tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19696382757908287802024-03-16T13:52:03.467-05:00The Farmhouse ObsessionGushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-60619829813666862662018-08-03T13:14:00.005-05:002018-08-03T14:25:39.118-05:00Tasting Notes - Inspired Beer - OrvalThis took a little longer than expected but I've finally got the tasting notes of the Orval inspired beer below. I'm working on the next installment of this little series so keep an eye out!<br />
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Brew day notes <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2017/10/inspired-beer-orval.html">here!</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 6.96%<br />
SG: 1.057 or 14.04°P<br />
FG: 1.004 or 1.03°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 93%<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Definitely a little lighter than Orval. Although the bottle of Orval I have to compare it to is a few years old. So maybe this will darken a bit over time. Rich gold in color with hints of orange. Crystal clear with a white head that dissipated really quickly. It's not highly carbonated and I've seen lots of brett beers not have the best head retention as well as some Trappist beers that have sub par head retention. It's beautiful in the setting sun on this warm day. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Right in the beginning you get a blast of fruity notes. Some indistinct but also some stone fruit notes. Bit of dried apricot and maybe a light note of peach and some very faint cherry. Just a touch of malt character comes through with a finish of the hops. Bit of pepper, small amounts of citrus more like lemon than orange and just a very faint note of funky woodsy notes. Not overly funky and definitely more fruity than Orval. I really enjoy the aroma. </span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Follows the nose with the stone fruit. It seems to be a little less complex on the flavor when compared to the nose. There is a nice bitter, dry finish and at the end of it all you get a bit of the hops with a very light malt sweetness. It's extremely refreshing. Maybe a touch of pear or apple in there when you dig. Some citrus and light, light funk as it finishes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to Medium light. Could definitely be better with more carbonation. I'm not sure why this one didn't carbonate as high as I intended but I'll fix that when I brew it again. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Really is a beautiful beer.</td></tr>
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span> I am glad I called this an "Inspired Beer" instead of a clone recipe. The two beers do differ pretty greatly. The blend from Wyeast seems to be a little different than what Orval uses at least as far as the brettanomyces goes. Orval has light fruity notes but a lot more of what I would call earthy and peppery tones from their strain. The brett strain in this Wyeast Trappist blend has a ton of fruity notes. Very tasty but just different. Next time I'll probably do my own blend of yeasts to replicate this and use the brett in either secondary or bottling only.<br />
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Another change I would make would be the dry hopping rates. I would definitely increase it. I dry hopped this beer with 2oz of 7.2AA Aramis hops and I would increase that by at least an ounce and maybe even double it in my 6.5 gallon batch to get more character. I really enjoy the Aramis hop in this style of beer though so I'm glad I have more of it to use. I believe Orval uses a more woody/earthy hop in there beers (maybe EKG or something like that) so I may try a blend of hops in the dry hop next time.<br />
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I'll also use more of the golden candi sugar in the next batch and maybe a higher percentage of the pale malt vs Pilsner. I definitely like the base and thing it could be bang on with a few tweaks. Let me know if you brew something like this or have your own inspired recipe!<br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-55137193844368666992018-06-15T10:21:00.003-05:002019-03-22T10:49:08.222-05:00L'Internationale Homebrew RecipeHere it is! What you've all been waiting for. The recipe for the international collaboration that was designed by the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1517563441866109/">Saison, Bière de Garde, and Farmhouse Appreciation Society</a>. The group helped pick the recipe it and some fantastic pro brewers are brewing it. In my opinion, it's exactly what Saison should be. Simple yet beautiful.<br />
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We had a group of homebrewers all brew the recipe and see how it did across many different systems and all throughout the US and Canada. We're swapping some bottles and doing some tastings to make sure the pro recipe translated well to homebrew level. Form the bottles of mine I've opened I'll say I'm pretty happy with it.<br />
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One thing that makes this recipe unique is that it ties in both old world and new world. We use lots of low alpha hops to bring in the bitterness (and I mean it's a ton of hops at 1.2-2.4 AA). Then we finish the beer with some really nice new world hops. The low AA hops bring a lot of traditional character to the beer and the new world hops bring in some fruity and wine like characters.<br />
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Pro Breweries who are brewing the official group beer:<br />
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<a href="https://www.blockthreebrewing.com/">Block Three Brewing</a> - St. Jacobs, Ontario, CAN - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/blockthree/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pitcaribou.com/">Pit Carabou</a> - Quebec, CAN<br />
<a href="https://b-m.facebook.com/deepdarkwoodbrewing/">Deep Dark Wood Brewing</a> - Whitehorse Yukon Territory, CAN - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/deepdarkwoodbrewing/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
<a href="https://americansolera.com/">American Solera</a> - Tulsa, OK, USA - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/americansolera/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
Strange Brewin - Buenos Aires, Argentina - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/strangebrewin/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
<a href="http://cloudwaterbrew.co/">Cloudwater Brewing</a> - Manchester, UK - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cloudwaterbrew/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
<a href="https://www.startnext.com/kemker">Braueri Kemker</a> - Alverskirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brauerei_kemker/">IG</a><br />
<a href="http://www.alefarm.dk/">Ale Farm Brewing</a> - Greve, Roskilde Denmark - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alefarmbrewing/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
<a href="https://wildflowerbeer.com/">Wildflower Beer</a> - Australia - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/wildflowerbeer/?hl=en">IG</a><br />
<a href="http://www.brasseriethiriez.com/">Brasserie Thiriez</a> - Esquelbecq, France<br />
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As you can see there are breweries from all over the world brewing this recipe. It's really cool to see those names brewing something we as a group voted on!<br />
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Recipe below. Feel free to try it out. Add in some mixed cultures, try different yeasts. Try it with the Bière de Coupage technique. Come share your brew day and tasting notes with us in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1517563441866109/">group</a>. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any other of the fantastic pro and homebrewers within the group.<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">L'internationale</span></u></b><br />
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Type: All Grain<br />
Batch Size: 5.00 gal<br />
Boil Time: 60 min (90 if you prefer with Pilsner)<br />
Efficiency: 75 %<br />
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70%<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pilsner<br />
18%<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Malted Pale Wheat<br />
12%<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Malted Rye<br />
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18 IBUs <a href="https://ychhops.com/varieties/strisselspalt">Strisslespalt</a> @ 60 min<br />
6 IBUs <a href="https://ychhops.com/varieties/strisselspalt">Strisslespalt</a> @ 10 min<br />
6 IBUs <a href="https://ychhops.com/varieties/motueka">Motueka</a> @ 5 min<br />
5 IBUs <a href="https://ychhops.com/varieties/blanc">Hallertau Blanc</a> @ 5 min<br />
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Mash in to reach 147F and hold for 60 min. Target preboil gravity of 1.031. I used Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and 88% Lactic Acid to get my mash pH to 5.28. I typically shoot for 5.2-5.3.<br />
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Boil for 60-90 min adding hops as scheduled. Target SG of 1.042.<br />
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There were so many hops I had to add in another hop spider in there during brewing. I had a time cleaning them all up!<br />
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Pitch favorite Saison yeast/blend. (For the test we used <a href="https://fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/SafAle-BE-134_Rev2.pdf">Safale BE-134</a>). The Pros all did mixed fermentation with their house cultures or blends as far as I know.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo7B5R1m_Ok/WyO8ZhZi2dI/AAAAAAAABps/pXkj3J60Zq8xrZu3SY4qrVlaId9Dk1cUQCEwYBhgL/s1600/20180514_054729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo7B5R1m_Ok/WyO8ZhZi2dI/AAAAAAAABps/pXkj3J60Zq8xrZu3SY4qrVlaId9Dk1cUQCEwYBhgL/s400/20180514_054729.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even though I whilrpool and use hop spiders still lots<br />
of hop matter got into the fermentor.</td></tr>
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Dry hop at the end of primary fermentation with 2oz each of Hallertaur Blanc and Motueka.<br />
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Package with Bob Sylvester's (of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brasseriesaintsomewhere/">St. Somewhere Brewing Company</a>) <a href="http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Packaging#Bob_Sylvester.27s_Priming_Guide">method</a> below.<br />
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Bob said for 7 bbl of beer he uses 12# of cane sugar and 250g dry Champagne yeast.<br />
He puts both of these in 3.5 gallons of 108F water and allows the yeast to bloom for<br />
