Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Dark Saison/Saison d'Hiver - Batch 2

What?? Another post on HBW??  I won't always have posts for HBW but I've been brewing  a lot lately so I have a few posts scheduled to release.
_______________________________________________________

If any of you have read Michael Tonsmeire's blog, and I'm sure a lot of those reading this has, then you've seen his yearly post about a Dark Saison he and some of his buddies brew.  I took some inspiration from that and decided I wanted to do a Dark Saison or what can be called a Saison d'Hiver.  Close to two years ago I brewed one very similar to this recipe from Maltose Falcons and it was okay, but nothing special (due to me not the recipe).  I changed the grist up just a bit and I fermented it with White Labs WLP585.  I then aged it in secondary on a vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick.  Young, it was way too much spice from the cinnamon..  As it aged, it just seemed to turn into a Belgian Dark Strong Ale.  A good beer but nothing great and definitely not dry enough.  This year I wanted to take another stab at it and get something funky added in the mix.

I took to his book and his blog to go through each recipe and find something I could build my brew from.  Here are some links to each of his beers.

Funky Dark Saison #1 - Rosemary, Orange Peel, Raisins
Funky Dark Saison #2 - Black Cardamom and Caramelized Dates
Funky Dark Saison #3 - Fig, Honey, Anise
Funky Dark Saison #4 - Currants
Funky Dark Saison #5 - More sour and split a couple ways
Funky Dark Saison #6 - Aged with Cranberries and Orange Peel
Funky Dark Saison #7 - Mostly English grist and Citrus added

As you can see there is a ton of information on his blog about these dark farmhouse beers.  There is a plethora of other information there as well.  I took what I gathered from him and developed the recipe below with what I had on hand at the house.


Recipe: Dark Saison Round 1 - Batch 2 10-25-15
Brewer: Gus
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 9.26 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.11 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal   Actually close to 6.5 gallons
Bottling Volume: 4.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.070 SG  Actual OG:  1.060 SG  -  Way over sparged.
Estimated Color: 23.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.4 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt           Name                                     Type      #    %/IBU
11 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Ale (Dingemans) (3.3 SRM)           Grain     1    80.7 %
1 lbs         Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM)      Grain     2    7.0 %
8.0 oz        Rye, Flaked (Briess) (4.6 SRM)           Grain     3    3.5 %
4.0 oz        Midnight Wheat (750.0 SRM)               Grain     4    1.8 %
1 lbs         Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM)             Sugar     5    7.0 %
1.00 oz       Bramling Cross [5.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min  Hop       6    17.3 IBUs
1.00 oz       Bramling Cross [5.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min  Hop       7    8.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg       Biere de Garde (Wyeast Labs #3725)       Yeast     8    -


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification  Add 17.32 qt of water at 165.4 F        152.0 F       75 min
Mash Out          Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min             168.0 F       10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 6.71 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes: Added Dark Brown Sugar at the end of the boil.  Pitched GigaYeast Sour
Cherry Funk with the Wyeast Biere de Garde 3725.
------

The recipe just seemed to fit the bill of what I was wanting.  I got to use some of the Dingeman's Pale Ale malt that I still have.  That malt just seems a bit too sweet for my liking in lighter Saison brewing.  But when I'm wanting something dark and to have a residual malt character, this could be a great base.  I was thinking about using Vienna or Maris Otter for my base malt but, I had the Pale Ale on hand.  I added some Caramunich I for color and the caramel/malt flavors, flaked rye for the body and mouthfeel, and then Midnight Wheat for more color addition.

For the hops, Bramling Cross just scream dark farmhouse beer to me.  Spicy with hints of black currants was the description.  I added enough to get right around 25 IBUs and called it good.


