Saisons & Farmhouse Ales: General Thoughts & Brewing Overview

Recently there was a thread in the homebrew forum on TalkBeer.com where a user had some questions on brewing saisons and farmhouse ales. I eventually posted plenty of my thoughts here, but the thread also gave me the idea to do an overview post on my saison brewing process and thoughts on brewing saisons in general.  I've been brewing for just over four years now, and the last 2-2.5 years have been focused almost entirely on saisons and other mixed fermentation beers.  For the most part, my saisons tend to have Brettanomyces and/or lactic acid bacteria (LAB).  I feel that this offers greater opportunity to create complex flavor profiles, and also keeps away comparisons to Saison Dupont, which is nearly impossible to rival when dealing with clean saisons (though Off Color comes damn close with their Apex Predator).  At the same time, I have found a place for light, clean saisons as a way to bring an approachable example of the style to those who are otherwise unfamiliar with beers of the farmhouse tradition.  When I eventually start up my own brewery, it'll focus exclusively on saisons and wilds, but everything won't be too crazy, as I'd love to offer a low-ABV saison with a fairly-light yeast profile to get people started down the farmhouse track.

A word of caution.  Portions of like may seem like a bit of stream-of-consciousness rambling.  I think about saisons and future brewing plans constantly every day, so it's been hard to contain and edit my thoughts, though hopefully I haven't gone too overboard.  Since I feel like every good blog post should have a picture, below is one that seems appropriate.  It's a picture of one of my saisons in a glass with the future logo of Ambrosia Ales, sitting atop a table littered with coasters from many fantastic saison, lambic, and other wild beer producers.

GENERAL

Since the question always comes up, what is saison?  The following is simply my opinion; there are certainly many valid opinions, including Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead recently indicating that the term shouldn't even be used by American brewers in this interview with Good Beer Hunting.  I take a very broad approach, using the label for any beer that is yeast-forward using a Belgian strain with or without Brettanomyces or lactic acid bacteria.  The only other requisite characteristic as far as I'm concerned is that the beer finishes quite dry.  From there, it doesn't matter to me whether the beer is light or dark; high or low ABV; or makes use of fruit, spices, or other adjuncts.  To differentiate, I will sometimes use "saison" to refer to beers that are clean and crisp, rendering them quite drinkable, whereas farmhouse is a term I use for beers that are more toward the pre-Industrial beers of Wallonia that would have been funky and/or sour.

As mentioned above, I typically gravitate toward saisons that utilize Brettanomyces, LAB, and/or other non-traditional (or traditional, depending on how far back you look) fermenters in addition to Saccharomyces.  Given that, most of this post will focus on beers along those lines, but I'll first provide some quick thoughts on "clean" saisons that are fermented solely with one ore more Saccharomyces strains.

I've long thought that if a brewery is going to offer something to introduce saison to a broader set of customers, something along the lines of a sub-5% ABV clean saison would be perfect.  When sticking with a beer fermented solely with a saison strain, the first question is whether you want to go with a beer that is phenolic and spicy, or tends toward the fruity side of things.  Comparing to other styles, I think you could go toward the spicy side to "replace" something like a pilsner.  You would want to keep the phenolics to a low level, complementing the dryness of the beer without being overpowering.  The drinker should smell and taste something beyond clean grain/malt, but without being able to specifically say what it is.  I've encountered this effect when introducing light-beer drinkers to something like Penrose Devoir or Stillwater Classique, both fantastic beers and excellent examples of what an approachable saison can be.  I would keep hops and malt relatively simple, focusing on the yeast without too many distractions.  I haven't truly brewed something like this, but plan to in the future, likely utilizing Wyeast 3726 (Farmhouse Ale), which is reportedly the Blaugies strain.  Another option would be using one of the abbey/Trappist strains, which are often used for Belgian Blondes, a style that can have considerable overlap with saisons, often times seeming to be one in the same.  For example, are the great beers from De La Senne (such as Taras Boulba) saisons, Belgian Blondes, or something else?  (Not that it truly matters what you call these beers; they're absolutely delightful no matter the terminology.)

On the fruity side, I think you can go a bit more complicated, as this would be less of your straight light-beer substitute, and be more comparable to something like an introductory American Pale Ale.  The idea here is that you'd have something with light-to-moderate bitterness (probably sub-30 IBU) and use the yeast and hops to accentuate citrus and/or tropical fruit notes.  In my experience, I've found that strains/blends like East Coast Yeast 08 Saison Brasserie can pair perfectly with flameout additions of American hops to offer an easy-drinking beer.  This is example what I did when I brewed my initial batch of Saison Faible (recipe; tasting notes), a beer I definitely intend to brew again in the future.  The aforementioned Apex Predator is a great example of a very fruit-forward clean saison.  While the comparison to an APA is further off than a lightly-phenolic strain to a light beer, it still offers consumers a starting point, drawing parallels to the fruitiness that American hops bring to pale ales, while taking things in a slightly-different direction.

