Wallonian Pale Ale (Batch 04): Recipe

This is my fourth time trying out this recipe, a very hop-forward saison with moderate bitterness.  I absolutely loved my second batch of this (recipe; tasting notes).  The third batch was basically the same recipe as the second, and I didn't feel that it warranted its own post.  This was especially true as I was brewing with a friend (his half of the batch was fermented with basic Chico yeast) and I wasn't able to take many notes.  This attempt is slightly different, as I plan to change up the hop profile a bit, and will also probably dry hop each half of the batch differently.

Here are the full details on the batch:

Batch Number: 97

Brew Date: October 18, 2014

Keg Date: November 9, 2014

Batch Size: 10 Gallon

OG: 1.045 (est.)

FG: 1.003 (est.)

Fermentation Temperature: 65-70* F

IBU: 56.0 (modified Tinseth from BrewCipher)

ABV: 5.5%

SRM: 5.0

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 154* F

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

10lb 8oz Dingemans Belgian Pilsner

4lb 0oz Munich Malt

2lb 0oz Flaked Wheat

0lb 14oz Acid Malt

0lb 12oz Flaked Oats

Salts & Water

6.6g Calcium Chloride (all in the boil kettle)

7.1g Gypsum (all in the boil kettle)

2.5g Sodium Chloride (all in the boil kettle)

5.5mL lactic acid added to the sparge water to get that pH to approximately 5.3.  

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.34

Calcium: 96

Magnesium: 12

Sodium: 25

Chloride: 100

Sulfate: 100

Hops

1.5oz Pacific Gem (pellet, 16.0 AAU) at 60 minutes 

4oz of Mosaic (pellet, 11.6 AAU), 30 minutes after flameout

2oz of Belma (leaf, 11.6 AAU), 30 minutes after flameout

2oz of Galaxy (pellet, 15.0 AAU), 30 minutes after flameout

Let the hops sit in the wort for about an hour total, as I ended up leaving them for a long time with Batch 02 of WPA and really enjoyed the character.

Dry Hops

01.02.2015: This one has been on tap for about two weeks, and I'm finally getting around to adding some dry hops in the keg.  I've been way behind, as my wife and I had twin boys in November!  I had planned on doing a blend of 3-4 hops and using some leaf, but I discovered that I'm out of large hop bags and don't have the time to reseal that many packages.  Thus, I ended up going with only two varieties of pellet hops, adding them to a hop bag (without weights, also can't find those) and dropping that into the keg attached to some unwaxed/unscented floss.

I went with 4 ounces of 2014 Mosaic and 1 ounce of 2013 Columbus.  The Columbus came from a 1-ounce package.  I usually have those around since I like to use them for bittering.  The Mosaic came out of a 1-pound bag.  I put the bag into a gallon Ziploc and put it back in the freezer.  Hopefully I'll have time to vacuum seal sooner rather than later.

Other

2.0 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes

Yeast

Full batch used Ambrosia Blend 005 (now the seventh generation) from the cake of an September 27, 2014 batch of Demeter Facile.  Per yeast calculator.com, I needed 320 billion cells for the entire batch.  At 40-60% solids, this would mean 250mL for the whole batch.  I went with 500mL, as I was pulling from a wine thief and didn't have the best view, and I'd rather overpitch than underpitch, and didn't have time to let everything settle out before measuring.

Notes

11.09.2014: Kegged each half.  Will wait until closer to tapping to add the dry hops.

Demeter Sinis (Batch 03): Recipe

This was my third time brewing Demeter Sinis, the winter seasonal in the Demeter series.  As I have been pretty happy with it since the first batch, I didn't really change anything up here.  I'm also pretty excited as it has been a long time since I've had "straight" Demeter Sinis available.  This is due to the fact that last year's Batch 02 was all fruited, with the pomegranate portion getting kegged and the cranberry portion was bottled.  Thankfully I do still have a few bottles of the latter.  

As I've cleaned up my temperature control equipment for the season making way for a steep drop-off in brewing over the next few months (twin boys coming soon to the Thorpe family!), I decided to just ferment this one at room temperature.  In my experience, I've gotten yeast-driven character that's pretty similar no matter the temperature I use with my current yeast/Brett blend, it just takes a bit longer when fermenting in the 65-70*F range as opposed to the 75-80*F range.  I really do need to do some actual split-batch experiments with temperature next year though.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 96

Brew Date: October 4, 2014

Bottle Date: November 2, 2014

Batch Size: 10 gallons

OG: 1.045 (estimated)

FG: 1.002 (estimated)

Fermentation Temperature: 65-70* F (room temperature)

IBU: 27.0

ABV: 5.5% (est.)