Wyeast 3725 may be called Biere de Garde but there are many folks saying it's actually a Saison yeast.  Either way, it should work for me in this beer.  I wanted to give it something extra too though.  I added in GigaYeast's Sour Cherry Funk.  With the IBUs where they are, it may take some time for it to sour.  That will be ok as it will give the different brettanomyces strains in there a head start.  It will also test to see if the lacto there will drop the pH over time.  I've got a theory that even with hopping at a rate like I did that the pH will drop given enough time.  I didn't take a starting pH for this beer but I will see where the pH is after primary fermentation.  I'll check it periodically as I'm waiting for this to mature.  I'm still not sure on fruit additions either.  Maybe some cherries will play nicely.  I'll decide that when the beer is finished and see what will compliment the best.


Sorry for being that guy and videoing this portrait instead of landscape.  I'll fix that on future videos if I film with my phone!  I've gotten a new camera recently to start filming most of my brew days with.

Drinking farmhouse while brewing farmhouse!  Existent is a great example of the style from Stillwater.

Some things to note that happened on this brew day.  I ended up way over sparging  and having a boil volume close or just over 10 gallons.  For this new system I've been trying to get somewhere around 9.25-9.5 gallons.  My last brew efficiency was spot on.  I'm attributing this miss of starting gravity to the over sparge.  I could have boiled longer but that would have off set all my hops and additions so I didn't worry about it.  I'm still pretty green with the new system but I'll get better.

Cooling went much, much better this time around.  I made sure all my connections were good and tight and did a re-circulation through the heat exchanger while the wort was still close to boiling temps to sanitize.  Then I turned on the hose and let it drop to 125F before dumping ice in the pre-chiller.  I was able to run 72F and eventually 68F wort into the carboy.  I collected probably just over 5 gallons and then pitched the two yeast packets.

This was a much better brew day overall.  I still made some mistakes and I'm sure I'll continue to have some while dialing in the system.  Preparation and sanitation are key for me.  I like to have everything laid out in front of me to be ready when I need to use it.  I'll do a good detailed write up about my system and my process while brewing soon.  There have been a few folks asking for that lately.


Updates:

10-26-15:  Didn't see a lot of activity in the AM but by 4PM she was rocking and rolling!



Updates:  Picked up some tart cherry juice to bottle this one.  Will be bottling soon.

3-7-16:  Bottled with 48oz of tart cherry juice.

Tasting notes found here.

Cheers!


Andrew "Gus" Addkison
gusaddkison@gmail.com
@aaddkison on Twitter
MDBC
on UnTappd:
Gus_13
on Instagram:
mdbc_saison

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

American Farmhouse Ale - Batch 1

Happy HBW!  Today's post is about the first brew on my new brewing system.  This has been a long time in the making.  I didn't know what exactly I wanted to start with but I knew it would be Saison.  Now that my system is complete I plan on brewing a lot more sour beers since I can get them brewed and split multiple batches.  I'll also be able to test a lot more yeast strains that I've been wanting to and do the big Saison yeast experiment.

The single tier brew system I've built took a long time.  I knew I wanted to start building it about two years ago.  I started getting things for it then and just hanging on to everything until I got where I wanted to get the big pieces like the controller and the kettles.  I went back and forth on the size of the kettles but ultimately ended up going with 15 gallon kettles from Bru Gear.  The experience with them could be a complete post by itself but I'll just say, the kettles are great.  I would change a few things on them if I could but they work great.  I also picked up a PID controller from eBrewing Supply and those guys there are fantastic.  All my other components pretty much came from Bobby at www.brewhardware.com.  I love the cam-lock system and everything is always delivered fast.

Now on to the brew day!  Below is the simple recipe I decided to use for Batch 1.  2oz of low AA Strisslespalt for bittering and a late addition of Equinox to give it something extra.  I've been wanting to use this hop for a while.  Simple malt base of 90% Pilsen and 10% Torrified Wheat.  Fermentation will be carried out by the White Labs WLP670 American Farmhouse Blend.