INGREDIENTS

Yeast/Bacteria

First, and most importantly, the yeast and other fermenters.  Since saison is such a wide-ranging "style," a lot of your yeast decision depends on what you're looking for, as people certainly have different goals. If you're shooting for something that's more funky, spicy, and phenolic, I'd recommend just going with Saccharomyces in the primary, letting it get down quite low, and then adding dregs/Brett in secondary or at bottling. Nearly any saison strain should work for that, though as many others do, I would caution using Wyeast French Saison (3711) as it tends to get overly spicy and one dimensional.  It will get your beer dry, but doesn't offer the complexity of things like White Labs Saison II (WLP566) and Wyeast Farmhouse, which are both a bit more spicy rather than fruity.  However, many brewers do have success blending in a little bit of 3711 with a more-interesting saison strain, as it is a workhorse that will ensure the beer finishes dry no matter the recipe and fermentation temperature.

If you prefer saisons that are fruitier with some tartness, I'd go with something along the lines of The Yeast Bay Wallonian Farmhouse or ECY08 (Saison Blend). I would then also pitch this alongside a healthy dose of Brett that tends to be fruity-heavy in primary before it starts working on the Sacch.-created compounds. Here, best bets in my opinion are Brett Claussenii (WLP645) and "Brett" Trois (WLP644) (not really Brett).  I use both.  You could then also go with some fruitier American hops at flameout or for dry-hopping.  Think intense tropical- and citrus-forward hops, just only use a third or a half of what you'd use for a bigger IPA.

In terms of fermentation temperature, I've honestly had success anywhere from the low 60s to the upper 70s when going with a fruitier saison strain paired with Brett, with fermentations taking about 2 weeks at the upper end of the range, and more toward 4 weeks at the lower end. However, the flavor profiles aren't too noticeably different.  Thus, when using Brett, I think you can go with a more Laissez-faire attitude.  Results will likely differ, but that's part of the fun of brewing these beers.  Each batch is unique.  With that said, you can always achieve more-consistent results through blending.

Now, with regard to temperature, you need to be much more careful if you're going to be barrel-aging or using other methods of fermentation that may expose the fermentation to oxygen.  If this is the case, you need to ensure you keep temperatures down, as otherwise you run the risk of dealing with an acetobacter infection.  Saisons should be crisp and refreshing, and the vinegar produced by acetobacter completely destroys that possibility.  When dealing with strict Saccharomyces fermentations, also make sure to maintain temperature control and take detailed notes, as a clean saison fermented at 70*F will taste much different from one fermented at 80*F.  With clean fermentations, I also recommend starting in the upper 60s or maybe low 70s, and then let the yeast free rise or slowly push it upward into the upper 70s or 80s.  Going too quickly may result in fusel alcohols and other off flavors.

One final note on using bacteria (and this is more of a preference than a hard and fast rule), and that is to keep the bacteria in check.  Aside from avoiding vinegar, you also want lactic acid kept to a background note.  Saisons are great with a nice tartness, but should not be overly sour to the point where that is the dominant character of the beer.

Finally, as saison is a style that originated in the agricultural regions of Belgium, using locally-harvested yeast or that borrowed from nearby farms, catching your own wild yeast to use as a sole fermenter (if you're lucky) or, more likely as part of a blend offers great opportunities to add depth, nuance, and a distinct house character.  This has been done by breweries such as Jester King and Plan Bee.

Water

For the most part, when I've seen discussions surrounding water profiles for saisons, people tend to recommend high sulfate levels (often over 100 ppm) to accentuate the dryness of the beer.  I'd offer advice to the contrary.  Personally, I find that the very low finishing gravity (approaching 1.000) that can be achieved through proper fermentation procedure (especially when saison yeast is paired with Brett and/or LAB) achieves the requisite dryness.  Instead, I like to keep the sulfate at a moderate level and instead accentuate the malt flavor and give some perceived body through chloride and sodium additions.  I generally put the sodium levels right around 50 ppm, thereby accentuating the flavors of the beer without approaching any sort of actual salty flavor.  With chloride, I'll push toward 100 ppm, thereby providing some grain and malt flavor to complement what the yeast and hops are doing for the flavor profile.  This also protects against the beer seeming overly thin.

One minor caveat to my statement about sulfate additions is that I will push the levels to 100 ppm when I'm doing a very hoppy saison, e.g., my Wallonian Pale Ale.  Even here, however, I keep the sulfate at the same level as the chloride.

When dealing with mineral additions, and throughout the saison brew process, pH is also incredibly important.  First, since many saisons are using exclusively or nearly-exclusively Pilsner malt, you really need to make sure your mash pH is in order and doesn't get too high.  The ideal mash range is often given somewhere in the area of 5.2 to 5.5.  Personally, I like to keep it right at the bottom of that range for saisons, as the lower pH tends to soften the overall profile of the been, enhancing the overall perception and drinkability.  If you're adding your minerals to the mash rather than to the kettle, keep in mind what effect they'll have on pH, and then use either acid malt or lactic/phosphoric acid to adjust to the appropriate level.  Depending on your base water, malt profile, and mineral additions, the amount of acid malt that may be required could be enough to give a little bit of acidity to the finished beer.