20 minutes or so. Using his numbers, I came up with the below:<br />
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Per gallon:<br />
0.885oz of sugar (by weight)<br />
1.15g of yeast<br />
2.00oz of water (by volume)<br />
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Bob mentioned to me that the volume of the yeast is less important than the amount of sugar.<br />
You could overshoot the amount of yeast without any ill effects. He also recommended using<br />
Red Star yeast as that was his favorite. It has become hard to find for him so he has been<br />
using Maurivin PDM and Fermentis Safoeno VR 44. I'll be using this formula for whatever the<br />
volume is of the beer after I've blended. My LHBS has the Red Star Premier Cuveé so I'll be<br />
using that. I'm doing all of this to help with the head production and retention. Since<br />
every one of his beers I've had all have an amazing pillow-y head that seems to stick around<br />
forever, I figured I'd give this a try. It may also shorten the carbonation period as some<br />
of my blends can take up to a month to get where I like them. He stated that the carbonation<br />
happens the same day of bottling if done correctly. He also says to wait 10 days and that's<br />
it. That with time, the initial "rough" carbonation you get in the first couple days will<br />
mellow out into the fluffy stuff. That's exactly what I'm looking for.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><u><b>Disclaimer:</b></u></span> If anyone plans to do this, make SURE you are using the correct bottles. The<br />
champagne bottles I typically use are rated for up to 5 vol of CO2. If you don't have some<br />
of the thick glass bottles rated for the higher carbonation levels, you WILL get bottle bombs.<br />
It can be dangerous using anything not rated for the higher level of carbonation. The caps<br />
(or corks if you use them) seals are usually much stronger than the glass so when you go to<br />
open them, you could have a bottle shatter. So proceed with caution and use the right equipment.<br />
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Update: It seems we had the numbers wrong on the math for the priming technique. We've since updated them. Thanks to Derek for pointing it out!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">List of homebrewers who tested the recipe:</span></u></b><br />
(click their names for their Instagram/Facebook pages)<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thirdleapbrew/">Andrew Kazanovicz</a><br />
Andrew Palumbo<br />
Chris Baumann<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/crsandrsn/">Christopher Anderson</a><br />
Chuck Collins<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/fullbarrelbrew/">Dave Henry</a><br />
Guillaume Chevrette<br />
Jeff Shouse<br />
Jonathan Belk<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/itsnacey/">Josh Nacy</a><br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/krolleston/">Kris Rolleston</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/odditiesartisanales/">Oddities Artisan Ales</a><br />
Logan Henderson<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/lbsab/">Pierre-Antoine Chausseé-Castonguay</a><br />
Sarah Henry<br />
Sig Copple<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/rangemaster75/">Stephen Goodal</a><br />
Tim Hawley<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/tcpadden/">Tyler Padden</a><br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/floatbeers/">Xander Duke</a><br />
Vincent Lefebvre<br />
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Now on to some tasting notes of the beer. I've had it a few times and it's gone through a few stages after being in the bottle a few weeks. When it was young, there was a good bit of banana from the yeast there. One friend even said it came off like a hoppy hefeweizen. Thankfully that has faded now. Let's get into things.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 5.78%<br />
SG: 1.046 or 11.43°P<br />
FG: 1.002 or 0.51°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 96%<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Hazy pale straw color. Almost like a NEIPA. After some time the bottles are starting to clear a bit but I doubt this one will ever be crystal clear. Stark white head with tons of small bubbles. It's packed tight for sure. Really nice lacing and the head keeps a cap as long as your drinking the glass<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr> <td><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PTklJPsNGRs/WyO8abcSxbI/AAAAAAAABps/3K79c7B4g5QmQ1sfhyFIbbWo_BjXwKD_wCEwYBhgL/s320/20180603_142701.jpg" width="100%" /></td> <td><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QX7zFfWn6Ac/WyO8afoU_yI/AAAAAAAABpw/nP10o5ME_JcW9wx_Ga42zpdeQQ2WOWmvwCEwYBhgL/s320/20180603_142810.jpg" width="100%" /></td> </tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Spicy, fruity, bit of pepper, touch of lemon and lime, other generic citrus, and a bit of hay and Pilsner grain-y aroma. This thing really is loaded on the nose. I do get a touch of banana and maybe clove but it's very light. There is a wine quality like green skin fruits that I get in there too. You can definitely tell the Motueka and Blanc hops are there. Using so many low AA hops you pick up a bit of green vegetal aroma but that's to be expected. The beer is still very young. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fmJiRK0VOw/WyO8a0Sj9GI/AAAAAAAABqA/E3Pcg-e4G8AHYozJVBg5rNctF6yA8yjeQCEwYBhgL/s1600/20180614070722_IMG_0116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fmJiRK0VOw/WyO8a0Sj9GI/AAAAAAAABqA/E3Pcg-e4G8AHYozJVBg5rNctF6yA8yjeQCEwYBhgL/s400/20180614070722_IMG_0116.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky fluffy head. I let this beer sit for about 10 minutes and there was still<br />
a nice head and lacing all on the glass.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Taste</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Really close to the nose. First sip brings a blast of lime and other citrus like grapefruit and a bit of lemon. A hint of herbal quality like lemon grass or something similar. Then it finishes with some spicy notes from all the Strisselspalt and yeast character. There is a very light banana note from the yeast but it is not as prevalent as before. This one is pretty much all hops and light yeast character when it's young. It's very refreshing. The mouthfeel is medium almost medium full. I did use right at a 1:1 ration for my sulfate to chloride ratio. I may go back up to 2:1 for the next brew to give it a bit more crispness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Overall</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> I think this is a solid recipe. I will admit I don't love this yeast. But now I know moving forward. I have another 3 gallons to bottle that I fermented with Wallonian 3 from The Yeast Bay. I'll report back here or on Instagram with my notes from that one. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I really think using lots of low AA hops for bittering adds a different character than using lower amounts of high AA varieties. I've done this a few times in my brewing and I think I'll continue doing that in Saisons. Even using something higher like 5% AA I enjoy more than anything 10% or more. I think it adds a roundness to the beer. You may not get a lot of flavor but there are a lot of other compounds in there that add to the beer. What it is, I'm not entirely sure. But I like it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't think I'd change anything else at all. I think this is a perfect base for a Saison to use a few brettanomyces strains and even do some blending with an acid beer. </span></span>So take the recipe, brew it, play with it, let us know how you like it! I can't wait to try some of the commercial examples. I'm really glad American Solera participated as I'm a member of their American Solera Society. I'll definitely be picking up multiple bottles of that one!<br />
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**Oh and Bob, if you are reading this, only three bottles weren't green. Those were for carbonation testing. The rest of mine are nicely tucked away in C&C green bottles! #greenbottle<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rDRD-KVVBZI/WyO8anLhj5I/AAAAAAAABp0/WhDBS2En3S4HmzxIrQnTIP0-LjEw2ZhNQCEwYBhgL/s1600/20180606_181259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rDRD-KVVBZI/WyO8anLhj5I/AAAAAAAABp0/WhDBS2En3S4HmzxIrQnTIP0-LjEw2ZhNQCEwYBhgL/s320/20180606_181259.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Update:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ic50K73WnIc/XJUDhhvZuII/AAAAAAAABuA/hK0oSdznsjA1L-paYHdEec3ddI5ag6-nwCEwYBhgL/s1600/54525587_10104349468247826_2811958626774679552_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ic50K73WnIc/XJUDhhvZuII/AAAAAAAABuA/hK0oSdznsjA1L-paYHdEec3ddI5ag6-nwCEwYBhgL/s320/54525587_10104349468247826_2811958626774679552_n.jpg" width="240" /></a>Drinking on 3/21/19 the beer has held up wonderfully. Notes of greenery, spice, melon and a touch of citrus in the nose. Hay, pear, melon, pepper and very light Juicy Fruit character on the palate. It finishes bone dry and the high carbonation gives a refreshing effervescence to it. I love the appearance and how the haze still remains. I'm sure it will take a very long time for this one to drop clear. <br />
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Good things!<br />
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Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-43923771996020075652017-10-23T16:45:00.005-05:002019-05-14T09:51:13.145-05:00Inspired Beer - Orval<br />
Orval is a beer that's a big inspiration for me and a lot of others I'm sure. It's a pillar in what used to be a very "weird" group of beers. Go back to somewhere like 2010 and there was limited information readily accessible about brettanomyces. You had to dig into forums and sometimes venture into the dark places of the internet. Go back a little further and I bet there weren't many people who had ever heard the term. I'm sure folks in the wine industry and long time sour beer producers sure knew what it was but for the regular every day craft beer fan and homebrewer, it wasn't commonplace.<br />
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But... We had Orval. Orval started showing up here in Mississippi right after the laws changed in 2012 to allow for beer over 6.2% ABV to be sold in the state. My craft beer obsession began around 2009 or so and I had Orval at some point before it showed up in the state. To this day, I always have a few bottles of this wonderfully weird beer on hand.<br />
