Recipe: Blank Space (First Edition) [Batch #105]

Back in May, I had some friends over for a brew day, and we decided to do a saison with key lime juice and zest.  We wanted hops to complement that citrus character, and decided to use newer hops that would give additional "green fruit" character.  Namely, Hallertau Blanc, Nelson Sauvin, and Sorachi Ace.  Together, these hops should impart some gooseberry, lime, white grape, and lemon/lime character.  (I know that some people get unusual flavors like dill from Sorachi Ace, but I've always ended up with a nice citrus character, though I've never used them in a beer that didn't also feature citrus zest, so who knows what they're like all by themselves.)

Not only am I a big fan of all these flavors, but I knew that by the time this beer was done with primary fermentation, my oak barrel would be empty and I thought this would all work well with a bit of oak and its accompanying characteristics.  

I ultimately decided that I wanted to have a non-barrel-aged portion of the beer that I could also dry hop to have an ultra-refreshing (and low ABV!) beer for the summer.  Because of that, a portion of the barrel will end up with some other blonde saison as a component of the fill.  I nearly always have some sort of blonde saison around, so that shouldn't be a problem, especially since I use the same Ambrosia 005 blend as part of nearly all of my fermentations.  This is particularly true given the fact that all of my carboys and buckets are scratched and certainly house plenty of that culture, although I recently purchased a conical that I'll use for "clean" saisons going forward that I can either bottle/keg that way, or introduce specific Brett strains and/or other bugs at packaging to see how they work in secondary.

I mentioned above that a plus to this beer is its low alcohol content, but that doesn't really make this beer any sort of outlier.  As those who read this blog frequently have likely noticed, it's extremely rare for me to brew a beer that ends up over 6% ABV, as I like my saisons light, refreshing, and consumable in (relatively) large quantities.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 105
Brew Date: May 14, 2016
Bottle/Keg Date: See notes below.
Batch Size: 20 Gallon
OG: 1.042 (est.)
FG: 1.004 (measured)
Fermentation Temperature: Room temperature, fluctuating around 65*-70*F.
IBU: 67.0 (modified Tinseth)
ABV: 5.0% (est.)
SRM: 3.0

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 154*F.
Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

20.00 lb French Pilsner (57%)
9.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (26%)

3.25 lb Acid Malt (9%)
3.00 lb Oats, Flaked (9%)

Salts & Water

All salts added directly to the mash along with the strike water.  I'm now using a Blichmann BrewEasy system, so everything is recirculating between two pots.  All the liquid is then drained into the boil kettle at the end of the mash.

5.0g Calcium Chloride
8.0g Calcium Sulfate
12.0g Sodium Chloride

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.30
Calcium: 64

Magnesium: 12
Sodium: 51
Chloride: 104
Sulfate: 69

Hops

2.0 oz Sorachi Ace (10.4 AAU), pellet, at 60 minutes

5.0 oz Nelson Sauvin (13.2 AAU), pellet, at flameout

4.0 oz Hallertau Blanc (16.8 AAU), pellet, at flameout

2.0 oz Sorachi Ace (10.4 AAU), pellet, at flameout

Dry hop forthcoming to the non-barrel-aged portion.

Other

4 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes

2 Tbsp. Key lime zest (5-gallon portion only)

100 mL Key lime juice (5-gallon portion only)

Yeast

Ambrosia Blend 005

Notes

05.31.2016: Added key lime juice  (100mL) and zest (2 Tbsp.) to a 5-gallon portion of the batch being fermented in a bucket.

7.06.2016:  I rinsed the barrel with several rounds of hot water followed by a spray-out with the hose, then several rounds of cool water.  I then purged the barrel with CO2 and started adding beer:

• 4.5 gallons of Blank Space (carboy-fermented). SG of 1.006.  Light lemon and green grape with definite backing flaked grain body and feel.
• 5.5 gallons of Blank Space (bucket-fermented). SG of 1.004.  Flavor is similar to the carboy version but with a little bit of sulfur in the nose at first, though that quickly dissipated. 
• 3 gallons of Wallonian-fermented wort from the 04.29.2016 WPA batch (Batch 104). SG is 1.004.

I added the rest of the Wallonian Farmhouse portion of Batch #104 to the carboy fermented with Ambrosia 005 from that batch.  That carboy is now at max capacity, and I plan to transfer that beer onto some watermelon juice soon.

12.17.2016: Emptied the barrel into kegs.

01.01.2017: One full keg of Black Space received 33g of Galaxy pellets. The other received 43g of Nelson Sauvin.  Both kegs bottled after dry hopping was complete.

01.14.17: 3 gallon keg remained (approximately). It's been carbonating in the keezer and has a bit of sulfur and is a bit too oaky. Added 1oz of Denali pellets in a muslin bag. Keezer at 45*F.