If you're taking care to adjust the pH of your mash, make sure to pay attention to the pH of the sparge water as well.  It's important here to keep that pH low so as to not pull tannins from the mash as you sparge.  I typically just use lactic acid to adjust the sparge water to the same pH as I had the mash.

For all my pH adjustments (actually, for the entire recipe), I use the BrewCipher spreadsheet.  With regard to mineral additions, I generally add everything to the kettle so that I can use only acid to adjust mash and sparge pH.  I can then adjust mineral additions for flavor without worrying about their effect on mash pH.  Starting around a year ago, each recipe post on this blog details the mineral and acid additions, including timing and (sometimes) rationale.

Hops

Really, this is mostly going to be about personal preference.  The one "rule" I would have is that IBUs should be kept in check, as the dryness achieved by the extreme attentuation will enhance bitterness levels.  Thus, for a typical saison, I recommend sticking at 30 IBU or less, potentially then pushing things up to 50 or so IBUs if you're looking for a really hoppy saison akin to the Wallonian Pale Ale that I mentioned above.  Even then, I wouldn't go much higher as you'll be getting that dry, bitter profile and can then focus more on flavor and aroma hops so that the beer really pops.

From there, the hops you use will really depend on what your goal is.  If you're doing a clean saison that tends toward the phenolic/spicy side of the style, sticking with Noble and other European hops (and their American counterparts) is probably the best bet, keeping aroma and flavor additions to a minimal, and using minimal (if any) dry hops.  This same advice would like apply if you're using Brettanomyces to achieve a funky, earthy finishing profile.  On the other hand, if you're using a more-fruity, ester-heavy strain, then American and Southern Hemisphere hops work really well.  You can go with citrus-heavy or tropical hops, as both will play well with the fruity character created by something like The Yeast Bay Wallonian Farmhouse or East Coast Yeast Saison Brasserie.  These hops also work quite well when you add in a little bit of tartness through the addition of bacteria.

Grain

Malt might not be the least-important of the four main ingredients, but it's my least-favorite component, so it goes last.  In practice, there are so many different directions that you can go with the malt profile of a saison, so I really can't give too many broad generalizations.  I'll give a bit on my preferences and general techniques, offer a few pointers, and then discuss things to avoid because, in reality, by altering the water profile and fermentation of a given beer, you can turn almost any malt bill into a saison.  I say almost because caramel/Crystal malt has no place in a saison.  None.  (Okay, maybe a bit of CaraMunich for color, but I'd even discourage that.)  Other than that, let the experimentation begin.

Non-barley additions work fantastic in saisons, providing some additional mouthfeel and comlexity, particularly when you're dealing with a Pilsner base.  It's always nice to get at least 10-20% wheat, spelt, oats, rye, flaked corn, etc. in there for some additional mouthfeel.  One caution with rye is that it can get fairly spicy as you go above 10% of the grain bill, so be careful crossing that threshold if you're already using a yeast that's going to put out plenty of phenolics, as that may result in any overly-peppery, one-dimensional beer.

Aside form these adjuncts, using 5-20% of something like Munich or Vienna is nice as well if you want to have a bit more bready flavor than what you'd get using only Pilsner for your barley component of the mash. Higher than that and I think you get too much of a bready or doughy character that can begin to detract from the yeast.  Personally, I also like using 5-10% honey malt, as that adds a nice layer of flavor without detracting from other components of the beer.  (Of course, you can use actual honey, too.)

When dealing with a dark saison, I recommend against overly-roasty malts, as those will contrast with the flavors created by the yeast.  When going with a darker beer, I recommend using something like Carafa II or III for most of the color, and then accenting the beer with malts like Chocolate or Special B, if you're looking for chocolate or dark fruit character, respectively.  Again, I'd stay aware from any straight caramel/Crystal malts, as those add caramel-like sweetness that contrasts the dry nature of the beer, while Special B at least offers some dark fruit notes that can add a nice twist to a darker example of the style.  If you want to call me an idiot and say I'm way off base with the caramel/Crystal thoughts, just point me toward this interview with Alexandre Dumont de Chassart of Brasserie de Jandrain-Jandrenouille, one of Belgium's best saison producers, where he discusses using caramel malt in their beer V Cense.

Fruit, Spices, & Other Additions

Given that the idea behind saison really depends on dryness and being yeast-forward, there really isn't anything out of bounds here.  Cherries or other fruit?  Sure.  Citrus zest?  Most definitely.  Spicing to complement the yeast?  When used in moderation, absolutely.  Coffee in a dark saison?  Works as well.  Really, here, just let experimentation run wild.  Keep things to a minimum at the beginning, as you can always add more.