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So why is this an inspiration? What's so great about this beer? Besides being delicious, it is many times a person's first foray into beer with brettanomyces. It also just so happens to combine two of my favorite things in the beer world... Belgian/Trappist beer and brett (brettanomyces) beer. But more than that, it's a brett beer that has been produced since 1931. I'm not positive the same process has been used but I would assume that something similar to what it produced to day has been made for a while. In a beer world filled with sours and brett beers now, that's pretty cool. (I'm sure there are other examples that have been made for a while too but I am not aware of them other than the sour beers of Belgium and maybe English stock ales but even those weren't meant to have brett in them.)<br />
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OK all that said, what does it taste like? Why do people love this beer? Well that's another interesting aspect of this one. Since it has brett and is dry hopped it changes a good bit over time. It evolves into different beers all together. Fresh it is quite bitter, has awesome floral hoppy notes with a bit of spice from the yeast and just a hint of brett character in the form of what I would describe fresh wood and citrus fruit. After about 6 months, the dry hop tends to fade and you'll get more of the Belgian yeast character that has a slight bit of acidity to it and some ripe fruits. The brett character really starts to kick up about a year in and you'll have something completely different than the beer was fresh.<br />
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So that brings us to this post. "Inspired Beer" is something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Rather than actually try to clone a beer, I'd rather take inspiration from it and make something my own with a similar process. Orval is just the first beer I wanted to write about. It's a dry hopped, brett finished, Trappist beer. So different from what the other Trappist breweries produce. Using their website, reading different books and looking over the internet, below is the recipe I've come up with using inspiration from the original.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Side Note: There used to be a beer brewed by Green Flash called <a href="https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2743/76323/">Rayon Vert</a> that was a take on Orval. I liked that beer a lot too. It has since been discontinued by them and I drank my last bottle of that sometime in the last year or two. It was still awesome. </span><br />
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If you've ever been interested, you can find out a lot of how Orval is made straight from the source <a href="http://www.orval.be/en/58/How-Orval-beer-is-made">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Orval Inspired</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Honestly, I've lost count and not really worried what batch number I'm on now. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 10-21-17</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.5</span>0</span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.02</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.77</span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.0<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(actual was 1.057 efficiency needs to be corrected in BeerSmith equipment profile)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.1</span> SR<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">30.4</span> IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 74.6 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 74.6 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 90 Minute </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">58.9</span></span>% Pils<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ner</span> Malt (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weyermann <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BARKE</span></span></span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">13.7</span></span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pale Malt<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, Maris Otter</span></span></span> (Thomas Fawcett)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.5</span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Caravienne</span> (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">D<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ingeman<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s</span></span></span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8.4% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">G<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">olden Can<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">di Syrup (added at the end of the boil)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8.4% Simplicity Blonde Bel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">gian Candi Syrup</span> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(added at the end of the boil)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">18.9</span></span> IBUs of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warrior<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> @</span></span> 60 min <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(It's what I had on hand for bittering. Originally I had Magnum plugged in)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11.5 IBUs of Tettnang @ 30 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dry Hop with<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 1oz</span> Hallertau Blanc for 7 Days </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://wyeastlab.com/yeast-strain/trappist-style-blend"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wyeast Trappist Style Blend 3789-PC</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Private Collection release for Summer 2017. A Belgian Trappist yeast strain and a strain of Brettanomyces in one pitch. Pretty sure this was made to emulate Orval even though Orval adds Brettanomyces after primary fermentation. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mash Schedule:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found this<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Orval step mash <a href="https://beerandbrewing.com/VMvilisAAKGj51nr/article/belgian-beer-youre-probably-doing-it-wrong">here</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">142F for 15 min</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Heat to 154F and hold for 25 min</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Heat to 162F and hold for 30 min</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Heat to 170F and hol<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d for 10 mi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> for mashout</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sparge with 17<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0F water</span> </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentation Schedule:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ferment at room temperature (70-74F) until FG is achieved. </span><br />
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<br />
Ideally you'd probably want to use a Belgian pale ale malt but I have
Maris Otter on hand so I used that. Some classic flavoring hops and
I'll be using Hallertau Blanc for dry hopping. I'm interested to see
how this plays with the Belgian yeast and brettanomyces. I really like
this hop in Saison so we'll see how it does here. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nz86zV9HtHw/We5d9cXeSaI/AAAAAAAABl0/eImi-H4L_CsuMqgGb6DgKZ_GpHAQhSL-ACEwYBhgL/s1600/20171021_171040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nz86zV9HtHw/We5d9cXeSaI/AAAAAAAABl0/eImi-H4L_CsuMqgGb6DgKZ_GpHAQhSL-ACEwYBhgL/s400/20171021_171040.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Didn't break out the camera on this brew day so you get cell phone pics. My bad :(</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This was a rather long brew day. The mash schedule was pretty step intensive but it really paid off in efficiency. My target pre boil gravity was 7.6 brix (1.030 SG) and I actually hit 8.6 brix (1.035 SG). After the 90 minute boil and adding in my sugar I ended up with 14.2 brix. I didn't use all of the Golden Candi Syrup as I was wanting to stay under 14.5 brix (1.059 SG).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a3Y1_5n1eIk/We5eAT_5eiI/AAAAAAAABmc/IS_BLgcxt3E5uJeuAwhDfHmqd8usCwgogCEwYBhgL/s1600/Photo_2017-10-21_10-04-38_PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a3Y1_5n1eIk/We5eAT_5eiI/AAAAAAAABmc/IS_BLgcxt3E5uJeuAwhDfHmqd8usCwgogCEwYBhgL/s400/Photo_2017-10-21_10-04-38_PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Was over my target pre boil gravity and post boil. I didn't adjust with<br />
water but I'll fix my efficiency in BeerSmith.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eBUQ1nGiYxg/We5d-bp1DiI/AAAAAAAABl8/Ve5foqA50ikfVcmZsnqnuH6vb1CKa3oowCEwYBhgL/s1600/20171021_191919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eBUQ1nGiYxg/We5d-bp1DiI/AAAAAAAABl8/Ve5foqA50ikfVcmZsnqnuH6vb1CKa3oowCEwYBhgL/s400/20171021_191919.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First runnings were a beautiful amber color.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aID6uFiuJjI/We5d-jbczdI/AAAAAAAABmA/coCnF9WwHgM2Yrz29MPNS_AKwrTgEgGUQCEwYBhgL/s1600/20171021_211914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aID6uFiuJjI/We5d-jbczdI/AAAAAAAABmA/coCnF9WwHgM2Yrz29MPNS_AKwrTgEgGUQCEwYBhgL/s400/20171021_211914.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two different Belgian Candi Syrups in this one.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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After the boil I cooled the wort down to 65F with my plate chiller and pitched the Smack Pack. It wasn't extremely fresh but it did swell completely after about 4 hours.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hashtag swole</td></tr>
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When it reaches a stable final gravity, I'll dry hop and package this up. I'm really interested how the brett and dry hops work in this one. Be on the look out for more "Inspired Beer" posts. I've got a few ideas lined up. Let me know what beers have inspired you along the way!<br />
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Updates:<br />
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10-22-17: Morning after we already had a nice krausen forming.<br />
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6-11-18: Dry hopped with 2oz Aramis. I really liked the aroma on these and thought they would pair well. Will package soon.<br />
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Tasting notes can be found <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2018/08/tasting-notes-inspired-beer-orval.html">here!</a><br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-654304757713490812017-07-26T08:57:00.000-05:002017-07-26T08:57:10.703-05:00Beer Review/Tasting Notes - Kelly Green Brewing Co. Twelve Avenues<br />
