Cranaison – Cranberry Saison

Saison or Farmhouse Ale is something I truely discovered this past winter. The benchmark of the style, and certainly one of my favorites, is Dupont’s “Saison Vielle Provision”, and with a solid 99 on the ratebeer.com website it is easy to see why. The descriptions of the beer, and the obvious passion people have for it, are reminiscent of someone describing a long lost love. I am no exception, and this beer brings out similar feelings in me.

I have tried several other Saison’s but I often find them to be over the top with spice additions and what, in my mind, boils down to the brewer trying to produce what the yeast should be able to do just fine if left to it’s own devices. Don’t get me wrong – I can appreciate over the top and bizarre – If fact I have been told that I will re-write the above thoughts if I get my hands on some of Fantomes beers, however…

I have read and reread “Farmhouse Ales”, wanting to start my brewing experience of this style based on something traditional and simple. After much deliberation  I selected this recipe for my first 3 batches.

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size (fermenter): 22.71 l
Estimated OG: 1.059 SG
Estimated Color: 7.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 34.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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13 lbs Pilsner (2 Row)
1 lbs Caramel Malt – 40L
1.4 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.20 %] – Boil 60.0
0.15 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 2.0 min
0.25 oz Willamette [5.50 %] – Boil 2.0 min
0.15 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.20 %] – Boil 2.0
0.60 oz Willamette [5.50 %] – Boil 15.0 min
1.0 pkg Belgian Saison Wyeast Labs #3724 (with a starter)

Mash
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Single Infusion at a step temperature of 144F, Batch Sparge.

In a word the results were fantastic.

For each subsequent batch the only change I made was to harvest some yeast from the prior brew rather than purchase a new smack pack each time. With each new batch I noticed that all of the flavor profile that I enjoy in a Saison remained upfront and delicious; but there was something growing in the background that was more pronounced with each batch – a nice dusty residual on the palette. It reminded me of fall in Alberta and seeing the farmer busily working to pull his crops in from the fields and family gatherings at my Grandparents house. Most importantly it made me think of Turkey dinners at their home. I might be alone in this but I believe that one of the most enjoyable parts of a Thanksgiving feast is the cranberries. Not the jelly in a jar type, but real, whole cranberries. They are tart, mouth puckering and linger on your tongue while they complement the next bites – really not so different from what I enjoy in a beer.

With this in mind, during bottling of the most recent batch, I racked one gallon of the beer onto about 2 lbs of thawed cranberries and let them referment for 3 weeks before pulling the beer off the berries and cold crashing the result for about a week.

Results to follow.

Fräulein Berliner Weisse

I have never tried a Berliner Weisse. The BJCP description makes me think that I have made a mistake in that regard – The Champagne of the North sounds too good to pass up, and its sour to boot.

17A. Berliner Weisse

Aroma: A sharply sour, somewhat acidic character is dominant. Can have up to a moderately fruity character. The fruitiness may increase with age and a flowery character may develop. A mild Brettanomyces aroma may be present. No hop aroma, diacetyl, or DMS.

Appearance: Very pale straw in color. Clarity ranges from clear to somewhat hazy. Large, dense, white head with poor retention due to high acidity and low protein and hop content. Always effervescent.

Flavor: Clean lactic sourness dominates and can be quite strong, although not so acidic as a lambic. Some complementary bready or grainy wheat flavor is generally noticeable. Hop bitterness is very low. A mild Brettanomyces character may be detected, as may a restrained fruitiness (both are optional). No hop flavor. No diacetyl or DMS.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Very dry finish. Very high carbonation. No sensation of alcohol.

Overall Impression: A very pale, sour, refreshing, low-alcohol wheat ale.

Comments: In Germany, it is classified as a Schankbier denoting a small beer of starting gravity in the range 7-8°P. Often served with the addition of a shot of sugar syrups (‘mit schuss’) flavored with raspberry (‘himbeer’) or woodruff (‘waldmeister’) or even mixed with Pils to counter the substantial sourness. Has been described by some as the most purely refreshing beer in the world.

History: A regional specialty of Berlin; referred to by Napoleon’s troops in 1809 as “the Champagne of the North” due to its lively and elegant character. Only two traditional breweries still produce the product.

Ingredients: Wheat malt content is typically 50% of the grist (as with all German wheat beers) with the remainder being Pilsner malt. A symbiotic fermentation with top-fermenting yeast and Lactobacillus delbruckii provides the sharp sourness, which may be enhanced by blending of beers of different ages during fermentation and by extended cool aging. Hop bitterness is extremely low. A single decoction mash with mash hopping is traditional.

Vital Statistics:	OG: 1.028 – 1.032
IBUs: 3 – 8	FG: 1.003 – 1.006
SRM: 2 – 3	ABV: 2.8 – 3.8%

Commercial Examples: Schultheiss Berliner Weisse, Berliner Kindl Weisse, Nodding Head Berliner Weisse, Weihenstephan 1809 (unusual in its 5% ABV), Bahnhof Berliner Style Weisse, Southampton Berliner Weisse, Bethlehem Berliner Weisse, Three Floyds Deesko

I have done my homework to come up with a standard base that will then be split into three three separate batches.