With fruit additions, I think that you want to be considerate of the underlying beer, so my rule is to cut the typical lambic level in half, starting at one pound per gallon for common fruits like cherries, raspberries, grapes, etc.  If you're going with some more exotic and pungent, e.g., passion fruit or pineapple, think about cutting that down to half a pound per gallon or less.  You want the fruit to complement the yeast profile of the beer.  If you're just going to have the fruit dominate, you might as well just brew a clean ale and add all the fruit to that beer.

Since there's such a wide range of possibilities here, instead of going through everything, I'll offer a few examples of my own recipes that use fruit and/or spices:

• Demeter Auran: blood orange zest and rose hips
• Demeter Automne: nutmeg, black cardamom, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, clove, and roasted pumpkin
• Demeter Rouge: cherries and passion fruit
• Demeter Sinis (Batch 02): portions with cranberries and pomegranate, in addition to the lavender and black cardamom of the base beer
• Demeter Sinis (Batch 03): lavender and black cardamom
• Demeter Spectre: peaches, raspberries, and strawberries
• Demeter Vert: lime zest/juice
• Farmhouse Mild: lemon guava
• Namur: Satsuma mandarins and Meyer lemons

As you can see, I've tended to use fruit more often than spices, but there are plenty of commercial examples using nearly anything you can imagine.  Some things I'd like to work with in the future include grains of paradise, grapefruit zest, rhubarb, yuzu, sumac, wine grapes, hibiscus, lilac, tea, and plenty of oak cubes soaked in different wines/spirits.

PROCESS

Some of these things I've gone over above, but here's more of an overview of how process might differ from a typical ale.  Again, first and foremost, temperature and pH are going to be key throughout the saison brew and fermentation process.  If you want to achieve the requisite saison yeast character and mouthfeel, these are two most-focus variables.

A few other things you may want to consider:

• If you want the resulting beer to be more ester heavy, go with a little bit less oxygen.  I use 30 seconds of pure O2 through a diffusion stone per 5 gallons, as opposed to the general recommendation of 45-60 seconds for an ale of standard strength in the range of 1.040 to 1.050.  (Remember, many saisons will ferment down to near 1.000, so the alcohol will build up fast compared to a beer that finishes at 1.010-1.015.)

• If you're looking for more acidity and/or funk, starting out (and also to shorten the timeline), I recommend doing a cleaner saison with just Sacch. and Brett, and then always keep on hand some base blonde wild for blending (even half a gallon of that in 5 gallons of beer without lactic acid will make a noticeable difference).  For ideas and notes on blending, see my post (and accompanying links) on my Science & Art series of blended saisons and wilds.

• I always use double the recommended rate of yeast nutrient per the recommendation in Farmhouse Ales. I don't know if it really makes a difference, but it's not hurting anything and the stuff isn't expensive.

• If you're messing with water profiles, a lot of people recommend heavier sulfate additions in saisons. Again, I really don't like this. The finishing gravity is low enough to make it dry, and 25-30 IBUs will give it a nice bitter edge. I favor keeping chloride and sulfate roughly the same, aiming for no higher than 75-100 ppm.

• If you're dealing with pH, keeping the mash pH down in the range of 5.2-5.4 (room temperature) really helps smooth things out.  There's a very-detailed discussion at this Braukaiser page.

• For mash temperature, you really can't go wrong.  Different temperatures will yield different results, but if you know your fermenters, you'll be able to get the beer sufficiently dry.  For a clean saison, I like something that finishes fast and dry, and would recommend staying under 150* F.  For something with Brett or bacteria, push that number up for increased funk and acidity levels.  The higher you go, the more you'll allow the non-Saccharomyces fermenters to do the work, though saison strains can tackle plenty of complex sugars all on their own.

CONCLUSION

Saison has become such a wide-ranging idea that it's really difficult to place in a neat box.  Here, I've only scratched the surface with what you can do.  For instance, I haven't tackled thoughts on barrel-aging (yet).  If nothing else, hopefully this post has served to pique people's interest in brewing dry, refreshing beers with a Belgian influence.  There are many other great resources out there.  If you're interested in learning more about the subject, I can't recommend Phil Markowski's Farmhouse Ales enough.  In particular, the essay on saison from Yvan de Baets (of the aforementioned De La Senne) is phenomenal.  

Any thoughts, questions, or concerns?  Did I leave anything out?  I'm always up for saison discussion, so please comment away!  In the future, I hope to have a post or set of posts highlighting the different characteristics of most of the available commercial saison strains and blends, pairing plenty of them with different Brettanomyces offerings and/or lactic acid bacteria.  I also plan to do a post on what I believe the ideal saison-focused brewery would offer and how it would operate, as it's something I've put a lot of thought into and would like to attempt in the not-so-distant future.

Cheers!

Farmhouse Mild (Watermelon): Tasting Notes

This was a batch of Farmhouse Mild that had the Pedio in the fermentation blend kick up some diacetyl after I had kegged the beer and before I tapped it.  In order to clean this up, I added some extra Brettanomyces, and since I had been wanting to try a beer with watermelon juice, I decided to add that here to provide some extra sugars to jump-start the Brett.  I ended up adding the juice from 8 pounds of watermelon into roughly 5 gallons of Farmhouse Mild, and then let it ferment for about a month.  The resulting beer had a nice watermelon character, with a nice taffy-like character.