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Doing something a little different today on the blog. In the past I've done some tasting notes for some other homebrewer's beers but I've never really done them for a commercial release. I guess this is more of a beer review/tasting notes kind of post. I thought I'd throw it in there to give some life to the blog and I'll have a little blurb at the end of the blog about what's going on and just an update of The Farmhouse Obsession.<br />
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This beer comes out of Pittman, NJ from a little brewery named Kelly Green Brewing Co. If you are a member of the Saison group or Milk the Funk on Facebook, you may already know that a very respected homebrewer named Ed Coffey (from <a href="http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/">Ales of the Riverwards</a>) is now running a Saison and barrel aged venture for the brewery. I've had a good many of Ed's beers so far on the homebrew level and now the professional level. All of them have been great beers. What I want to do with this post is give a review and some tasting notes on a new beer they are releasing this Saturday (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/777166572465479/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22page%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22page_upcoming_events_card%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A[]%7D]%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D">July 29, 2017</a>). Ed was generous enough to send me a bottle early to give him my thoughts.<br />
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He described the beer to me just a little bit but left it where I could approach the beer pretty blind. I like that. Mostly what he told me was that it was bitter. More so than we see typically now days with where Saison brewing is. More on that later. Let's get into the beer. <br />
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Kelly Green Brewing Co. - Twelve Avenues</u></b></span></span><br />
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From the release post:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="_4n-j _fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContentTags fsl" data-testid="event-permalink-details">"This
Bière de Coupage is comprised predominantly of fresh, hoppy Saison with
a small portion of barrel aged Adit blended in at bottling, when young
this beer drinks as a clean, earthy, floral, zippy little saison with a
firm bitterness. But over time our house culture of wild yeast and
bacteria will take over and the beer will change and evolve month to
month. This is the first bottling but you can expect each batch of
Twelve Avenues to be wildly different than the last but always feature a
strong hop profile."</span></blockquote>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> S<span style="font-family: inherit;">lightly haz<span style="font-family: inherit;">y golden in color. Honestly cloudy would be a good descriptor to borrow from IPA brewing now days.<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Bright white head full of tiny well packed bubbles<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Carbonation is streaming up the edges of the glass and there was a solid pop when I popped the cap<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Very nice head retention. I had a pretty solid head throughout the first glass. Pretty nice lacing after a swirl of the glass as well. Anyway, you can tell more of the appearance from the photos, even though I'm a pretty bad photographer.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks great in the Saison group glass!</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Lots going on in the aroma. Notes of lemon balm, citrus zest, some light pear or white grape bordering on peach, a bit of an herbal quality in there too. There is definitely notes of the cereal grains in there but not anything sweet. Just a bit of rye aroma almost like bready notes but not overpowering or anything like that. Rye is hard to describe on the nose. It's grainy but not sweet and it can sometimes be hard to pick up at all. This balanced the prevalent hop presence nicely. Something of real note here, not any lactic sourness in the nose. Just a light touch of some fruity brettanomyces characters but not sour at all. Smells fantastic. Similar to a fresh Orval if you have had that. Or maybe XX Bitter or even some de la Senne beers I've had. The aroma finishes with just a light touch of pepper and a very mild soapiness. Not offensive soapiness at all and not astringent. I've seen this in brett beers with lots of hops or even some higher hopped beers that are really dry. If I had to describe in one line I'd say something like an American XX Bitter or a more fruity/citrusy XX Bitter. (I need to pickup another bottle of that when I see it to get a fresh comparison)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proper glassware was used in this tasting!</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">I took the first sip and I chuckled. I chuckled because it was bitter. Just like Ed had said it would be. It was bitter like some of the "old" style pale ales and even some IPAs from before the wave of juice bombs. I'm not sure what the IBUs were but there definitely are some in there. After I got over the firs sip and went back I picked up some of the flavors. Grapefruit pith and skin, light pear and peach, very faint banana maybe, and a touch of the grain flavors from the nose. There is a green/grassy flavor that I sometimes get with dry beers that have a lot of hops. Pairs very nicely with how bitter it is. When you swallow the finish is very dry and you are left with a fantastic bitterness that just lingers. It makes you want to drink more and definitely enhances the drinkability of it for me. With big bitter West Coast Style IPAs I personally don't find them so drinkable. With how dry this is, it's super refreshing. No alcohol notes at all. At 6% you don't expect to have any alcohol notes. Again, no sourness there. Just a brightness to it that I would say comes from the blending of the more acidic beer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Great body and higher carbonation give this dry beer a medium body. Perfect for drinking in the middle of a hot Mississippi Summer. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Second pour just as lovely as the first.</td></tr>
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;"> </span>This
is a fantastic change of pace to the growing popularity of sour Saison. Right now, I see more acidic sour Saisons than I see hoppy, bitter versions. Don't get me wrong, I love those and I find myself in discussions pretty often about if a Saison should be sour or not. But, this was wonderful to see. I think this is a Saison lover's dream. It's also a beer I think many brewers will like. Ed mentioned that to me and I couldn't agree more. While I do think there will be others that will really like this beer (maybe some old school IPA fans) too, I do think that it will hit home with a select few.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I freaking love his labels. I believe his wife does them and she does a great job.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I'm a very big fan of this beer. I don't write this post to stoke Ed's ego or anything like that. This is an honest review and my actual tasting notes. I wanted to write it because it's something different than we are seeing right now in the beer world. There's been a shift away from bitterness it seems. People standing in line for juice bombs with little to no bitterness and more Saisons coming out every day on the sour side. While I love seeing more Saison anywhere, I'm glad to see someone producing something like this beer.<br />
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If you are anywhere near the area, I think this is a great beer to go pick up on Saturday. It's very well done and a beer worth picking up. I couldn't help but think of <a href="http://www.browneandbitter.com/">Amos Brown</a> while I drank this beer. I know he's a fan of more bitter beers.<br />
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Thanks for reading this review. I know it is a bit different than what the blog has been in the past. I also know I've been slow posting this year. It's been a pretty big year so far. In March I was lucky enough to have my girlfriend become my fiancé and we'll be getting married in November. We've been working on wedding stuff and life in general has just been busy this year. I'll be brewing more soon and will have more posts then. The blog is definitely not dead and I'm still obsessed as ever!<br />
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Good things!<br />
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<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-41977744072250261922017-04-24T18:43:00.002-05:002017-06-20T14:29:53.377-05:00Kathleen Round 4 - Split BatchFor the first brew of Kathleen for 2017 I'm trying a lot of things and making a change to the target starting gravity. With this batch I'm going to brew 11 gallons so that I can pitch two different yeast blends and see how I like them. I've been meaning to use both of these for a while and decided I wanted to use a familiar beer with them so that I will be able to detect the differences in each of them. Since I've brewed Kathleen a good many times now, I know the ins and outs of it and what characters it typically brings forth. <br />
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One of the blends I'll be using is a special release from Bootleg Biology called <a href="https://bootlegbiology.com/product/saison-parfait-new-world-saison-blend/">Saison Parfait: New World Saison Blend</a>. I really love the description on the website of this one. It sounds like the perfect Saison blend to me as I love the classic peppery esters from the DuPont strains on the market, but I also love the fruity aspects of some other strains like 3726. It also says this blend will leave a little body and good mouthfeel in the beer. That's something I really enjoyed when using ECY08 in the beers that I've brewed with that. At first I wasn't a fan, but after doing these beers for a while now, the added body actually helps give the beers some heft and adds to the drinkablity. When they end up so dry as mine typically do, if there isn't any body the beers will feel astringent and can actually be a chore to drink at times.<br />