Recipe: American Farmhouse - Batch 1 10-17-15
Brewer: Gus
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 9.26 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.11 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal   
Bottling Volume: 4.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG  Actual: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 2.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt           Name                                     Type      #    %/IBU
9 lbs         Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM)     Grain     1    90.0 %
1 lbs         Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM)               Grain     2    10.0 %
2.00 oz       Strisslespalt [1.20 %] - Boil 90.0 min   Hop       3    9.9 IBUs
1.00 oz       Equinox [13.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min        Hop       4    19.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg       American Farmhouse Blend (WLP670)        Yeast     5    -


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification  Add 13.26 qt of water at 163.0 F        150.0 F       60 min
Mash Out          Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min             168.0 F       10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 7.34 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:  No starter for the WLP670.
------

Being the first brew day I did expect to have some complications or issues through the process.  The were minor, but worth noting.

First the mash temperature was managed much easier with the HERMS coil than I expected.  When I ran just water through the system to test it, there was about a 6-8 degree difference between the two kettles.  When the mash tun was full of grain, the difference was only 1-2 degrees.  This is good but during this brew day my temperature evened out to 154F for the majority of the mash.  In the end I'm sure it won't matter.  There will just be a few more longer chains for the brettanomyces to chew on.  I still feel the beer will dry out appropriately.

Second issue was the plate chiller.  I fitted each of the openings on the hose side with some quick disconnects I use around my house and for the wort side I added the cam-lock connections with a ball valve on the out.  The cam-locks worked great but I guess I didn't get the quick disconnects tight enough.  REALLY hot water sprayed everywhere from the out.  I was able to kill the flow and get it fixed but just as a PSA to others out there... Make sure everything is tightened very well!  In the end I had the wort cooled to 75F and pitched the vial of WL670.  Next time I need to do a much better job of maintaining the flow if I want it to get any cooler.  I used a bag of ice and pre-chiller to get the hose water cold.  I feel like I can get it down in the high 60s no problem next time.

During the brew day the pumps worked great, temperatures were accurate and everything was controlled really well.  I'm pretty happy with how Batch 1 turned out.  The starting gravity was just a bit off at 1.046 but that's very acceptable for my first brew being that my target was 1.047.  I'm also excited that now I'll be able to keep a record of each batch.  I wish I had done that with all my beers from the beginning but... oh well.  I can now!  Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of photos from the brew day.  I was really focused on making sure everything went well and everything was safe.  I do have a new camera that I'll be using to video some brew days and take better pictures of everything.  I do have a parting shot (or video) of the vigorous boil.  I'll leave you with that.  Follow me on Twitter to know when I'm brewing and watch when I stream on Periscope!




Updates:

10-18-15:  Full krausen and fermenting away at 9AM the next morning.



10-25-15:  Moved from fermentation freezer to room temp in kitchen on concrete floor.  Ambient temp is around 70-72F.

2-20-16:  Gravity is 1.000 and beer has developed a pellicle after taking the sample a few days ago.  Definitely ready to bottle.

3-17-16:  I've been busy with other projects so I just now dry hopped this beer with 1oz of Equinox.  I will bottle next week.

Tasting notes still to come but here is a bit from Dan Pixley in the Saison group on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1517563441866109/permalink/1751609811794803/

Cheers!


Andrew "Gus" Addkison
gusaddkison@gmail.com
@aaddkison on Twitter
MDBC
on UnTappd:
Gus_13
on Instagram:
mdbc_saison

Monday, October 19, 2015

Tasting Notes of Four Grain Saison (Kathleen) Round 1

After getting ready for my first brew day on my new system I decided to pop a bottle of the beer I'm calling Kathleen.  While I envisioned this beer as being my provision style Saison that is aged for a while to bring out more character of wild yeast an bacteria, the culture I used in this beer acted extremely fast.  The pH dropped substantially, despite having almost 20 IBUs, in just a few short weeks.  This had me thinking the process again and how I would approach it each time.  I already know I don't want to use Pale Ale malt for the base next time.  Traditional Pilsen malt is much better as it won't leave as much residual sweetness.  You can find the recipe and info on the beer here.  My tasting notes are below.