Appearance: Pours a hazy light peach color with just a touch of pink in the light.  Big, fluffy white head with good retention, and plenty of sticky lacing on the way down.

Aroma: Nose starts out with a nice watermelon-taffy aroma, and then fades into some slight lactic acidity as well as a bit of plant-like watermelon rind.  The latter isn't off-putting at this level, and reminds me of the "green"-type flavor you get from something like watermelon gum.  Speaking of, I was pretty shocked how well watermelon taffy/gum apparently captures the flavor of watermelon juice.  (Well, at least how watermelon juice tastes after it's been fermented and mixed with saison.)

Flavor: Similar to the nose.  Quite juicy and refreshing.  It's too bad I'm only a few months late on this one, as it snowed half an inch in the Chicago area last night.  (In fairness, I've had this on tap since mid-October, though it's not like it was super warm then either.)  Watermelon really leads the way, dominating over any other character, though the watermelon itself is not overpowering.  I like the level here, even though the base beer doesn't shine through too much.  There's a touch of grain/grass in the background.  Though the hops from the base beer have mostly faded, there is still a generic "fruitiness" that I wouldn't attribute to the watermelon, and I'm guessing is lingering from the initial American hops.

Mouthfeel: Light and extremely refreshing.  This is something I could drink a gallon of after doing yard work in the summer.  Even as I sit here cold and watching football, it's hard to put down.  Super crisp with heavy carbonation, it's light and airy, yet the flavor still lingers quite well.

Overall: I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out, especially given that it was an experiment with a beer that had developed some issues.  I will absolutely return to this one next year, and this pretty much firms up my thoughts lately that there's no reason for me to brew fruited Berliners when I can instead just go with a session saison and add fruit (particularly when adding fruit juice, which creates a swift secondary fermentation).

Science & Art #4: Blend & Tasting Notes

This is my fourth blend in the Science & Art Series, a group of blended saisons and wild ales. The components of this blend were Demeter Vert, Namur (Meyer Lemon), and Flowerfield. The idea behind blending is to create something that's better than the sum of its parts. Here, I had three beers that ranged from okay to quite good, with each one either having something that I didn't quite like (Namur and Flowerfield), or that were almost there, but could use an extra boost (Demeter Vert).

Demeter Vert was going to be the star of the show, as the lime saison base was something that I really enjoyed. I've been tweaking the recipe for that one across batches and think that I have most things generally dialed in, but this batch was lacking a bit of extra oomph. I think this is due to the fact that this beer was my first time using my yeast/bacteria Blend 05, and the Brett and bacteria weren't a big enough portion of the blend. Based on that, I was looking for something that could give this base a bit more flair.

For each of the previous versions of Science & Art, Citrine -- which is my house blonde wild -- had been a component of the blend, adding some acidity and fund. In this case, I was looking for something that was clean and not really funky, though I was hoping for a bit of acid to boost the overall flavor profile. My first thought was Namur (Meyer Lemon), which was just far too lemony. That beer was my first time using Meyer Lemon (or any type of lemon, for that matter) in a beer, and it was far too much. I was a bit surprised by this, as the use was generally in line with other citrus beers that I've done (Demeter Auran, the above-discussed Demeter Vert, and a few others), and those generally have hints of citrus without being too overpowering.

The lemon juice that was used alongside the zest in that batch of Namur created a good amount of acidity, and the beer itself was very clean and not at all funky, so after a few quick small-scale blends with Demeter Vert, I knew that I'd like to add that to the blend. That blend was still a bit citrus-heavy (though not obviously heavy on either lemon or lime), so I looked for something else to add in.

The perfect answer was a bit of Flowerfield, which is a collaboration that I did with Matt over at Stickman Brewing (he runs A Ph.D in Beer) over Memorial Day weekend 2014. We brewed that as a blonde Brett saison with Nelson Sauvin. To ferment that batch, I used the Yeast Bay Saison/Brettanomyces Blend and I wasn't a huge fan of the profile. There was something in the finish that was slightly acidic and just didn't quite agree with my palate, though others enjoyed it. (Matt, for one, agreed with me.) There wasn't anything wrong with the beer, so I didn't want to get rid of it, but I though blending would be a good option for some of what was remaining in the keg.

After messing around with the ratio of the three beers using a pipette and sample glasses, I settled on a blend that was four parts Demeter Vert, one part Meyer Lemon Namur, and one part Flowerfield. From there, I transferred into a bottling bucket, mixed in the priming sugar, and bottled. Since the Flowerfield portion was already kegged and carbonated and the Meyer Lemon Namur was in bottles, I needed to reduce the sugar so that I didn't get too far over my goal of 3.0 volumes of CO2. (Since the Namur was in bottles, I added that portion last, slowly pouring from chilled bottles into the bottling bucket with the neck submersed in the liquid in the bucket.) Given this, I decided to put the target at 2.2 volumes (almost purely guesswork) in the priming calculator, and then used that as my sugar level for bottling.