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The other blend I'll be fermenting half of this brew with is the <a href="http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/saison-blend-ii">Saison Blend II</a> from The Yeast Bay. I have been eying this one since it was released a while back and just never took the plunge to use it as I had so many things to use on hand. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2 id="yui_3_17_2_1_1483983210994_409">
<span style="font-size: small;">"Close your eyes while drinking a
beer fermented with this blend, and you'll feel like you're laying on
freshly turned earth in an old citrus grove."</span></h2>
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Doesn't that sound awesome? I can't wait to see how this blend works out. As I stated before, I enjoy a combination of peppery earthiness and some fruity qualities in my Saisons. I often rely on strains of brettanomyces or new world hops to get the fruity qualities so it will be nice to see what both of these blends will do.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starters I made a few days before brew day.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Kathleen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 4-19-17</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11.00</span> gal <span style="font-size: x-small;">(I use 11 gallons to account for loss in the tubing, heat exchanger and any other places in the system)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">13.3<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3</span></span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11.4<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span></span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.04<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Actual was 1.048. Efficiency was better than I assumed)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 2.5 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> 28.5 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 74.6 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 74.6 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 75 Minute </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">72.6% Pils<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ner</span> Malt (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weyermann <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BARKE</span></span></span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.0% Spelt Malt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.0% Raw Wheat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.4% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Malted</span> Oats (Thomas Fawcett)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">17.5 IBUs of EKG (or whatever I have on hand now) @ 60 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.4 IBUs of Amarillo @ 15 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.7 IBUs of EKG @ 5 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.7 IBUs of Amarillo @ 5 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dry hop with Amarillo and Hallertau Blanc</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (this may change<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> depending on the beers)</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<a href="https://bootlegbiology.com/product/saison-parfait-new-world-saison-blend/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bootleg Biology Saison Parfait: New World Saison Blend</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and</span><br />
<a href="http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/saison-blend-ii"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Yeast Bay Saison Blend II</span></a><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mash Schedule:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Temperatu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re mash of 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">49</span>F for 75 min with no mashout. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
You may notice I have slightly modified the recipe to lower the OG. I am wanting to get Kathleen even more drinkable and shooting for slightly less ABV with this batch. Hop amounts changed just a bit due to what I had on hand at the time. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NFnMbr48ubo/WP6MpxgR64I/AAAAAAAABiw/oXXDl_IdlCYP_16lD1EQK8wb81FutvecwCEw/s1600/DSC01035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NFnMbr48ubo/WP6MpxgR64I/AAAAAAAABiw/oXXDl_IdlCYP_16lD1EQK8wb81FutvecwCEw/s400/DSC01035.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like them thicky-thicks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After the mash I began lautering and pulled the 13.3 gallons I needed for the boil. My preboil gravity was a little higher (1.040) than my target (1.036) but instead of adding water to bring it down, I just went with it. I boiled for 75 minutes and added my hops per the schedule above. The SG after the boil was 1.048. Right around where my original recipe was so I'll have to make a few changes to the grist if I want it to be lower. My efficiency is getting better with every brew day. Even this large 10 gallon batch I was better than my target.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qW67W5Yb7Ik/WP6MmUvSg3I/AAAAAAAABio/Q_Sk3dkmx3Av8JeOdxlgg_EkrRfxBWkWgCEw/s1600/DSC01040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qW67W5Yb7Ik/WP6MmUvSg3I/AAAAAAAABio/Q_Sk3dkmx3Av8JeOdxlgg_EkrRfxBWkWgCEw/s400/DSC01040.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Full boil kettle on this batch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I ran wort through the chiller and divided the 10 gallons the best I could between the two <a href="https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermonster-7-gallon-carboy-spigot.html">FerMonster XLs</a>. These are quickly becoming some of my favorite fermentation vessels. I love my <a href="https://www.morebeer.com/products/speidel-plastic-fermenter-30l-79-gal.html">Speidel</a> still but these have a smaller footprint. Also, you can almost get two of the FerMonsters for the price of one of the Speidels.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZywCoAKpyqg/WP6MswLgm2I/AAAAAAAABi0/wdSuzQwZB_sxY695Z1bkx-aceUkMHsDRACEw/s1600/DSC01044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZywCoAKpyqg/WP6MswLgm2I/AAAAAAAABi0/wdSuzQwZB_sxY695Z1bkx-aceUkMHsDRACEw/s400/DSC01044.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Yeast Bay Saison Blend II on the left and Bootleg Biology Saison Parfait on the right. This pic was 6-7 hours after pitching.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Both blends will be fermented "semi-open" at room temperature in my dining room. Right now the area is sitting around 72-74F and should be perfect to test out what these will do.<br />
<br />
I pitched the yeast blends from the starters and covered the opening
with sanitized tin foil. I press the tin foil around the top but I
don't actually make an effort to seal the lid. I usually leave the tin
foil on the top for 5-7 days or until fermentation signs start to fade.
I've really enjoyed the results the semi-open fermentations. I do them
now with pretty much all my Saison ferments as well as my British ale
ferments. <br />
<br />
I will more than likely dry hop each of these and then package the beer. Some I'll bottle fresh and unblended so I can see how the yeast blend turns out. The rest will either be blended with mature beer or maybe even blended together. I'll see what the beer tells me. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Updates:<br />
<br />
4-20-17: 6:00AM active fermentation showing on the Saison II Blend. About 20 minutes layer, visible activity with the Saison Parfait. <br />
<br />
4-24-17: 6:00AM activity has slowed down and the krausen is falling on both beers. I removed the tin foil and added the cap and airlock.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TYQ8rFsb7es/WP6MtKCIeWI/AAAAAAAABjA/ruOT5frJxK8IB17enzaYnSaKdEq4vCO0ACEw/s1600/DSC01053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TYQ8rFsb7es/WP6MtKCIeWI/AAAAAAAABjA/ruOT5frJxK8IB17enzaYnSaKdEq4vCO0ACEw/s320/DSC01053.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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4-30-17: Activity is very slow. The Saison Blend II has started to drop clear already. Saison Parfait is still cloudy and looks to be full of yeast but the airlock is not bubbling. I'll take a gravity reading this coming week and decide where to go from there.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-acYZNr_FIPI/WQX9_hwFEkI/AAAAAAAABjY/BUh1dPXOQhgpsmHhWUdT3DI2hzGIuvYvgCLcB/s1600/DSC01068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-acYZNr_FIPI/WQX9_hwFEkI/AAAAAAAABjY/BUh1dPXOQhgpsmHhWUdT3DI2hzGIuvYvgCLcB/s320/DSC01068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
5-2-17: TYB Saison Blend II gravity was 1.004 and it was heavy on the phenolics with an undertone of citrus notes. Saison Parfait was down a bit further to 1.003. Citrus, little malt character, bit of tropical fruits, and a hint of pepper. Both really promising. I'll package when I get back from the Enmbrace the Funk Festival this coming weekend. <br />
<br />
6-20-17: I was out of Blanc hops to dry hop so I'm waiting for those to come in. When they do I'll package a few bottles of this how they are then dry hop the rest to be blended into batches 4 and 5 of Kathleen.<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-80425538850045001832017-01-12T09:34:00.002-06:002017-01-12T09:34:34.585-06:0020172016 was a pretty great year for me brewing wise. I tackled a lot of projects and brewed a lot of beer. I was even able to write a guest article for Craft Commander on yeast foraging. You can check that out <a href="http://www.craftcommander.com/brewing/2016/7/14/brewing-beer-with-a-sense-of-place-foraging-yeast-for-beginners">here</a>. I also built a new keezer so that I could serve more beers on tap and bottle less of my beer. That was a big help. I got way more organized and scheduled with my brewing. I also shared a lot more of my beer with people I feel could give better feedback than I have before. (I still have a few boxes to get out to some folks.)<br />
<br />
All of that aside, I'm really happy with my brewing in 2016. I plan to keep all that going and brew even more in 2017. I have 5 taps to keep full now after all! I'm also going to add in some other styles of beer to my brewing. Saison will always be my greatest love when it comes to beer styles. I'll always brew it and I'll always enjoy drinking it. As much as I love Saison, I am also enamored with some other styles too. British Bitter has always been a favorite style of mine. I brewed a few Bitters last year and at the time of this writing have already brewed one in 2017. Now that I have more taps, I'll more than likely have a Bitter or something similar on tap at all times. I am also an avid fan of German beers. Pilsner, Hefeweizen, Bock, Helles, Munich Dunkel, Altbier, Marzen, really all of the sessionable beers from Germany are what I enjoy drinking when I can find them. I'm going to be brewing a good many of those to keep on tap this year as well. I think brewing different styles will help me learn more about brewing and improve my skills as a brewer. I'll be writing a few posts covering these as I go along. I know they won't be "farmhouse" styles but maybe there are others out there that enjoy them as much as I do. <br />