"Kathleen"



Stats:
ABV: 6.5%
SG:  1.054 or 13.3°P
FG:  1.004 or 1.03°P
Apparent Attenuation:  92%
Actual Attenuation:  75%

Appearance:  Pours deep golden almost orange.  Really clear on the first pour as well.  A white head forms about one and half fingers thick.  Quickly dissipates to just a thin ring around the glass.  There are bubbles streaming up the sides and they do so almost the entire time I drink.  I had feared the carbonation was way too low but it seems there is more than I had expected.  It's still a bit lower than I want but it's not flat and I'm glad of that.  Little bit of lacing on the sides of the glass but nothing excessive.  I did ferment this on an oak spiral so I'm wondering if that has any effect on the head retention.  Most barrel aged beers I have tend to be lacking in that department.  Overall I'm pleased with the appearance but look forward to it being a bit lighter with the Pilsen next time.




Aroma:  The first bottle of this beer I opened had a very muted aroma.  It smelled very "young" as well.  This bottle has opened up to showcase a lot of tropical aromas.  Mango and pineapple are pretty prevalent.  There is also some acidity in the form of lemon rind tartness as well.  Just a hint of sweetness but it's a fruity sweetness and not something malty or like caramel.  It has a slight hint of acid bite as well but not too bad.  It seems to be just a little bit young still.  Being that this was brewed in July and that it's just three and half months old, it may be still just a bit too young.  The aroma is more wild ale than Saison.  Not getting a ton of the great pepper and spice that 3726 usually delivers.  I seem to have this reoccurring when I use a good portion of grown up bottle dregs.  Still, it smells nice and I'm interested to see how it progresses.  Maybe with time it will give a bit more funk from the brettanomyces in the dregs.  Even with the shorter boil, I detect no DMS or anything like that.


Flavor:  First sip brings the lactic tartness and mango out.  After you swallow and let it settle a bit, then some of the pineapple comes out.  A little bit of green apple and some fruity sweetness are left on the palate.  Definitely acidic but pretty pleasant overall.  There is a bit of pepper and spice that I didn't pick up in the aroma but not as much as the sample before bottling.  Still no caramel or malty flavors and I'm glad of that.  I had worries using the Pale Ale malt that it would leave too much.  There is some still there even though the beer finished very dry at 1.004.  I believe the change in base malt will be much better.  Reflective of the nose, I think this one is still a bit young.  The dry hop of Aramis hops is detectable as well.  I'm picking up the lemony, grassy notes from them.

Again, I'm pleasantly surprised that I don't detect any DMS.  I'm not always the best at picking it out but if there was a substantial amount from the short boil, I believe I would have gotten it.  The brettanomyces may have converted it to something else.  


Mouthfeel:  Medium to almost medium full body on the beer.  I think higher carbonation would help with that.  Over time that may happen.  Just a bit of something left in the back of the throat after swallow as well.  This too would be fixed with more carbonation.  I bottled with 4.5oz of dextrose but going forward I believe I'll be using table sugar and in a little bit higher amount to get the carbonation levels I'm wanting.


Overall:  This is a very tasty brew.  I can definitely detect the Hill Farmstead character in there.  It tastes like a slightly sweeter, well aged Anna or Arthur character.  Since I've brewed the last few beers with the dregs and the Saison yeast pitched at the same time, I've come to realize I like the character of adding dregs after primary fermentation.  I do like pitching strains of brettanomyces with the Saison yeast but I think that when you use dregs that have been built up, they tend to take over and dominate the profile of the beer.  While this one is still young in the bottle, I feel it is still a great brew.  I'll report back periodically with how this one changes over time and see if we can find the sweet spot for age.  This beer could have sat in primary a little longer but honestly I liked how it tasted and the gravity and pH had been the same for a while.  Time will tell how this one changes.


Parting shot of the new system for those who don't follow on IG or Twitter.  First run this past Saturday went great and I think I'll be able to produce a lot of great beer using this!  Still have to get the panel mounted and add a few more things but right now she runs smooth!  Follow on Twitter to see me Periscope and brew live.