Recipe Specifications – Fräulein 

Batch Size (fermenter): 26.50 l
Estimated OG: 1.032 SG
Estimated Color: 2.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 3.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

5 lbs 1.4 oz Pilsner (2 Row) (2.0 SRM)
3 lbs 6.6 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] – Mash 90.0 min
1.0 pkg German Ale (Wyeast Labs #1007)
1.0 pkg Lactobacillus (Wyeast Labs #5335)

Mash Schedule: mashed the grist with the full boil volume using a 155F infusion with no sparge.

Brew Day

5 days prior to brew day I made a 1 liter starter for the Lactobacillus and kept at ~80F.On brew day, after the (strenuous) boil time of 15 minutes, I cooled the wort to ~80F and pitched the Lactobacillus into the result. I then made a 1 liter starter for the German Ale Yeast  at ~68F. The Lacto worked on the wort for two days prior to racking 5 gallons to a glass secondary and 2 gallons into separate 1 gallon jugs.

The 5 gallons got the German Ale Yeast. The first 1 gallon got a pitch of Brett B from the Lady Brett Ashley that is currently chugging along. The second 1 gallon batch got a small dose of the bugs/yeast from The Something Wild (& Nasty) experiment…

Something Wild (& Nasty?)

I enjoy love Lamics.

Okay, to be honest, not so much the sickly sweet mass produced type, but the ‘old world’ style that only seems to come at $25+ a bottle here in the bald prairie city of Calgary, where maybe sour beer isn’t appreciated as it is in other locals. My enjoyment goes beyond the complex taste and aroma, extending to the process, history and mystic that surrounds this branch of the craft. I was always under the (mistaken?) impression that the only breweries that can successfully produce ‘wild beers of a lambic nature’ are located in Belgium. I am starting to question this thought after reading about breweries such as Russian River, who are apparently producing very nice wild ales. (I can’t confirm this, as I have never had the pleasure of trying any of their product, but this seems to be the general consensus).

Wyeast and White Labs have been nice enough to package up the prerequisites for this type of brewing, be it in a blend or in isolated strains that we can mix as we see fit in the privacy of our home breweries and make “wild” beer. I have always been happy with the results of their product, but of late, the sciency side of my brain, has been wondering if I can produce something “wild” using only the air around my province. And so I embark on a journey which will undoubtedly provide plenty of disappointment and challenges, but maybe, just maybe something wonderful.

I will be the first to admit that I have no idea what I am doing, don’t have some of the equipment that I am sure I will need (oak wine barrel for example would be nice – hint hint nudge nudge), nor do I have the time for something this involved, but… I am passionate and I am stubborn. So armed with fistful of old hops, a simple grain bill, some one gallon carboys and chunks of oak spirals I am off to find the equivalent of Alberta’s Senne river valley.

As a first trial, I have avoided anything so exotic as a turbid mash and have simply mashed an two extra gallons of my Lady Brett Ashley recipe. I started a second boil, added ~1.5 oz of oven aged EKG hops and 90 minutes later let the wort cool naturally overnight in a sealed container. Wrapping the carboy in a dishcloth to keep out the sun and the bung hole with a cheese cloth to keep out the critters, I threw caution to the wind and left the wort to its own devises under an apple tree.

The goal of this first experiment is only to see what happens. How long does it take? Is it disgusting or is there something in the flavor that seems right… Some people are saying that this is a waste of good potential beer, but I have never been one to be concerned with what others are thinking and this evening when I got home I was surprised to find this.

Lets see what happens…

Lady Brett Ashley’s Pale Ale – 100% Brett B

I have developed a good stock, of run of the mill beers, on the shelf and in the secondary. A few different low gravity session beers for the summer camp outs and mowing the lawn, a nice stock of Tripel’s and Saison’s for the evening wind down. All great beers to enjoy with people who visit, but I have been wanting to brew something that was just for me. Anyone who knows me at all understands I can’t get enough of the funk that only Brettanomyces Bruxellensis can give – not many beers are higher on my list than most anything from Cantillion (not so much the faro, but…). I have brewed with some of the Wyeast blends – a Flanders Red with the Roeselare blend that was nice, but I have never done an 100% Brett fermentation… so here goes.

Recipe Specifications – Lady Brett Ashley’s Pale Ale

Hemingway’s muse for Lady Brett Ashley
(The Sun Also Rises) sitting beside him
in a Spanish cafe -
Great prose deserves great beer!