<br />
Another type of beer I've been brewing but not writing about lately are hoppy beers. I enjoy hops as much as the next person, I just don't go as nuts as some people do for them. My girlfriend and a lot of close friends love drinking them so I'll be brewing more of those too. I don't have a ton of experience brewing IPAs and Double IPAs but this year is going to be the year I change that.<br />
<br />
For projects for 2017, I have a new fermentation chamber project in the works now. This will be aimed to be a lagering and cold storage chamber for brewing and keeping lagers, Bière de Garde and any other style that may need some cold conditioning. I think this will help a ton with scheduling and time frames of my brewing. Saison I've never really worried about temperature. I learned in 2016 by brewing a lot of Bière de Garde that cold conditioning really gums up the works when brewing any other beer that would really need temperature control. I have a dorm size fridge that I've been using for yeast storage in mind for this project.<br />
<br />
One other project I have in mind is a grain mill cart. I'd like to get my mill mounted to something that will be easy to move around my garage and get it out of the way but also be a place I can store a few other things. I think this would help a ton even being used during brew day to hold things I'll use throughout the brew.<br />
<br />
This isn't near the updated I had in the beginning of 2016 but I really wanted to jot down some thoughts for what I have planned for 2017. This will be the year I tackle some new styles like Lagers and IPAs. I plan on doing some more large split batches in there too. Either way, there will be plenty of beer. Here's to the new year!<br />
<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-29838167126359497472016-11-04T11:16:00.003-05:002016-11-16T12:38:36.304-06:00Tasting Notes for Spur, a Bière de GardeTasting notes of my beer Spur. Quick recap to what this beer is and how it came about. Basically it's a "spur of the moment" clean up the specialty grain bin Bière de Garde. For this one I had some Golden Naked Oats, Special B and Caramunich III that I need to use before they got too old. I've been wanting to brew a lot more Bière de Garde and those grains sounded like they would be perfect for that. I also had a pack of Wyeast Canadian/Belgian Ale I needed to use. What came of all of that was my beer, Spur.<br />
<br />
The tasting notes are below and the brew day post can be found <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/07/spur-of-moment-biere-de-garde.html" target="_blank">here</a> for those that would like to read more in depth.<br />
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Drinking on 11-3-16<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 6.15%<br />
SG: 1.057 or 14.04°P<br />
FG: 1.010 or 2.05°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 83% <br />
Actual Attenuation: 67%<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Deep re<span style="font-family: inherit;">d, almost <span style="font-family: inherit;">mahog<span style="font-family: inherit;">a</span>n<span style="font-family: inherit;">y in color<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Slightly cloudy but that should go away with more conditioning time. As of right n<span style="font-family: inherit;">o<span style="font-family: inherit;">w it hasn't been in the bottle for <span style="font-family: inherit;">quite a month yet. Off white <span style="font-family: inherit;">almost tan head with great tight bubbles and pretty decent retention. Also <span style="font-family: inherit;">a bit of lacing on the <span style="font-family: inherit;">glass. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Carbonation is <span style="font-family: inherit;">running up the <span style="font-family: inherit;">sides of the <span style="font-family: inherit;">glass as<span style="font-family: inherit;"> it sits and even more when I swirl it.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I really like the look of this one. Reminds me of a <span style="font-family: inherit;">Belgi<span style="font-family: inherit;">an Dubbel in app<span style="font-family: inherit;">ear<span style="font-family: inherit;">ance.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lBZJjc1fV78/WByyrGedgsI/AAAAAAAABdk/9h3JJBx8Wd00ZGGQo694mJu3wbPiBq53wCEw/s1600/DSC00614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lBZJjc1fV78/WByyrGedgsI/AAAAAAAABdk/9h3JJBx8Wd00ZGGQo694mJu3wbPiBq53wCEw/s400/DSC00614.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closer pic shows more red tones. Mahogany wood was the first<br />
thing that came to mind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Firs thing I notice is the maltiness. It doesn't <span style="font-family: inherit;">seem sweet but the malt aromas are coming throu<span style="font-family: inherit;">gh. Just <span style="font-family: inherit;">a touch of fruity character in the<span style="font-family: inherit;"> way of dark cherries or something like that. Some dried wood aroma, hint of <span style="font-family: inherit;">pepper like spice and the faintest of clove may be there. Hints of the Belgian yeast but definitely not<span style="font-family: inherit;"> dominant. Clean maltiness is the star and that's <span style="font-family: inherit;">what I want.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_K53_58TvHM/WByyr5PEEuI/AAAAAAAABdw/HdGTetaj5fsoKPv3AF0EAhTUOcgn-44OQCEw/s1600/DSC00616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_K53_58TvHM/WByyr5PEEuI/AAAAAAAABdw/HdGTetaj5fsoKPv3AF0EAhTUOcgn-44OQCEw/s400/DSC00616.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lighting sucks on this pic but the head was full of tight tiny bubbles.<br />
Naturally carbonation beers always produces that for me.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Malt is again the star with the grains shinning through. Even close to chewing raw grain but not overly sweet. Just a minor touch of <span style="font-family: inherit;">sweetness to compliment it. A bit<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of pepper spice on the back end but again not overly so as to say Belgian or Saison even. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Pretty <span style="font-family: inherit;">clean and dry on the finish.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Medium<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to <span style="font-family: inherit;">almost medium full</span></span>. The carbonation cuts through some of it. This one is righ<span style="font-family: inherit;">t around 2.8-3 vol of C<span style="font-family: inherit;">O2<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and I'm pretty happy with that level. I may push the keg up to 3.2 <span style="font-family: inherit;">just to see how I like that.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xA6MDf11MuU/WByyrh2Wi0I/AAAAAAAABdo/aEZHrRcMyQwexhK2oc_4nGu641ypYWAdACEw/s1600/DSC00615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xA6MDf11MuU/WByyrh2Wi0I/AAAAAAAABdo/aEZHrRcMyQwexhK2oc_4nGu641ypYWAdACEw/s400/DSC00615.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span> This may be my new favorite clean Bière de Garde that I've brewed. I like it better than the first one I did and the flavor of the Avant Garde style one I did before I added brett to it. I think the amount of specialty grains did well without leaving the beer seeming to sweet or cloying at all. The base grain bill is pretty nice for those that want to try something like that. Of course this being my "spur of the moment" Bière de Garde, my next brew of it may be pretty different. I've got some rye and buckwheat I need to use soon. I'm thinking of trying that out with another Belgian strain that is pretty clean.<br />
<br />
For changes, I don't really know what I'd change on this one. If I were to brew it again, I may put it in cold storage just a bit longer. It wouldn't hurt to pitch some more yeast at packaging either. Brewing with different strains makes that a bit tougher but I'll figure something out for the next one.<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-82207348306194330672016-10-17T10:03:00.000-05:002016-10-17T10:03:49.940-05:00Tasting Notes for Avant Garde style Bière de Garde<br />
This beer took inspiration from <a href="http://lostabbey.com/beer/avant-garde-ale/">Lost Abbey's Avant Garde</a> but
I added a bit of my own things into the brew as well. I've been trying
to nail some of the flavors that are often familiar with commercial
examples of Bière de Garde. I've said many times that I believe this
beer gets the signature musty cellar aromas from a hint of brettanomyces
and not just from long storage with a cork. I wanted to simulate those
characters in my beer. I may be way off but, in the same regard, I may
come out with something quite enjoyable. You can find the brew day
notes and recipe <a href="http://thefarmhouseobsession.blogspot.com/2015/11/biere-de-garde-avant-garde-style-batch-3.html">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 7.35%<br />
SG: 1.060 or 14.74°P<br />
FG: 1.004 or 1.03°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 93.33%<br />