Updates:

This beer definitely went through a couple of changes.  A couple weeks after this tasting I pulled another and it had lost the mango and pineapple flavors.  it was more subtle and plain it seemed.  Then after a few more weeks in the bottle the tropical fruit flavors returned to balance out the tartness.  Something else had shown up as well.  There was a good amount of funk in the nose.  It was like wet hay, old wet wood, and a bit of leather.  It had an amazing balance and I really enjoyed it.  It was tasted by another sour beer that was in the style of Lambic and this beer's nose rivaled that in the funk department.  I can't wait to see how it further develops in the bottle!

Cheers!


Andrew "Gus" Addkison
gusaddkison@gmail.com
@aaddkison on Twitter
MDBC
on UnTappd:
Gus_13
on Instagram:
mdbc_saison

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Tasting Notes of a Homebrew Saison with Tired Hands Emptiness Culture

Today I'm giving some more tasting notes from a beer sent to me by Daniel Rohm.  Daniel was nice enough to offer some of Tired Hands Emptiness culture he had grown up and blended with Wyeast 3726 and even sent a beer with it!  He included a couple great beers I was really happy I'd get to try.  I'll be sending a return box back soon!

You can find his brewing post here and his tasting notes here on his blog.  Keep checking back for more updates from him!

He took a good base grain bill of a saison and then fermented it with a starter of 3726 and his grown up Tired Hands Emptiness culture.  If anyone has ever had any of their Emptiness beers, you know that is some pretty amazing stuff.  Those beers tend to have great stone fruit character and some pretty nice acidity.



Poured into the glass it left me with about a finger to a finger and a half of nice white head and tons of different sized bubbles.  Carbonation rolling up the side of the glass.  The head dissipated pretty quickly.  This was probably due to the acidity in this beer.  When I popped the cap I got an initial whiff of acidity.  Just a tad hazy but I'm not one to look for crystal clarity in the beers I brew or drink.  Golden orange in color similar to some of the beers I've been rolling out lately.  Looks great.

Head after I poured.  I'll have better pictures soon!  I've gotten a much better camera than my phone.
First dive into the aroma I pick up the acidity in a lemon flesh and rind tartness.  There is a big of pear skin and what smells like unripened peaches.  The pear skin almost has a tannic quality but nothing off putting at all.  There is a hint of funk that I'm sure will grow over time.  Slight bit of acetic bite but nothing overpowering or even supremely noticeable.  Could be perceived as a hint of vinegar but I'm not one to find this completely offensive.  I actually like a little bit of that character if it isn't overboard.

For the flavor, I pulled out some pear, maybe a bit of tart green apple, ripe peaches and apricot, very much Tired Hands character.  Medium mouthfeel, and a little hangs on in the back of the mouth for the finish.  Carbonation is nice and helps to clean the palate.  There is a bit of malt flavor but nothing overly sweet at all.  There is just a twinge of something shinning through remnant of ethyl acetate.  It's highly possible that this is just the beer being young in the bottle.  I'm sure that will age out.  It's not offensive like nail polish or rubber at all.  Just a hint of something I'm not able to put my finger on.  I'm not sure what the ABV is but there is no trace of alcohol at all.

Overall this is really nice stuff from what I think was, Daniel's second beer maybe?  That's very impressive.  He dove straight into all grain brewing and if this had been my second all grain beer I would have been stoked!  Talking with him about fermenting with bottle dregs in saison I think we are both on the page of using the dregs more in secondary instead of co-pitching them with the saison yeast.  What I'm finding is just what he has said to me, that makes a beer more of a wild ale instead of the saison with a touch of tartness and brettanomyces funk.

Thanks again for sending it my way, Daniel!  Keep the brewing up and feel free to send more to sample!  I'll have a box back to you with my HF dregs saison as well as some others.

Cheers!


Andrew "Gus" Addkison
gusaddkison@gmail.com
@aaddkison on Twitter
MDBC
on UnTappd:
Gus_13
on Instagram:
mdbc_saison