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Batch Size (fermenter): 6.5 gal
Estimated Color: 3.6 SRM
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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11 lbs Pilsner (2 Row)
2 lbs White Wheat Malt
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 50.0 min
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] – Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] – Boil 0.0 min
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min
1.42 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins)
0.36 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)
1 pkg Brettanomyces Bruxellensis

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion
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153.000 F 60 min
Batch Sparge @ 168F

2012_04_17 – mixed up a liter starter on Tuesday and bumped it up by a liter every until Friday ending up with a gallon or so by Saturday morning.

2012_04_ 21 – Brew day on my, relatively, new three tier gravity fed brew rig. I have spent some days working through the bugs and for the first time everything worked exactly as it should have.

Cooled the wort to 68F and pitched the yeast, and within five hours the fermentation was in overdrive!

2012_04_24 Had to add a blow off tube this morning in lieu of the airlock – this thing is a monster!

Belgian Tripel

This weekend my new brew house (pronounced garage by my wife…) will be complete. During the building I was contemplating what would be the first batch to grace the new home of New Craft Brewing. I ran the gambit from a super hoppy IPA to a pumpkin porter (fantastic seasonal that is on deck!) but in the end I settled on a beer that I have attempted as the inaugural batch. So without further ado here is a Belgian Tripel (Based, only partly, on a fantastic bottle of Westmalle I was sipping at the time). The ratio of grain to sugars is probably about 5-8% high and if Willamette seems like it would be better as Styrian – you are right but my local home-brew store was out!

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size (fermenter): 22.71 l
Estimated OG: 1.080 SG
Estimated Color: 5.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.3 IBUs
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
————
Amt                   Name
15 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs 12.0 oz     Candi Sugar, Clear [Boil for10 min]
4.0 oz                Candi Sugar, Amber [Boil for10 min]  (75 SRM)
1.00 oz               Willamette [7.00 %] – Boil 90.0 min
1.00 oz               Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 15.0 min
1.00 oz               Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 5.0 min
1.0 pkg               Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787
1.0 pkg               Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  (to be used at
bottling)

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge

Pictures to follow.

Cheers – b

Blueberry Mead

My last day of vacation was spent in a purple haze as I filtered and bottled a bulk aged blueberry mead. I made a last minute decision to turn one gallon into a sparkling treat for next summer and added a small amount of dissolved honey to the growler to be bottled separately from the remaining four gallons. This is the first time I have tried this but I know there is some life left in the bit of yeast that hasn’t settled yet – so fingers crossed.

As the dry rich liquid filled the remaining bottles I contemplated the little I understand about Norse Mythology as it relates to the creation of mead:
After the Æsir-Vanir War‎, the gods sealed the truce they had just concluded by spitting in a vat. To keep a symbol of this truce, they created from their spittle a man named Kvasir. He was so wise that there were no questions he could not answer. He travelled around the world to give knowledge to mankind. One day, he visited the dwarves Fjalar and Galar. They killed him and poured his blood into two vats and a pot called Boðn, Són and Óðrerir. They mixed his blood with honey, thus creating a mead which made anybody who drank it a “poet or scholar” (“skáld eða frœðamaðr“). The dwarves explained to the gods that Kvasir had suffocated in intelligence. The Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry (Old Norse skáldskapar mjaðar), also known as Mead of Suttungr (Suttungmjaðar), is portrayed as a beverage that whoever “drinks becomes a skald or scholar” to recite any information and solve any question.

With this new found knowledge in mind I have set out to think of a suitable label for the newly named “Kvasir Blueberry Mead”. I can only hope that it leads to the poetic dominance promised by the myths and that I can enjoy each sip with the knowledge that Odin was said to subsist entirely on this nectar of the gods.

Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead (JAOM)

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&Itemid=6&recipe_id=118

This is the first mead I ‘created’ – simple, hard to mess up & almost guaranteed to be a
success. I took a few small liberties with the recipe; I only added 2.75 lbs of honey per gallon as I like my mead quite dry, used D-47 yeast (a guess and now that I have learned more apparently a good choice), and I left out the nutmeg and all spice.

After only 8 weeks in the fermenter and 2 months bottle conditioning it is considered a small success according to my family and friends.

Just for my own practice, here is a ‘review’ of the bottle a enjoyed last weekend while camping.

Served in a chardonnay style wine glass (I know – very fancy for camping )

Appearance:
Brilliant clarity with a pale straw color. Legs that climb up the glass almost immediately.

Aroma:
Initially a light honey aroma reminiscent of mountain meadow in full wildflower bloom. As you bring the glass in closer the honey gives was to a spicy citrus scent. A very airy mead with little to no alcohol present in the nose.

Flavor:
No evidence of honey but full of estery, clean and fresh flavors with a dry spicy finish.
Warming alcohol is evident in the back of the mouth and follows the mead down the throat after swallowing.

Mouthfeel:
Slightly thin mouthfeel that has improved with some aging. Only notable negative aspect.

Overall Impression:
The spices used are clearly identifiable and complement each other and the light orange flavor. Very enjoyable mead that is well suited for sipping on a warm summer
evening around a campfire watching the stars and picking our constellations.