Actual Attenuation: 75.97%<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Dark amber in color with som<span style="font-family: inherit;">e golden <span style="font-family: inherit;">hues. Pours slightly <span style="font-family: inherit;">hazy</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> but coul<span style="font-family: inherit;">d have been a to<span style="font-family: inherit;">uch of chill haze. Head was <span style="font-family: inherit;">white wi<span style="font-family: inherit;">th tight bu<span style="font-family: inherit;">bbles but it immediately <span style="font-family: inherit;">dissipated. No l<span style="font-family: inherit;">acing at all but <span style="font-family: inherit;">ther<span style="font-family: inherit;">e is a good bit of car<span style="font-family: inherit;">bonation visible. From time to time I see <span style="font-family: inherit;">beers with brett not have <span style="font-family: inherit;">much in the way of</span> head rete<span style="font-family: inherit;">ntion. I<span style="font-family: inherit;">'ll work<span style="font-family: inherit;"> on tha<span style="font-family: inherit;">t going forwa<span style="font-family: inherit;">rd in my Bière de Garde brewing.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Malt up front with a hint of fruit<span style="font-family: inherit;">iness. Nothi<span style="font-family: inherit;">ng really stands out in the nose but as it warms there is def<span style="font-family: inherit;">initely an earthy funk in there. Almost mushroom like when I think abou<span style="font-family: inherit;">t it. Mayb<span style="font-family: inherit;">e a touch of gra<span style="font-family: inherit;">in and that's pretty much it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Just a touch more malt char<span style="font-family: inherit;">acter in the flavor than in the aroma. <span style="font-family: inherit;">That'<span style="font-family: inherit;">s what I'm looking for. The <span style="font-family: inherit;">ear<span style="font-family: inherit;">thiness is a<span style="font-family: inherit;">lso there. This is more of the yeast earthiness that I've gotten in WLP072 before. I<span style="font-family: inherit;">t may be a touch higher with t<span style="font-family: inherit;">he addition of the brett but not really pr<span style="font-family: inherit;">onounced. The beer does finish dry<span style="font-family: inherit;"> like I wanted it to. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium <span style="font-family: inherit;">mouthfeel and a spring of carbonation as you <span style="font-family: inherit;">drink. There is more carbonat<span style="font-family: inherit;">ion than in<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the appearance since ther<span style="font-family: inherit;">e is no head retention.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span>
I think my girlfriend said it best when describing this beer. She
said, "I mean, I'd drink it." It's somewhat of an uneventful beer but
it does have the makings of a good beer and actually did get a bit of
the earthiness I was looking to get out of it. Otherwise, it's not
really special but it definitely isn't bad. I think the lack of head retention really throws me off
too. <br />
<br />
I think this beer is on
the right track. I'll swap to a different yeast next time to maybe get a bit more character. I think if there were some esters created by the primary yeast, the brettanomyces may have more to work with. I believe this strain of brett is well suited for the style so I'll be experimenting with it more. Maybe adding some oak to it for some time will bring up the complexity. I'm still very interested in
figuring out Bière de Garde and what all it entails.<br />
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*Sorry for the lack of photos on this one. But in all honesty, it wasn't a super interesting beer to photograph!<br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-87318670051720695362016-10-03T11:29:00.000-05:002016-10-05T15:21:24.041-05:002016 Dark SaisonI've been looking forward to this year's dark Saison for a while. I've had some ideas come and go of what I want to do with this one and I've finally settled on what I think will be a nice entry for 2016.<br />
<br />
Last year's beer was pretty good but it never really developed any significant tartness. That was most likely due to the higher IBUs more than anything. I plan to do things a little differently this year by dialing back the IBUs and using some different souring microbes. There wasn't a ton of funk in the 2015 beer either. That, again, was due to the blend I used. Gigayeast described the blend as big cherry notes and that's exactly what I got. I want this year's beer to be a bit more funky and definitely more sour.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dark Saison 2016</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 18</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 10<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-1-16</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.5 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 8.63 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.76 gal </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.0<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">51</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.055</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.7</span></span> SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span></span></span></span> IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 75 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">77.7</span></span></span></span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vienna Malt</span> (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avangard</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.8</span></span></span></span></span>% </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Malted Oats (Thomas Fawcett)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.8% Caram</span>unich I</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">II</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weyermann</span></span></span>)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9</span></span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Midnight</span> Wheat</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.9</span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chocolate Rye</span> (</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weyermann</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span></span> IBU<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">EK<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">G</span></span> @ <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">60</span> min</span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span> </span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeast:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Obsession Blend (C2C and ECY-08)<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, <a href="https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp670-american-farmhouse-blend">Whi</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp670-american-farmhouse-blend">te Labs WLP</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp670-american-farmhouse-blend">670 American Farmhouse Blend</a>, <a href="https://bootlegbiology.com/product/sour-weapon-pediococcus-pentosaceus-blend/">Bootleg Biology Sour Weapon</a></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mash Schedule:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Temperatu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re mash of 15<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span>F for 75 min with a 10 minute mashout at 168F</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
The Obsession Blend, as I'm calling it, has really been great for a ton
of beers for me so far. I'm not really sure what the ratios of each
yeast and the brettanomyces in the blend are anymore but I'm not really
worried about that since I like the outcome of the blend each time. I
decided to bump it up a notch with this brew and use another favorite
yeast blend and by adding some pediococcus into the mix. I'll be using
the WLP670 American Farmhouse Blend from White Labs that I've used in a
few beers now. I am also adding in the Sour Weapon from Bootleg Biology. Jeff from
Bootleg Biology does recommend using Sour Weapon as a kettle souring
bacteria but also states that it will work over a period of time like
the standard pedio on the market <br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ubVVU_wrxwY/V_JndZXcdaI/AAAAAAAABb8/LMYNzIsPnNIFh67R5ljJYBRg8D4cqQVOQCLcB/s1600/DSC00565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ubVVU_wrxwY/V_JndZXcdaI/AAAAAAAABb8/LMYNzIsPnNIFh67R5ljJYBRg8D4cqQVOQCLcB/s400/DSC00565.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I took some inspiration from some Bruery Tart of Darkness recipes I've
seen and lowered the IBUs and subbed in some other malts to get what I
am looking for. I also adjusted the OG a little lower to fit my idea of what I wanted. <br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TOpa-7R3FA4/V_JndFRTakI/AAAAAAAABcU/czsLqoS6OeYLR3mIz6lamB-mbVgcfCrWgCEw/s1600/DSC00567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TOpa-7R3FA4/V_JndFRTakI/AAAAAAAABcU/czsLqoS6OeYLR3mIz6lamB-mbVgcfCrWgCEw/s400/DSC00567.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I use BeerSmith to create my recipes but when it comes to mashing, now I really go with feel and look for a certain consistency instead of using what it recommends. That's something I encourage others to do as well. Find out what works for you and go from there. With my system, I usually have to add more than the recommended amount due to the false bottom. I know I can correct that with BeerSmith but I've been getting better and better efficiency going on the consistency. This mash was semi thick but I ended up adding a touch more water to get the temperature I needed and make up for the lost wort during recirculation.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dnxa6i65F9w/V_JndWtSJyI/AAAAAAAABcU/NGUXDY3AqUAoBENACEJKHUW4BldZAY6JACEw/s1600/DSC00568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dnxa6i65F9w/V_JndWtSJyI/AAAAAAAABcU/NGUXDY3AqUAoBENACEJKHUW4BldZAY6JACEw/s400/DSC00568.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone loves a recirculation shot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I collected just over 8.5 gallons and started my 75 minute boil. The preboil gravity was higher than expected at 1.042 with a target of 1.039. My extraction is better now that it has been in the past. I've adjusted my grain mill and now I'm getting a very consistent crush for all the grains. As a result, my efficiency is going up. I was around 82% for this beer. Up from my average of around 75% and from my last brew that was around 78%.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7up5hGPnkOY/V_Jnd_elMiI/AAAAAAAABcU/mHDpk_b-h003Z32k2CcKjLdrXIVfaJ9KgCEw/s1600/DSC00569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7up5hGPnkOY/V_Jnd_elMiI/AAAAAAAABcU/mHDpk_b-h003Z32k2CcKjLdrXIVfaJ9KgCEw/s400/DSC00569.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dark, delicious wort. Dark fruits, malty and a touch of roast.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I boiled for 75 minutes and added my small amount of bittering hops at the 60 minute mark. When the boil was complete I ran the wort through my heat exchanger to hit a temperature of just under 90F. Then I pitched the starter of Sour Weapon and covered the fermentor with sanitized aluminum foil. I made the starter with 600mL of wort and kept it in the oven with the light on. The temperature stayed at 95-98F the entire time. Definitely smelled tart and a little sweet when I pitched it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tKqxIZcqc7w/V_JneE9R4FI/AAAAAAAABcU/hUS3J9q2hH45bPui5eCU99lWzajqSyIQQCEw/s1600/DSC00571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tKqxIZcqc7w/V_JneE9R4FI/AAAAAAAABcU/hUS3J9q2hH45bPui5eCU99lWzajqSyIQQCEw/s400/DSC00571.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's not krausen, it's from pumping the wort into the fermentor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After 24 hours I pitched the vial of WLP670 and the Obsession Blend from a starter. The next morning there was definite activity. I'll be letting this ferment at room temperature (around 72-74F) for the entire time. I've been getting great results at these temps with no airlock. When the fermentation slows, I'll add the airlock for it to finish working.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ni3JrmbbY8o/V_Jnej-LHEI/AAAAAAAABcU/qhmzPaxY5ekoFeo9iQfij4UBy2VJTZNcACEw/s1600/DSC00574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ni3JrmbbY8o/V_Jnej-LHEI/AAAAAAAABcU/qhmzPaxY5ekoFeo9iQfij4UBy2VJTZNcACEw/s400/DSC00574.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Around 8 hours after pitching.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I'll post back with some updates soon!<br />