SRM: 17

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

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

7lb 8oz Belgian Pilsner

4lb 0oz Wheat Malt

4lb 0oz Wheat, Flaked

1lb 0oz Acid Malt

0lb 12oz Rye Malt

0lb 8oz Oats

0lb 8oz CaraMunich

0lb 8oz Carafa II

0lb 4oz Chocolate Malt

Salts & Water

5.5g Calcium Chloride (all added directly to the kettle)

4.3g Gypsum (all added directly to the kettle)

6.1g Sodium Chloride (all added directly to the kettle)

All of the salts are added directly to the kettle to achieve the ultimate water profile that I am looking for. Acid malt is being used to get the mash pH almost to where I wanted it.  I also added 4mL of lactic acid to the mash.

Resulting water profile (based on EZ Water Calculator v3) is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.21

Calcium: 78

Magnesium: 12

Sodium: 50

Chloride: 127

Sulfate: 70

I also added 5.5mL of lactic acid to the sparge water to get the pH of that liquor to 5.2.

Hops

1.0oz Nugget (pellet, 13.3 AAU) at 60 minutes

1.0oz Willamette (leaf, 7.5 AAU) at flameout

Other

2.0 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes

6.0g Lavender, dried, at flameout*

1.0g Black Cardamom, at flameout

Yeast

Full batch used Ambrosia Blend 005 (now the seventh generation) from the cake of an September 27, 2014 batch of Demeter Facile.  Per yeast calculator.com, I needed 160 billion cells for the entire batch.  At 40-60% solids, this would mean 250mL for the whole batch.  I went with 500mL, as I was pulling from a wine thief and didn't have the best vie, and I'd rather overpitch than underpitch, and didn't have time to let everything settle out before measuring.

Notes

11.02.2014: Bottled around 9 gallons, aiming for 3.0 volumes of CO2 based on the tastybrew.com priming calculator.

Demeter Automne: Tasting Notes

After about two months in the bottle, it's about time to write out some tasting notes for this batch, which is my first time brewing Demeter Automne, a fall saison (recipe).  I'll say that early on, I thought the finish was too biscuit-heavy, but that character has certainly died down over the past month, and is now just about where I want it.  

Appearance: Medium to dark amber with a puffy light tan lasting head.  Fairly clear.

Nose: Toasty biscuit alongside faint pumpkin spice.  Earthy and leafy.  I think the combination of light spicing and Willamette at flameout got me what I was looking for -- something that isn't too heavy in any one direction, but is instead just reminiscent of fall.

Taste: Earth and toast with a bit of fall spice.  Nothing stands out too much.  Some pumpkin in the background as it warms.  I'm glad that I used fresh-roasted (then frozen) pumpkin in this recipe, as I think the squash flavor does actually come through.  Some light funk on the backend, alongside a faint acidity.

Mouthfeel: Dry finish, though the body itself isn't too light.  Carbonation just where I want it for a darker saison.  Easy drinking without any one element becoming too dominant.  Light tartness through the finish.

Overall: For a first attempt, I'm quite happy with this one.  I'm not sure there's anything that I would change up too much.  Next year, I think I may increase the Willamette addition at flameout just a bit, adding a bit more of the leafy/earthy character that I really like in this beer.  As mentioned above, at first I thought the biscuit malt was too much, but I think after a month of being fully-carbonated, that character is just about where I want it.  

Now that I have the base recipe down, I think I'll likely do a few batches of this next year, as I'd like to try a few "barrel-aged" variants.  I'm most interested in trying a version with wine-soaked oak cubes, and then another version with brandy-soaked oak cubes.

Demeter Facile: Recipe

With this beer being my sixth time using Ambrosia Blend 005 to ferment, I wanted to try something very neutral in order to really pick out the yeast and bacteria profile that I have going.  This meant brewing a beer with a fairly-simple blonde malt profile, keeping the hops in check, and not using any spices or fruit.  Based on this process, I decided to go with "Facile" (French for "simple") as the name for this beer in the Demeter series.  For those who haven't been reading for too long, the Demeter series is a line of saisons using Brettanomyces and/or lactic acid bacteria, and have up until this point contained some sorts of fruit or spicing.  The name of the series comes from Greek mythology, where Demeter is the goddess of the harvest.

