ABV beer with about 25 IBUs and an ounce of Sorachi Ace at flameout. That beer quickly took the place of my Kolsch as my favorite low-alcohol beer, not including, of course, my series of "American Bitters." For round two, I wanted to test out the Wyeast Farmhouse Ale strain. To match the peppery and earthy characteristics, I wanted a bit of fruit, so I went with small hop additions of Citra and Amarillo. My thought on this was that I might be able to capture something akin to very fresh Fantôme Saison, which has beautiful notes of peach and tropical fruits.

Batch Number: 33
Brew Date: March 24, 2012
Keg Date: TBD
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.037
FG: TBD
IBU: 25
ABV: TBD
SRM: 3.0

Mash: Single infusion for 90 minutes at 149 F.
Boil: 90 minute

Fermentables

7.0 lb French Pilsner
0.50 lb Flaked Rye

Hops

0.5 oz Citra (12.4 AAU) at 20 minutes
0.5 oz Amarillo (6.9 AAU) at 20 minutes
0.5 oz Citra (12.4 AAU) at flameout
0.5 oz Amarillo (6.9 AAU) at flameout

Other

1/4 tsp Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes
Whirlfloc tablet at 10 minutes

Yeast

Farmhouse Ale (Wyeast 3726)

Notes

03.20.2012 Made a starter with Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale. I forgot to write down the date, but I think the package was 8-10 weeks old. I wasn't terribly concerned with the age, as I'm using this to make the second beer in my line of petit saisons. The volume is approximately 1.6 liters.

03.24.2012 Brewday. This is the first brew at our new house. The starter has fully fermented and the yeast is dropped. Very clear beer remains.

I mashed at 149 F for 90 minutes, infusing with 12 quarts of 163 F water. Initial mash temperature was 149 F after adding a pint or two of filtered water. The final temperature in the mash tun was 147 F. After draining, I batch sparged with 6.5 gallons of 180 F water. The final yield was 8 gallons of 1.029 runnings.

After chilling to 70 F, I transferred the wort to a 6-gallon Better Bottle with a funnel, sending over the trub and all. It got some aeration during this time, and also as I sloshed it carrying the carboy down the basement stairs. Give this, and the fact that the OG only came in at 1.037, I didn't feel the need to blast with pure oxygen.

While I normally decant the starter wort, this time I did not, as I hadn't really introduced much oxygen over its course, and also because there was still some yeast left on top, so I thought I'd give it ago. After all, it probably won't affect the flavor much (if at all) and it means an extra 1.5 liters of beer for me.

Demeter Vert (f/k/a Sorachi Lime Saison) (Batch 01): Recipe & Tasting Notes

Batch Number: 31
Brew Date: February 1, 2012
Keg Date: February 26, 2012
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.008
IBU: 32
ABV: 6.8%
SRM: 4.2

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 148 F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

8.00 lb Continental Pilsner
2.75 lb White Wheat Malt
1.00 lb Flaked Rye

Hops

1.0 oz Sorachi Ace (10.7 AAU) at 20 minutes
1.0 oz Sorachi Ace (10.7 AAU) at 5 minutes
1.0 oz Sorachi Ace (10.7 AAU) at flameout

Other

2.0 Tbsp Lime Zest at 5 minutes

Yeast

Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast Blend (WLP 568)
Brettanomyces Claussenii (WLP 645)
Russian River Sanctification Dregs

Notes

At the end of the brewday, I had a Russian River Batch 5 Sanctification, and added the dregs from that to the carboy.

Fementation: Ambient temperature in a 6-gallon Better Bottle. Liquid temperature was approximately 72-73 F.



Tasting Notes

Appearance: Pours a moderately-hazy light apricot color with a nice, fluffy white head. Nice retention with some spotty lacing on the way down and a thin collar throughout. 2.5/3.

Nose: The first whiff brings in a bit of lime and citrus plus some backing yeastiness. The Brett may not have been entirely finished out when I decided to keg this one, and it shows in the nose. I was anxious to get this kegged for our moving date, probably at the expense of having a better final product. When I brew this again, I'll be sure to give it some more time. 10.5/12.