Demeter Vert (Batch 03): Tasting Notes

I've had this one (recipe) on tap for a month or so now, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing it.  While it is really nice having this on tap, I do really prefer to have my saisons bottle conditioner, for several reasons.  First off, based on experience with kegging partial batches and conditioning the rest in the bottle, I believe that the bottle conditioned beers have a better mouthfeel.  There's something about the conditioning process that really makes the bottles jump, both figuratively and literally.  For the latter, there's nothing like popping a 750 of a farmhouse beer and see

ing that slow gush.

Aside from the conditioning effect itself, which is a fairly minor thing for me, what I really like is being able to sit on the bottles and see how they develop, particularly since everything that I'm doing nowadays has Brettanomyces and lactic acid bacteria (and likely other critters as well).  The Brett helps scavenge any additional oxygen, and also does a great job cleaning up the diacetyl that is created by Pediococcus.  This is particularly important for a lot of the beers that I've done lately, as I've added plenty of Crooked Stave dregs, and it seems as though they've got a strain of Pedio that really, really likes to kick up a lot of diacetyl.

With this diacetyl creation, there are issues with kegging and then trying to bottle for friends, particularly if that means that the bottles are going to become warm for some time and allow the Pedio to get started again.  Without Brett to clean up, I may end up sending out buttery saisons, which is something I certainly don't want.  With Pedio in the bottles, there's likely Brett as well, although the latter may not be all that viable, as Chad Yakobson at Crooked Stave has mentioned (video link) that he's seen issues with Brett effectively dying off after being refrigerated for too long.

With those thoughts aside, here are the tasting notes for the beer:

Appearance: Slightly cloudy light peach color with a nice initial head, though the retention could certainly be a lot better.  Another unfortunate side effect of draft beer, in my experience.  Even when pouring with a thick, rocky head using flow control faucets, the head ends up not lasting for more than a few minutes, and not much lacing is produced.

Aroma: Just a touch of sulfur in the background behind notes of lime and soft malt.  A bit of wheat and earth.  Very faint background rye spice.

Flavor: Much more complex than the nose, with the rye coming through a bit more alongside lime peel and a bit of light tartness, likely coming from both the lime juice as well as the lactic acid bacteria used in fermenting the beer.

Mouthfeel: Very light and fairly effervescent while still being a bit chewy, likely as a result of the significant adjuncts.  The main saison strain used in producing this beer is the Yeast Bay's Wallonian Farmhouse, and it's possible that this yeast produces a good amount of body-enhancing glycerol, much as Wyeast French Saison (WY3711) does.  The glycerol produced by that French Saison strain is also mentioned in his talk discussed above.  Even with the chewy mouthfeel, the beer finishes quite dry, as well as faintly tart.

Overall: I'm quite happy with this beer, and it's been a great summer drink, especially filling pint mason jars of it as "growlers" to drink on the Metra train on the way home from work.  (Yes, one of the perks of my commute is that Chicago's Metra commuter trains allow alcohol.)  In terms of improvements, I definitely think this would be better with increased carbonation and a more-lasting head.  The carbonation is just right early on, but seems to fade after the glass is initially poured.  I'd prefer to have a bottle conditioned version that hits above 3 volumes of CO2.

Aside from the carbonation issues, I'd also plan to use just a bit more lime zest next time, as that should help the aroma pop a bit more.  I think that the lime juice that was used appears in the flavor, but doesn't come through too much in the aroma.  The bitterness and mouthfeel (aside from carbonation) are where I want them, so I probably wouldn't change much there.  I would also maybe dry hop with around 2 ounces per 10 gallons of Sorachi Ace to give a bit more additional aroma (maybe the additional lime zest could also be added here?).

Lucky Charm (Batch 04) & Bauernhof: Recipe

Since I don't do any sort of boil for my Berliner Weisse, I figured this time I could probably stretch 15 gallons out of a single brew session, and luckily it ended up working.  Since I had this much, I'd do a bit of an experiment to change up my traditional Berliner.  I still did 10 gallons of the standard Lucky Charm Berliner Weisse, but for the remaining 5 gallons, I decided to do a saison/berliner hybrid.  For this portion, I thought that name "Bauernhof," the German word for farmhouse, would be appropriate.

I've detailed my "sour mash" process in the past, but in sort, I mash out right into the boil kettle, though from there I do not go to a burner, and don't raise the temperature at all.  Instead, I chill to 80*-100*F, depending on which heat sources I have available and how long I'll be souring for.  I then add this to a CO2-purged keg with a muslin sack of 1/4 lb. of pilsner malt.  This time I did things a bit differently.  For the Lucky Charm portion, I had a vial each of White Labs Berliner Blend (WLP630), although in my experience this doesn't get the beer tart enough.  Since I've had such great experience with Jolly Pumpkin dregs in the past (they sour cleanly and quickly), I decided to use dregs from Calabaza Blanca here in lieu of the muslin sack with pilsner malt.