And now for the tasting notes, which are coming around 3.5 months after I bottled up the blend.  For tasting notes from others, you can follow the beer here on Untappd.

Appearance: Clear, bright light yellow with a fluffy white head. Good retention and plenty of lacing as it went down. Visible carbonation bubbles rising through the liquid. Has just about all it needs for a saison. I generally don't pay too much attention to whether my saisons are clear or hazy so long as they have a nice head of foam and good retention, as hazy beers seem a bit more rustic, which is something I don't mind at all when dealing with saisons with Brett and/or lactic acid bacteria (LAB).

Aroma The citrus citrus isn't too strong in the nose, and is mostly generic but tending a bit more toward the lemon. Lime there as well. I'm glad that most people haven't been able to pick out the exact citrus, as one of my goals here was to really knock down the lemon of the Namur variant, while preserving the lime from Demeter Vert. At this point, I think I was pretty successful there, likely only picking out the distinct citrus fruits as I know what went into the beer. As it warms, there is also a bit of an almost honey-like character, mixing with a bit of apricot. Maybe a bit of green grape there as well, which could be coming from the Nelson Sauvin that was used fairly heavily in Flowerfield.

Flavor: Lightly tart with just a hint of backing grain. Very clean without any funk, focusing in on the light acidity and citrus character. Maybe a bit simple, but I wasn't looking for this to be an overly-complex beer. The citrus character is just about where I want it, with some Brett-induced fruitiness in the background. The light acidity comes from the citrus, as well as from whatever lactic acid bacteria are now in this fermenting blend. (I typically use buckets that I use a carboy brush to clean, so there are plenty of scratches for LAB from dreg batches to take hold.)

Mouthfeel: Again, quite light, and also extremely crisp. The carbonation is high without gushing or being too bubbly. Clean finish, not much lingering taste. This would be a great beer for the summer, though I'm not sure I'll have much, if any, last until then. The Yeast Bay Wallonian Farmhouse is the base yeast for the fermentation blend of Demeter Vert, and I think it contributes a nice bit of body in beers that are otherwise bone dry. That's certainly apparent here. The water profiles of the base beers also likely contribute to this, as I tend to go relatively heavy on the chloride for saisons, where it seems like many other saisons are too sulfate heavy for my tastes. 

Overall: I'd describe this as simple, but elegant. Really easy drinking and is something that I'll try to re-create in the future, potentially all in the same beer by using the base for Demeter Vert and then adding in just a touch of Meyer Lemon and also maybe dry hop with some Nelson.

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.

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.

Best Saisons & Wilds of 2013

In what will hopefully become an annual tradition, below is a list of my favorite saisons and wilds from 2013.  These are my favorites that I had for the first time in 2013, and not necessarily those that were released in 2013, though that is the case for most of them.  I will also hopefully go back and create a list of my favorites from previous years based on my old reviews.  Doing that, I should be able to go back to 2009.

It was great to go back and remember all of these beers.  It's amazing how quickly breweries around America have been popping up with a focus on saisons and wild beers.  It's a trend I hope to see continue, and will hopefully be a part of myself someday.

The list:

01. Sante Adairius Saison Bernice

Sante Adairius Rusic Ales Saison Bernice, my favorite
saison/wild of 2013.  A beautiful beer fermented with a
blend of saison yeast, Brettanomyces, and Lactobacillus.

Photo: rusticales.com

02. Hill Farmstead Juicy

03. Side Project Saison du Fermier

04. Ale Apothecary Sahalie

05. Hill Farmstead Civil Disobedience #5

06. Tired Hands HandFarm

07. Jester King Ol' Oi!

08. Oxbow Barrel Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale

09. Grassroots Brother Soigne

10. Crooked Stave Wild Wild Brett Violet

11. Backacre Sour Golden Ale

12. De Cam Lambiek Special

13. Peg's Barrel-Aged Pink Streets

14. Ale Apothecary La Tache

15. Crooked Stave Dry Hop L'Brett d'Or

16. Hill Farmstead Civil Disobedience #6

17. Prairie Artisan 'Merica

18. Rapp Brewing Gose

19. Oxbow Brewing Liquid Swords #7

20. Tired Hands Guillemot Prunus

21. Leelanau Good Harbor Golden Ale

22. Tired Hands Guillemot Nebula

23. BFM Sq. Rt. 225 Historical Saison

24. Goose Island 25th Anniversary Flanders Red

25. Drie Fonteinen Intense Red Oude Kriek

26. Pipeworks Flower Child

27. Girardin Fond Gueuze Bierpallieters

28. Oxbow Loretta

29. Bullfrog Oud 15

30. Prairie Artisan Gold

Science & Art #1: Tasting Notes

Below are the tasting notes for Science & Art #1, a blend that I created by using approximately 85% Farmhouse Mild and 15% Citrine (Batch 4).  I've wanted to start blending my saisons and wilds, and this seemed like a good place to start.  I had both beers on hand and ready to go, so I decided to mix at various ratios to get to an easy-drinking blend.  I wanted the fruit and wheat notes from Farmhouse Mild to dominate, following up with just a bit more acidity and minor funk from the Citrine.