Flavor: The taste doesn't have nearly as much residual yeastiness as the nose does. Instead, there's a mild acidity to go along with some zesty citrus character. I think it actually comes through more as lemon, likely because of the Sorachi, though lime is present as well. There's also a slight touch of pineapple character in the background. Fairly complex and enjoyable. 16.5/20.

Feel: The flavor suffers because of the feel. The body is nice; it's quite light and crisp with minimal malt presence in the background. There's a light zest and faint acidity throughout. However, there's not enough carbonation. I let this one sit at 12 PSI for awhile, but that didn't quite give me what I was looking for. I'm coming to the conclusion that I probably need to start bottle conditioning saisons rather than just kegging them. One of these batches I'll need to split the batch by carbonation method and see the differences. With all that said, I really love the faint acidity and citrus character to the background, so probably no change in the recipe, just carbonation. 3.5/5.

Overall: I think this could be a much better beer if I were to give the Brett enough time to really work, and also boosted the carbonation up quite a bit, hitting somewhere around 3 or 3.2 volumes. I'd also boost the lime presence just a bit, probably to around 3 tablespoons. The hops are good where they're at. I think this could end up as a very nice beer with some minor improvements and/or changes in technique. 7.5/10.

Score: 40.5/50

Lost Abbey Veritas Series

Below is all the information I have collected to date regarding Lost Abbey's Veritas series. Big thanks to Beachbum1975 and his blog post (February 24, 2010) for much of the initial information I found regarding blends 001 through 008. Thanks to Beer Served Rare for the rumored bottle counts on 001 through 009 (minus 008). Information stated as coming from Tomme himself is based on what he relayed to a group of friends at the DC Lost Abbey tasting that he crashed. See the videos for that: Part one. Part two.

I will update this information as more becomes available. In the future, I'd like to find specific release dates for each release.


As an initial note, it's likely that each Veritas beer has more components than identified here. After the first blend, which has its components identified by actual percentages, it's likely that additional beers were used but have not been specifically identified by Tomme.

Veritas 001. This is a blend comprised of 2003 Cuvee de Tomme (40%), Old Viscosity (20%), and Red Stone Black Raspberry Mead (20%). The remaining 20% is unclear.

Approximate release: February 2007

Rumored bottle count: 420

Veritas 002. This release is a blend of Avant Garde (barrel-aged and bug-infused versions) plus Black Raspberry Mead and Old Viscosity.

Approximate release: September 2007

Rumored bottle count: 420

Veritas 003 . This variant is a blend of Amazing Grace, Angel's Share, and Cuvee de Tomme. Tomme said that it had cherries and a little bit of Cuvee de Tomme.

Approximate release: January 2008

Rumored bottle count: 840

Veritas 004. The components of one of the most-heralded blends were Cuvee de Tomme, Duck Duck Gooze, and Yellow Bus. Tomme says this was "Yellow Bus light," and used the same peaches as Yellow Bus, but had a different base.

Approximate release: November 2008

Rumored bottle count: 840

Veritas 005. This blend utilized an undisclosed sour base aged in French Oak barrels with wild grapes from Southern California (Temecula). According to Beer News, this beer was once known as Vino Veritas, though this may have been a reference to what became Veritas 007. Tomme confirmed that this used California native wild grapes that are not suitable for wine.

Approximate release: November 2009. Never available as a release to the public.

Rumored bottle count: 72

Veritas 006. This is a blend of Angel's Share (aged on Cabernet Franc grapes) and Sangre del Cristo (Phunky Duck with sour cherries). Other rumored additions include a soured version of Avant Garde, raspberry mead, and tangerines. Tomme indicated that this was "sangria," with a blend of red wine barrel beer and orange zest.

Approximate release: November 2009

Rumored bottle count: 600

Veritas 007. This was rumored to be the famed collaboration Isabelle Proximus aged on Cabernet Franc grapes. Despite this speculation, it's more likely that the base beer was aged in Isabelle Proximus barrels. This was originally intended to be a re-brew of Veritas 005, with a more readily-available type of grape, though it didn't quite work out, and this ended up as Veritas 007 instead of a re-release of Veritas 005. Thanks to BA Masterski for the tip. Tomme confirmed that this was Cabernet Franc grapes with a sour base.