With the simple base beer, I'm hoping to be able to pull out fruity aspects that are coming from the yeast and bacteria blend, perhaps with a little bit of spice as well.  While I do appreciate saisons that tend toward the phenolic side, I vastly prefer to brew (and drink) saisons that focus on fruity esters.  I've generally picked out a lot of tropical fruit and citrus notes so far when using Ambrosia Blend 005 to ferment, though I've never been sure how much of that was due to hops and other aroma/flavoring agents I've added to those beers.  Here I use a bit of Centennial for some hop character, but by no means an excessive amount (1.5 ounces per 5 gallons).  For the grist, I used mostly pilsner, adding in some Munich, honey malt, spelt, and wheat to give a little extra flavor and up the mouthfeel a bit.

Here are the full details on the batch:

Batch Number: 95

Brew Date: September 27, 2014

Bottle Date: October 25, 2014

Batch Size: 10 Gallon

OG: 1.044 (est.)

FG: 1.002 (est.)

Fermentation Temperature: ~65*F.  (This is being fermented in the unfinished portion of our basement, which generally hovers in this area, staying warm throughout the winter as the boiler is located in the corner.)

IBU: 29.0 (modified Tinseth from BrewCipher)

ABV: 5.7%

SRM: 5.0

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 152* F

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

14.0 lb Pilsner Malt

1.50 lb Raw Spelt

1.00 lb Flaked Wheat

1.00 lb Munich Malt

1.00 lb Honey Malt

Salts & Water

All salts added to the kettle. Also added 14mL of lactic acid to the mash to get the pH to around 5.24.

5.2g Calcium Chloride

4.3g Gypsum

6.1g Sodium Chloride

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.24 (BrewCipher estimate)

Calcium: 77

Magnesium: 12

Sodium: 50

Chloride: 125

Sulfate: 70

Hops

1.5 oz Centennial (8.7 AAU), pellet, at 60 minutes

3.0 oz Centennial (8.7 AAU), pellet, at flameout

Other

2.0 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes

Yeast

Full batch used Ambrosia Blend 005 (now the sixth generation) from the cake of  an August 23, 2014 batch of Wallonian Pale Ale.  Each 5-gallon portion got approximately 125mL of dense slurry from that cake.  (Estimate based on 73% viability calculated at yeastcalculator.com.)  

Notes

I'm planning to take a portion of this batch and transfer on top of the spent fruit from two other batches that I currently have going.  The first is a Flanders Red that has been sitting on black raspberries that Amy and I picked in Michigan this summer, and the second is a version of Citrine that has been sitting on whole Montmorency cherries that Amy and I picked up at that same farm.  I stole this idea from Jester King, which uses this method with raspberries (La Vie en Rose) (process) and cherries (Detritivore) (process).

11.01.2014: I ended up not using a portion of this batch on the spent fruit, as the black raspberries had completely come apart, and were creating problems when I tried to bottle Amethyst.  Given that, I'll have to try the "second use" idea next year.  Instead of fruiting the second half of this batch, I blended it with some Citrine to create Science & Art #7.

For the first bucket, which stayed as straight Demeter Facile, I had around 4.5 gallons, so I used 130g of sugar, targeting 3.0 volumes of CO2.  For Science & Art #7, I combined 5 gallons of Demeter Facile and 1 gallon of Citrine, and added 175g of sugar, aiming for 3.0 volumes.

01.27.2015: Tasting notes.

Science & Art Series

This post will serve as a repository for recipes and tastings notes of the beers in my Science & Art series.  The series is a line of blended saisons, often also incorporating portions of wild ales that I have brewed.  It's amazing what just 10% blonde sour will do to a beer that was otherwise only saison yeast and Brettanomyces.  With the name, I wanted something that I could keep around for awhile, as with these blends, I thought it would be easier to go with a standard name followed by numbers or years, such as Lost Abbey Veritas, Hill Farmstead Civil Disobedience, and Cantillon Zwanze. Given that these beers will be blends of wilds and saisons, I thought "Science & Art" would be appropriate. One of the things I love about brewing, and particularly about saisons, is that there is so much room for creativity. However, at the same time, there's still the base science behind beer making and, most importantly for my purposes, fermentation.

Each beer in the Science & Art series is meant to be a concept, such that I will attempt to blend beers to achieve the same results on multiple occasions.  For example, I have already blended two separate iterations of Science & Art #1 and Science & Art #3.  

Photo of Science & Art #2

Science & Art #1

• A blend of Farmhouse Mild and Citrine at a ratio of 85-90% to 10-15%.  The resulting blend is extremely fruity, lightly acidic, and finishes very dry and clean.  
• Batches:
• 01: Tasting and blending notes can be found here.  Original blend was on October 6, 2013.
• 02: The second blend was done in mid-March 2014, with the entire batch being legged.