At that point, all I needed to do was come up with a 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.  

Appearance: A bright, faint yellow color with a large, fluffy white head. Great retention, with the head eventually falling down to a thin cap. Plenty of lacing on the glass. Pretty clear with visible carbonation.

Aroma: The initial nose has a touch of sulfur. Enough to be noticeable, but not distracting. This is something I actually like to have a bit of in my wild beers, similar to what I've found in Sahalie from Ale Apothecary. With that said, I know that this is often heavily present in my Berliner Weisse beers and then dissipates, so I'll have to find out the cause and whether that will be true here. Maybe it's something caused by the bottle conditioning process, as neither of the beers used in blending this beer had any sulfur.

Aside from that, there's a light bit of lemony citrus and some faint barnyard funk.

Flavor: The flavor continues from the nose, with a nice zesty acidity carrying through the finish. Some lactic, but more of a citric acid feel. A bit of wheat there, as well as a very mild tropical fruit note. While Farmhouse Mild was quite tropical and Sweet Tart-like, this takes on more of the citric feel of Citrine, even with Citrine only being 10-15% of the blend.

Mouthfeel: Lingering dryness after a light body and spritzy carbonation. Similar to Farmhouse Mild, this is very easy drinking. The acidity keeps the quaffability a little bit in check, though the lighter body makes this more drinkable than the slightly-fuller body of Farmhouse Mild.

Overall: I'm pretty pleased with the blend, and am curious to see where it goes over time.  Right now it's fairly bright, fruity, and lactic.  I'm curious if it'll become a bit more rustic and funky over time.

Farmhouse Mild: Recipe (Version 3)

This is now my third time overall brewing Farmhouse Mild, and the second time in the past few months. The first keg on the last batch kicked way too quickly, and the other half was blended with my blonde sour (Citrine) and bottled. For this round, I kept almost everything the same, changing up the hops a little bit and also added a bit more acidulated malt.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 73

Brew Date: December 1, 2013

Bottle/Keg Date:

Batch Size: 10 Gallon

OG: 1.043 (measured)

FG:

Fermentation Temperature: 67 F

IBU: 44.5

ABV: 4.1% (est.)

SRM: 4.1

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 154 F.

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

8lb French Pilsner

4lb White Wheat Malt

2lb Wheat, Flaked

1lb 8oz Munich Malt

12oz Acidulated Malt

8oz Oats, Flaked

8oz Rye, Flaked

Salts & Water

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

2.8g Gypsum (all added directly to the kettle)

As referenced above, this time I upped the acid malt to get to the proper mash pH, and then added these flavor adjustments directly to the boil kettle.  Given the batch size, I did a double batch sparge, with the second sparge using only distilled water to make sure I wasn't pulling the pH up too high.  I wanted to add a bit of lactic acid, but wasn't able to quickly find a good calculator to use online.

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

Mash pH (est.): 5.40

Calcium: 70

Magnesium: 12

Sodium: 7

Chloride: 59

Sulfate: 53

Chloride / Sulfate Ratio: 1.11 (Balanced)

Hops

2.0oz Citra (12.9 AAU), leaf, at 45 minutes

2.0oz Amarillo (6.9 AAU), leaf, at flameout

1.0oz Citra (12.9 AAU), leaf, at flameout

1.0oz Simcoe (12.4 AAU), leaf, at flameout

Other

Whirlfloc (2) at 10 minutes

2 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes

Yeast

Wyeast 3725 Biere de Garde (x2)

Miscellaneous saison dreg blend

Crooked Stave dreg blend

I built up a starter from the Demeter Spectre cake starting two days before the brew.  It was a 1.5 L starter, and prior to pitching, I also added dregs from Crooked Stave Saison Vieille and Surette Provision Saison.  I did not decant the starter.  While I normally do, here I didn't have too much time, and given the volume of the cake that was being reused, the starter was quite thick even after going for a few hours without being shaken.

Notes

12.01.2013: After the boil, I chilled to 68* F and added 30 seconds of pure oxygen to two separate buckets, which will each serve to ferment half the batch.  I placed the buckets in the basement with the lids on loosely.

12.02.2013: Both buckets showing strong fermentations, with the internal temperature of each sitting right around 67* F.

12.08.2013: Most of the activity appears to have stopped and the beer is around 1.010.  After taking the sample, a fastened the seals on the lids of the buckets.

01.05.2014: Kegged into multiple batches.

After going on tap, one has a bit of diacetyl after being on for about a week; I think there's likely pedio in this blend, so maybe it kicked back up?  Taking it off tap and going to add lemon guavas and some additional Brett to see if it will take care of the diacetyl.

