Monnik Sauvage: Recipe

Here is my first true attempt at an Orval-style beer.  I've previously done a Belgian single, Monnik Blonde, though that was split and fermented separately with a standard Trappist yeast, and then also with Brett Trois.  This time, I'm going with the White Labs Bastogne strain, and then will secondary for a few months with Orval dregs.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 64
Brew Date: March 16, 2013
Bottle Date:
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.050 (est.)
FG: 1.002 (est.)
Fermentation Temperature: Ambient (~65 F)
IBU: 41.6
ABV: 7.8% (est.)
SRM: 8.1

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 153 F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

4lb French Pilsner
4lb Pale Malt
12oz Caramunich 

Hops

1.5oz Hallertauer (4.6 AAU) at 45 minutes
1.0oz Styrian Goldings (4.6 AAU) at 20 minutes
1.0oz Styrian Goldings (4.6 AAU) at 5 minutes
1.0oz Styrian Goldings (4.6 AAU) dry hop (7 days)
0.5oz Hallertauer (4.6 AAU) dry hop (7 days)

Other

1 Tbsp 5.2 buffer in mash 

Yeast

White Labs WLP510 (Bastogne Belgian Ale): 2L starter made several days beforehand
Orval dregs (secondary)

Notes

Biere de Nord: Recipe

After brewing the second batch of Demeter Auran this past Sunday, I'll also brewed my first attempt at a biere de garde.  This will be more of a farmhouse version of the style, not being entirely controlled other than in the initial stages.  I went with a standard European Ale yeast at low temperatures for primary, and then will lager for about a month.  After that, I plan to get the beer into a keg for long-term aging with red wine-soaked oak cubes and Brettanomyces Lambicus, along with dregs from Citrine.  The hope is that the initial fermentation will take the beer to a fairly low gravity, and from there I can get some earthy and cherry character from the Brett, along with a bit of acidity from the Citrine dregs.  The red wine will hopefully add a nice touch, and I'll probably keep it to a relatively-small amount for a longer period of time.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 63
Brew Date: March 10, 2013
Bottle Date: October 6, 2013
Batch Size: 5 Gallon
OG: 1.072 (est.)
FG: 1.005 (est.)
Fermentation Temperature: Ambient (~65 F)
IBU: 25.1
ABV: 7.9% (est.); 8.2% (act.)
SRM: 15.7

Mash: Single infusion for 90 minutes at 148 F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

12lb French Pilsner
12oz Caramunich Malt
8oz Aromatic Malt
4.2oz Amber Malt
2oz Brown Malt
2oz Carafa III

Hops

1.75oz Fuggles (4 AAU) at 60 minutes

Other

1 Tbsp 5.2 buffer in mash
Red-wine soaked medium toast French oak cubes (.75 ounces in secondary)

Yeast

White Labs WLP011 (European Ale): 2L starter made several days beforehand
Wyeast Brettanomyces Lambicus (secondary)
Ambrosia Citrine dregs
BFM Sq. Rt. 225 Historical Saison dregs

Notes

03.10.2013: Brewday.  Everything went off without a hitch.  The batch got 30 seconds of straight oxygen, and then went into a corny with a blowoff tube for fermentation.

03.11.2013: Strong fermentation after 24 hours.

Unrecorded (lost to computer glitch): After lagering, added a smackpack of Wyeast Brettanomyces Lambicus.  Assume based on date for bottling below that the beer started lagering after 2-3 weeks and then lagered for 4 weeks, so was on the wine-soaked oak cubes and dregs for about 5 months.

10.06.2013: Bottled to achieve approximately 2.4 volumes of CO2. Given that the beer is somewhat inspired by BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien, I also added the dregs of a bottle of BFM Historical Sq. Rt. 225 Saison before bottling.

06.30.2014: Tasting notes.

Demeter Auran: Recipe (Round Two)

This past Sunday I decided to go with another round of Demeter Auran.  This time I went with blood orange zest instead of clementine zest, and Mosaic instead of Citra.  I also upped the rose hips just a bit.  Aside from that, I split the 7.5 gallon batch with 5 gallons getting the mixed-ferment saison dreg blend, which was the cake from the original Demeter Auran.  The remaining 2.5 gallons got some white wine-soaked oak cubes and the cake from the portion of the Namur saison experiment that was done with grown up dregs from Tired Hands HandFarm.

I also increased the amount of blood orange zest, as I'm planning on sending the main 5-gallon portion to a keg to age with a good amount of white wine-soaked oak cubes.  I'll probably bottle one gallon of the base just to get a good comparison.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 62
Brew Date: March 10, 2013
Bottle Date:
Batch Size: 7.5 Gallon
OG: 1.050 (est.)
FG: 1.002 (est.)
Fermentation Temperature: Ambient (~65 F)
IBU: 29.2
ABV: 5.8% (est.)
SRM: 3.6

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

Fermentables

8lb 10oz French Pilsner
3lb 0oz White Wheat Malt
3lb 0oz Flaked Wheat

Hops

1.5 oz Mosaic (12.5 AAU) at 20 minutes
1.5 oz Mosaic (12.5 AAU) at flameout

Other

1 Tbsp 5.2 buffer in mash
21 grams of blood orange zest at flameout
6 grams of rose hips at flameout
White-wine soaked medium toast Hungarian oak cubes (amounts below)

Yeast

Saison Blend (5 gallons; oak cubes contained in the cake of the Demeter Auran batch)
Tired Hands Blend (2.5 gallons; half an ounce of white wine-soaked oak cubes)

Notes

03.10.2013: Brewday.  Everything went off without a hitch.  Each portion of the batch got 30 seconds of straight oxygen, with the saison dreg portion getting fermented in a 5-gallon bucket, and the Tired Hands dreg portion going into a 3-gallon Better Bottle.

03.11.2013: Fairly good initial fermentation from the Tired Hands portion after about 24 hours.

03.14.2013: It took the saison dreg portion quite awhile, and I was getting worried, but it's finally going really strong after 3.5 days.  If it wasn't going this morning, I was planning to take a good portion of the krausen of the Tired Hands dreg portion and also a thief or two from Citrine, and just see what happened.

06.02.2013: The saison portion, which was transferred to a keg after primary fermentation before our move, was hit with 1.0oz of boiled oak cubes that had been soaked in Nisia Old Vines Verdejo since 03.30.2013.

10.08.2013: The batch has been with the wine-soaked oak cubes for just over four months.  There was no blow-off assembly in place, so the beer continued to condition in the keg at room temperature, creating plenty of carbonation.  Placed into the kegerator and set at 20 PSI.