Science & Art #2

• A blend of Dionysus #2, a blonde saison with white wine-soaked oak cubes, and Citrine.  Mildly fruit with some tropical and stone fruit notes, with underlying citrus and faint acidity.
• Batches:
• 01: Tasting and blending notes can be found here.  Blend and bottling occurred on March 1, 2014.

Science & Art #3

• A blend of Farmhouse Mild, Citrine, Dionysus #2, and Demeter Passion.  Pungent and fruity with passion fruit along with peach, orange, light oak, and hints of white wine.  Very dry with a nice tartness through the finish.
• Batches:
• 01: Tasting and blending notes can be found here.  The original blend was on June 4, 2014, and the entire batch was kegged.  However, I did bottle some for the TalkBeer Saison Homebrew Competition.  The beer won the competition with an average score of 39.36. The competition judges were pretty harsh (I know I was), as second place came in at 34.54, with third averaging 33.00.
• 02: This was blended and bottled on July 28, 2014.  This blend left out Dionysus #2, as I only had one bottle left.  Based on initial tastes, blend 01 was much better, with the oak from Dionysus #2 really upping the complexity.

Science & Art #4

• A blend of Demeter Vert, Namur (Meyer Lemon), and Flowerfield.  The beer is delicate with a bit more body than previous blends.  The Nelson from Flowerfield comes through well underneath the citrus coming out of the Demeter Vert and Namur (Meyer Lemon).  The lemon has a stronger presence, but is nowhere near dominating like in that version of Namur.  I've had a few people taste the blend without telling them what's in it, and most have just said "citrus" without specifically identifying lemon or lime.
• Batches:
• 01: Blended and bottled on July 28, 2014.  Full blending and tasting notes can be found here.

Science & Art #5

• The first dark beer in the series.  A blend of Demeter Rouge (cherries and passion fruit), Demeter Sinis (Cranberry), and two different batches of Ruby.  The beer is dark and fruity with cherry, red wine, and dark fruits.  Moderately acidic, though still not entirely "sour."
• Batches:
• 01: Blended and bottled on July 28, 2014.  Full blend and tasting notes can be found here.

Science & Art #6

• An idea that came from the fact that I brewed 10 gallons of Demeter Automne for fall 2014.  Instead of bottling all of that, I decided to also go with a new addition to the Science & Art series.  For this, I took about 90% Demeter Automne and blended in 10% Citrine, and then bottle conditioned the blend with Montmorency tart cherry juice.  The resulting beer has cherry in the nose, with the flavor being more earthy and lightly spicy, with some background notes of biscuit.  A bit leafy.  Cherry comes through in the finish with a light acidity.  Very reminiscent of fall, at least in my opinion.  A great bonfire beer.
• Batches:
• 01: Blended and bottled on September 1, 2014.  Full blend and tasting notes can be found here.

Science & Art &7

• This is a blend of Demeter Facile, a blonde Brett saison, and Citrine.  I had originally planned to use the second half of the 10-gallon batch of Demeter Facile to add to the "spent" fruit from batches of cherry and black-raspberry wild ales, but had some issues on bottling day, so decided to go with this blend instead.  The blend was 5 gallons of Demeter Facile and 1 gallon of Citrine.
• 01: Blended and bottled on November 1, 2014.  Full blend and tasting notes can be found here.

Wallonian Pale Ale (Batch 02): Tasting Notes

Here are the tasting notes for my second batch of Wallonian Pale Ale, which is aimed to be a hoppy farmhouse ale, merging the fruity, citrusy, tropical notes of American hops with tropical and earthy notes coming from our house blend of saison yeast, Brettanomyces, and other critters.  On the hop side, this batch included Amarillo, Belma, Citra, Columbus, and Mosaic.  I like trying to use a multitude of hops, and that way I can attempt to replicate an aroma/flavor profile based on what I have on hand.  The full recipe for the batch is here.

Appearance: Slightly hazy light orange color with a fluffy white head. Good retention and plenty of spotty lacing as it goes down.

Nose: Initial whiff is resinous hops. The Mosaic really comes through here. Tropical fruit, citrus pith, and pine come through underneath. Mango is prevalent alongside leafy hop goodness. As it warms, a bit more orange marmalade.

Flavor: Like the nose, hops hit hard on the front end with nice resin and pine, paired with an intense citrus character. Some light earthiness in the background. Bitterness is moderate, light considering that the flavor and aroma hops are well into the range of a Double IPA.

Mouthfeel: Light with very apparent bitterness. IBUs aren't terribly high, but the water profile and sub-1.005 terminal gravity really accentuate the bitterness. Extremely dry. Very faint tartness from the lactic acid bacteria in the blend coming through on the backend. I've heard people say that sour and butter don't go well together, but the very faint acidity works quite well alongside the dry bitterness, in my opinion. Carbonation is in between that of a standard pale ale and a saison, which seems about right here.