Approximate release: February 2010

Rumored bottle count: 600

Veritas 008. The most-controversial of the series, this is the winner of Lost Abbey's "T.E.A." competition, aka "Traditional Experimental Ale." The base beer was called Mellow Yellow, which itself is Lost Abbey's Port Amigo Mexican Lager aged in wine barrels. The blend then received lemon zest and tea. Tomme said this was a yellow base beer with black tea.

Approximate release: August 2010, as one of the aforementioned selections of "T.E.A." beers at a Lost Abbey event. The bottles were released at the Fourth Annual Barrel Party on November 13, 2010. Each of the 125 attendants received one bottle, and had the option to purchase one additional bottle.

Rumored bottle count: ~250.

Veritas 009. "Veritas 009 is a substantial departure from earlier members of The Lost Abbey’s small batch experimental program, which were generally sour beers aged in French oak barrels for 12 to 15 months. Begun in late 2007 as dark base beer, it was sent to freshly emptied bourbon barrels from Kentucky’s Heaven Hill Distilleries. The beer aged for 15 months before it was moved into French oak barrels previously used for wine (primarily Syrah). Sour cherries were added and the beer was left to rest for another year and three months. Finally, in mid-2010, it was pulled from the barrels, blended, bottled and sent off to condition for an additional 11 months." Description courtesy of The Lost Abbey. Tomme said this was a black base with sour cherries.

Release date: May 28, 2011

Rumored bottle count: 1404

Veritas 010. This beer is rumored to have some sort of relation to Lost Abbey's famed Yellow Bus, as 010 is also a wild ale with peaches. Tomme confirmed this was a yellow sour with yellow peaches. These are different peaches than the ones used in Yellow Bus and Veritas 004.

Release date: November 5, 2011

Rumored bottle count: 250-300

Veritas 011.  From RateBeer: "Veritas 011 is a Barleywine aged in McCall Cognac Barrels for 11 months. We added some fresh nectarines over the summer and hit it with a splash of Brett Clausenii.

It is not sour and may only develop a bit a fruity Brett qualities over time, so we aren’t expecting a full blown sour ale. ABV is 12.85%."

Veritas 012.  From RateBeer: "Veritas 012 will be a Kriek - blend of blond sours with cherries.
Similar profile to our 2011 Cable Car Kriek"

Veritas 013.  From RateBeer: "American Sour with Peaches and Nectarines The 13th edition of the Veritas series is an experiment using 3 separate strains of Brettanomyces, before honey, Peaches and Nectarines were added. The beer spent around 2 years total in French Oak barrels. Notes of fruits Peaches and Nectarines, oaky wood, brown sugar and Toasted Granola with Brett character throughout."

Multiple Appearances. This is a list of base beers and which Veritas variants they have appeared in:

Amazing Grace: 003
Angel's Share: 003, 006
Avant Garde: 002
Cuvee de Tomme: 001, 003, 004
Duck Duck Gooze: 004
Isabelle Proximus: 007
Mellow Yellow: 008
Old Viscosity: 001, 002
Red Stone Black Raspberry Mead: 001, 002
Sanre del Cristo: 006
Yellow Bus: 004

* Label image courtesy if The Lost Abbey.

Allagash Coolship

Allagash looks to be preparing another batch of Coolship Red. Rob Tod a few pictures today, including photos of unlabeled corked and caged bottles, as well as of the blending session.

Resting bottles:


Blending:


Pictures via Rob Tod's Twitter feed.

Lambic News -- Cantillon Amphoras and Meerts

Cantillon recently let fans know that they are reviving the old practice of utilizing amphoras, aka clay pots, for lambic fermentation. Read the story here. Additional pictures of the practice were posted on Cantillion's Facebook page. A preview image is above.

In other lambic news, here's a tidbit on the somewhat-lost tradition of Meerts, which is essentially a table lambic made from the second runnings of a lambic mash. It's something I'd like to try brewing in the near future.