The other half was later also blended with some Citrine to create a second blend of Science & Art #1 to go on tap.

05.21.2014: Tasting notes for the 5-gallon portion that sat on 5 pounds of lemon guavas for two months.

Farmhouse Mild: Tasting Notes

I had really been delaying writing down some tasting notes for Farmhouse Mild, as while I really enjoyed the beer, I was having quite a bit of difficulty figuring out exactly how to describe it.  When I finally got around to taking some notes last Sunday during the Bears-Ravens weather delay, it proved to be fortunate timing, as the keg kicked that evening.

Appearance: Pale yellow-golden color with an initial fluffy white head.  Slightly hazy body with visible carbonation bubbles.  Fairly decent head retention with a bit of lacing.

Aroma: The nose has an initial whiff a faint lemon alongside what I can best describe as a Sweet Tart candy-type flavor.  It's unquestionably fruity, though it's difficult to describe what's there aside from the lemon.  I guess it's faintly tropical, perhaps including guava and a bit of tart apricot.

Flavor: Lightly tart with a hint of background wheat.  The main flavor is a generic fruitiness similar to Sweet Tarts when considering the combination of fruit and mild acidity.  Again, guava and apricot are probably the best I can do, though neither would be particularly prominent.

Mouthfeel: The body is light and airy with some background wheat to help prevent it from being too boring.  It's dry with just a touch of residual sweetness.  Moderate carbonation and overall very drinkable with a lingering acidity.

Overall: One of my favorite beers that I've brewed to date.  It's very light and easy drinking, but has enough complexity to keep it captivating.  The acidity is faint and adds an interesting twist, without being to the level where it detracts at all from drinkability.

In the end, 5 gallons wasn't nearly enough of this.  I made 10 gallons of the base beer, though half of that was blended with some Citrine in what became Science & Art #1.  I will have a post up on that as soon as I have time to open a bottle and take some notes.

Farmhouse Mild (Batch 02): Recipe

This is my second time doing a Farmhouse Mild, and my second batch (first was Bitter Beer Face Pale Ale) since moving back to Illinois. The first batch of this beer was split and mostly treated with separate strains of Brettanomyces, so I'm looking forward to having a full 10 gallons. The plan is to keg 5 gallons straight, and then blend the other 5 gallons with a portion of my blonde sour (Citrine) and then bottle.

The recipe for the full batch is as follows:

Batch Number: 68
Brew Date: September 15, 2013
Bottle/Keg Date: October 4, 2013
Batch Size: 10 Gallon
OG: 1.043
FG:
Fermentation Temperature: 70 F
IBU: 46.1
ABV: 4.1% (est.)
SRM: 4.1

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

Fermentables

8lb French Pilsner
4lb White Wheat Malt
3lb Wheat, Flaked
1lb 8oz Munich Malt
9oz Acidulated Malt
8oz Oats, Flaked
8oz Rye, Flaked

Salts & Water

5.5g Calcium Chloride (split between mash and sparge)
2.8g Gypsum (split between mash and sparge)

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.50

Calcium: 70

Magnesium: 12

Sodium: 7

Chloride: 59

Sulfate: 53

Chloride / Sulfate Ratio: 1.11 (Balanced)

Hops

8mL HopShot (~40 IBU) at 60 minutes
4.5oz Amarillo (6.9 AAU) at flameout*
4.5oz Citra (12.4 AAU) at flameout*

* These hops were refrigerated rather than frozen during the period from May to August while we were in temporary housing, so I added quite a bit more than I otherwise would have based on their aroma, which was not cheesy or oxidized, but was weaker than normal.

Other

Whirlfloc (2) at 15 minutes
1 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 15 minutes

Yeast

Wyeast 3725 Biere de Garde (x2)
Crooked Stave dreg blend
Miscellaneous saison dregs

Notes

09.15.2013: Smackpacks of 3725 are dated June 30, 2013. Also adding 500mL worth of saison dreg blend slurry from the Demeter Auran cake from March 30, 2013. Also added a mixed thin slurry of dregs from Crooked Stave Hop Savant, Crooked Stave St. Bretta (Spring), and Crooked Stave St. Bretta (Summer). The total of this thin slurry was approximately 250mL. Initial pitching temperature was 72 F. Provided 25 seconds of pure oxygen to each 6-gallon bucket. I placed the lids loosely on the buckets instead of sealing tightly.

The hops are a bit dated and don't smell as pungent after being in the chest freezer at 35-40 F from May through August at my parents' house in Clarendon Hills, Illinois. Thus, used double what I normally would.

09.16.2013: Both buckets have a healthy krausen and are fermenting at 67-68 F at 7:30 PM. Current outdoor temperature is 57 F.

09.20.2013: This morning the krausen was down to a very thin layer of film, so I sealed the lids on the tops of the buckets.

10.04.2013: Kegged half the batch. The other half was blended at a 4:1 ratio with Batch 04 of Citrine and bottled, aiming for 2.7 volumes of carbonation.

11.20.2013: Tasting notes posted.

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

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).

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