Overall: I'm extremely pleased with this and have been blowing through the keg. Luckily, it was a 10-gallon batch and I decided to bottle off the other half, conditioning with tropical fruit juice instead of table sugar.

I don't think there's much at all that I would change with this one. I'll mess around with the hops based on what I have on hand and what I haven't tried in a while, but this otherwise fits the bill of what I've been looking for -- a saison / IPA hybrid that fits within the farmhouse mold, but could be served to a broader set of drinkers than a wild saison. This will hopefully sit as part of the core lineup at the eventual taproom for Ambrosia Farmhouse Ales.

Demeter Automne: Recipe

Now that August has rolled around, it's time to start thinking about brewing -- not releasing -- fall beers.  I've only done one pumpkin beer in the past and that was a pumpkin stout for my wife, Amy, and not something that I particularly enjoyed.  This time I decided to do a pumpkin saison, keeping the spices quite light so that they'd give more of a "fall feel" rather than being all that noticeable by themselves, and not to the level that it'd be possible to really pick out much of the individual spices.

I brewed a 10-gallon batch, and plan to do something fun with the second 5-gallon portion as part of my Science & Art series.  Right now, I'm thinking that I'll age that half with red wine-soaked oak cubes, and then eventually blend a bit with some funky cider to be ready in time for next fall.  I picked up some store-bought apple cider to try out with some Brett and other dregs, but also hope that I'll be able to pick up, juice, and blend some real cider apples this fall.

Thankfully I had planned to do a pumpkin beer for Amy last year and never got around to it, so I had 5 pounds of frozen pumpkin that she had chopped up and roasted last fall.  I used this along with a mix-and-match set of base malt for the grain bill, using up all the remaining Maris Otter and Two Row that I had, then also using some Vienna, Munich, and Biscuit for some background bread and toast.  The brown malt should add a bit of nuttiness, with slight spice coming from the rye.  I also added the honey malt and Caramel 60 for some backing sweetness and additional character.  As a side note, honey malt itself is incredibly delicious.

Pumpkin and rice hulls at the top of the mash.

Here are the full details on the batch:

Batch Number: 92

Brew Date: August 10, 2014
Keg Date:
Batch Size: 10 Gallon
OG: 1.052 (est.)

FG: 1.005 (est.); 1.006 (measured)
Fermentation Temperature: ~70-75*F (fermented at "room" temperature in the garage, which doesn't have temperature control)
IBU: 24.0 (modified Tinseth from BrewCipher)
ABV: 6.2%
SRM: 13.0

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

Fermentables

7.00 lb Maris Otter

5.00 lb Two Row

2.50 lb Vienna Malt
1.00 lb Munich Malt
1.00 lb Caramel 60
1.00 lb Brown Malt
1.00 lb Biscuit Malt

1.00 lb Honey Malt

1.00 lb Rye Malt

I then also added 5 pounds of pumpkin puree and half a pound of rice hulls to the mash.

Salts & Water

All salts added to the kettle.  Also added 5mL of lactic acid to the mash to get the pH to around 5.4.

5.4g Calcium Chloride
4.5g Gypsum
6.4g Sodium Chloride

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.4
Calcium: 78
Magnesium: 12
Sodium: 50
Chloride: 125
Sulfate: 70

Hops

0.75oz Columbus (17.7 AAU), whole leaf, at 60 minutes
3.00oz Willamette (5.1 AAU), whole leaf, at flameout

Other

2.0 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes

0.84g (.50 tsp.) nutmeg at flameout

0.66g (.50 tsp.) black cardamom at flameout

0.47g (.25 tsp.) dried ginger at flameout

0.39g (.25 tsp.) cinnamon at flameout

0.31g (.25 tsp.) allspice at flameout

0.16g (.125 tsp.) clove at flameout

Yeast

Full batch used Ambrosia Blend 005 (now the fourth generation) from the cake of Wallonian Pale Ale. Each 5-gallon portion got 100mL of dense slurry from that cake.

Notes

09.01.2014: I thought about bottle conditioning this one with apple cider, but thought that the sugar that would be required would end up being a bit too much of the overall character.  Instead, I decided to take a portion of this batch, blend it with Citrine blonde wild, and then bottle condition with Montmorency tart cherry juice.  That blend turned into Science & Art #6.

For bottling Automne, I used 152g of table sugar, aiming for 3.0 volumes with about 4.75 gallons of beer.  The yield was 25 750mL bottles.