Given that I wasn't using the lacto that lives on the outside of the uncrushed malt, I didn't do a total CO2 flush this time; in fact, I even oxygenated this time.  (Normally when doing a sour mash you want to avoid any oxygen getting in contact with that mash, as that will encourage the growth of all sorts of nasty critters that will make it smell like vomit.)  So, each 5 gallons of the Lucky Charm portion got a vial of the WLP630 as well as the dregs from a relatively-fresh (December 2013) 375mL bottle of Calabaza Blanca.  The dregs were added the day after the White Labs, as I only had one bottle the day I brewed, and I added that to the Bauernhof portion, along with a starter of Ambrosia Blend 002, which is a mixture of ECY08, Brett C, and Brett Trois.

Here are the full details on the batch:

Batch Number: 87 & 88

Brew Date: June 1, 2014

Bottle Date:

Batch Size: 15 Gallon

OG: 1.029

FG: 1.002 (est.)

Fermentation Temperature: 70-76* F

IBU: 0.0

ABV: 3.5&% (est.)

SRM: 2.7

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 150* F

Boil: None

Fermentables

8.25 lb. Pilsner

4.5 lb. Torrified Wheat

3.75 lb. Flaked Wheat

Normally I just go 50/50 Pilsner and White Wheat Malt, though I was completely out of the latter this time, even though I thought I had a bucket full of it.  Hopefully this works just as well.

Salts & Water

5.0g Calcium Chloride (into the mash)

12mL Lactic Acid (into the mash)

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.42

Calcium: 52

Magnesium: 12

Sodium: 7

Chloride: 47

Sulfate: 27

7.5mL lactic acid added to the sparge water to get it to a pH around 5.5.

Hops

None

Other

3.0 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient before chilling

Yeast

Lucky Charm:

White Labs Berliner Blend plus Calabaza Blanca dregs

Bauernhof:

Ambrosia Blend 002 (2nd generation) plus Calabaza Blanca dregs

Notes

06.01.2014: Brewday.  20 seconds of pure oxygen to each of the 5-gallon portions.  The two portions that got the Berliner Blends were put in a water bath with an aquarium heater set at 68*F (in my experience this overshoots a bit, so probably ends up at 70*-72*F).  The water bath on the portion of the wort with the saison blend was placed in a separate water batch at 70*F.  This portion also started out with the dregs of a 375mL bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca.  I'm trying this here in lieu of using the lacto from raw grain this time.

06.02.2014: The portion with the saison blend was at 74*F this morning after a very warm evening last night.  Basement even got quite warm.  This evening, changed it was back down to 72*F, and altered the controller to keep it here.  The two 5-gallon straight Berliner portions in the other water bath are still set at 68*F, and I added the dregs from a December 2013 batch of Calabaza Blanca to each one, again instead of using the lacto from grain here.  

06.03.2014: Saison portion -- Bauernhof -- was at 76*F this morning.  The temperature probe had slipped out of the Ziploc bag that I have submersed in the water to measure that temperature.  Thankfully it didn't get too warm.  Re-adjusted and it's back down to around 72*F.

07.27.2014: Ready to get the Lucky Charm portions onto fruit.  Both are sitting at a pH of 2.9.  Using the BrewCipher refractometer conversion, gravity is currently at 1.011 before the fruit additions.

For the raspberry-lime, started by adding 10 pounds of raspberries and then transferring.  Looking back, this is double what I used last time with Batch 03, so should be fairly intense.  I'm keeping the lime a little more in check with what I had last time.

Raspberries for the raspberry-lime portion.

For the pineapple-coconut, starting with 5 pounds of fresh pineapple, 22 ounces of fresh coconut meat, and one quart of fresh coconut water.

Pineapple-coconut portion.

Bauernhof received passion fruit puree.  Added two 2.2 lb tubs plus two 14oz packages.

07.29.2014: Forgot to add the lime to the raspberry version on Monday night.  In Batch 03,  I used the juice of three limes and 3 Tbsp. of zest.  I'm looking to add just a bit more here given the additional raspberries, but will take more precise measurements this time.

07.30.2014: This morning, added the zest of 4 limes, which was roughly 3.5 Tbsp. (10 grams) along with the juice of those limes (100mL).  Checked the fermenters and the raspberry version didn't seem to be doing much when I added the lime juice and zest, though there was a decent amount of carbonation coming up when I added the weighted muslin bag with the zest.  There were apparent signs of fermentation on top of the pineapple-coconut version, and Bauernhof (passion fruit) had a nice pellicle.  Will leave all of these undisturbed for a month or so and then check the gravities.

Finally adding the limes.

08.04.2014: Went to check on all of these after a nice camping trip in Michigan.  The raspberry-lime portion is fermenting quite well.  To make sure that I achieve maximum color and sugar extraction, and also to keep out unwanted oxygen exposure, I punched down the raspberries, utilizing a technique often described by Jester King.

"Punching down" raspberries with a sanitized stainless steel spoon.

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.