<br />
Updates:<br />
<br />
10-2-16: 18 hrs after pitching the yeast, full krausen and really active fermentation happening.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-72334986759335735132016-09-15T19:03:00.006-05:002016-10-07T10:54:04.368-05:00Tasting Notes for Fluffy (my Wheat Saison)Tasting notes of my beer Fluffy. I've been drinking on this beer a while and trying to get carbonation right. Still not there but it's time for some tasting notes.<br />
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Brew day post can be found <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/search/label/Fluffy" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Drinking on 8-25-16<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 6.04%<br />
SG: 1.049 or 12.15°P<br />
FG: 1.003 or 0.77°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 94% <br />
Actual Attenuation: 77%<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Pale golden in color and super clear. Off white head but the head isn't exactly what I was expecting. Few tight bubbles and more sporadically sized bubbles than I usually have. I attribute this to keg conditioning versus bottle conditioning. Head dissipates rather quickly. More work to be done there for sure. But otherwise, very beautiful beer.</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U2TTcnQd2qc/V9s2Y1P5LiI/AAAAAAAABbc/1HsROyhmee0iOgeDEt4eCdUK2aKDH63PwCEw/s1600/DSC00559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U2TTcnQd2qc/V9s2Y1P5LiI/AAAAAAAABbc/1HsROyhmee0iOgeDEt4eCdUK2aKDH63PwCEw/s400/DSC00559.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Right up front there is a banana character and a hint of white grape. Very light spice is pushed back by even more fruit notes. More fruity than anything in the nose of this one. I tend to get that with a lot of the Saison yeasts now days and even more so when paired with Brettanomyces that pushes more fruit than funk. With that note, no real funk character. I'm very pleased with the nose as it's what I was aiming for. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Definit<span style="font-family: inherit;">ely more classic Saison character in the flavor. More spice and some citrus notes in the beginning but it finishes with a bit of the banana and white grape flavors almost like white wine. Dry and spicy on the very end. Fresh there was less spice and more fruit so I'm assuming that's what the conditioning has brought out. Just a bit of malt character coming through in the form of a light breadiness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Medium. That's about it. Not full at all and not thin for how dry it is. </span><br />
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span> I definitely have some ideas for a few changes to this beer. I think bottle conditioning is definitely going to bring out more character. I will definitely add some darker wheat for a bit more character. Maybe ferment a little warmer and then package quicker as well. I was a bit lazy in getting this in the keg then I had some issues with the carbonation and the regulator on the CO2 tank.<br />
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For my first beer with the C2C blend from Omega, I really like it. I plan on using it a lot more and actually have used it in combination with ECY08 in a batch of Kathleen.<br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-48594432245618036862016-08-31T18:22:00.006-05:002016-08-31T18:22:52.457-05:00Tasting Notes for Rye Saison with Pekko HopsHere we are! Tasting notes for a beer I was really excited about brewing. Using hops from one of my favorite local brews and using a yeast I hadn't used in a very long time. I wanted to do something simple but not boring. These new age hops can really shine if you showcase them but I didn't want to overpower the other characteristics of the beer. I wanted to see what the yeast would give me as well as still get some of the malt flavors and aromas I love. Let's see how I did.<br />
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Brew day post can be found <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/08/rye-saison-with-pekko-hops.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pekko Rye</span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rnchvvex224/V8dlx9fa7jI/AAAAAAAABaM/DVCEbFnRTuwef-G64sVTRpJvKo6wtPQxACEw/s1600/DSC00543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rnchvvex224/V8dlx9fa7jI/AAAAAAAABaM/DVCEbFnRTuwef-G64sVTRpJvKo6wtPQxACEw/s400/DSC00543.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the cul-de-sac where my beers are made.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Drinking on 8-25-16<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 6.04%<br />
SG: 1.049 or 12.15°P<br />
FG: 1.003 or 0.77°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 94% <br />
Actual Attenuation: 77%<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Yellow golden <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">in <span style="font-family: inherit;">color with a great white creamy looking head. Rye really does great things for foam in beer. Slight<span style="font-family: inherit;"> chill haze out of the keg but it clears up over time. The <span style="font-family: inherit;">head does <span style="font-family: inherit;">eventually give way to a patch of frothy bu<span style="font-family: inherit;">bbles and carbonation stead<span style="font-family: inherit;">ily streams up the glass. It's a beautifully beer really <span style="font-family: inherit;">deserving of a stemmed glass<span style="font-family: inherit;"> for sure. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-28B6SIjS7Ck/V8dl4QCDdXI/AAAAAAAABaQ/A_Uhrnxe8z4hPxzpmwZ-rw5aEtFI16JEwCEw/s1600/DSC00546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-28B6SIjS7Ck/V8dl4QCDdXI/AAAAAAAABaQ/A_Uhrnxe8z4hPxzpmwZ-rw5aEtFI16JEwCEw/s400/DSC00546.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Herbal and <span style="font-family: inherit;">pepper character is <span style="font-family: inherit;">up front. Then a very light citrus and pear note co<span style="font-family: inherit;">me in. The mint quality is definitely there that I've gotten with this hop before. It<span style="font-family: inherit;"> isn't some<span style="font-family: inherit;">thing huge about it but it's very nice to pick up. The yeast offers up some n<span style="font-family: inherit;">ice <span style="font-family: inherit;">white pepper and even a light woody tone. Maybe somethi<span style="font-family: inherit;">ng like cedar or <span style="font-family: inherit;">something in the fir family. It's hard to put a <span style="font-family: inherit;">finger on. A nice graininess is there too. </span></span></span></span></span>Very pleasant aroma for <span style="font-family: inherit;">a nice Summer beer.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></b>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Definit<span style="font-family: inherit;">ely c<span style="font-family: inherit;">lassic <span style="font-family: inherit;">Saison notes. Less fruit than other yeas<span style="font-family: inherit;">t strains I've used but there is a slight fruit qua<span style="font-family: inherit;">lity from the hops. Slight <span style="font-family: inherit;">citrus but not overly so. More of the herbal and pepper qualities I really enjoy. These are some g<span style="font-family: inherit;">reat hops for sure. On<span style="font-family: inherit;">e of t<span style="font-family: inherit;">he newer hop <span style="font-family: inherit;">vari<span style="font-family: inherit;">etals</span> that screams Saison IMO. The beer finishes really dry but has <span style="font-family: inherit;">just a<span style="font-family: inherit;"> very light sweetness that gives it character. If someone <span style="font-family: inherit;">else were to drink this I <span style="font-family: inherit;">don't know if they would pick up the sweetness <span style="font-family: inherit;">because it is so dry. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> I really think it's the grain flavor from the Pilsner and rye malts more than it is actual sweetness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Medium mouthf<span style="font-family: inherit;">eel for su<span style="font-family: inherit;">ch a dry beer </span>due <span style="font-family: inherit;">to the carbonation levels. I still want it to be a little bi<span style="font-family: inherit;">t highe<span style="font-family: inherit;">r in<span style="font-family: inherit;"> carbonation but I am working on <span style="font-family: inherit;">changing some things in my keezer to <span style="font-family: inherit;">accomid<span style="font-family: inherit;">ate higher carbon<span style="font-family: inherit;">ation levels.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Finishes really nice and dry and is <span style="font-family: inherit;">supremely drinkable for sure. </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span> The first time I had this hop, I loved it. It screamed Saison and I had to brew with it. Luckily I found a place I could get some and I'm really glad I did. I think I will be using this in some other brews but I'm definitely re-brewing this same beer with a few tweaks to this recipe. I do want to add a bit more bitterness and maybe even a strain of brett. I think Brett C or Drei would work wonderfully with this hop. But, I'm glad I brewed a clean Saison with it first. I often overlook brewing clean beers for my love of funky/tart beers.<br />
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I really enjoyed the flavors and aromas the Barke Pilsner brought too. More grain characteristic than I've had in a lot of my beers and I like that. I'll be using it on a lot of beers coming up.<br />
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I am also really impressed with this yeast strain. I think 566 often gets overlooked due to it's cousins in 565 and 3724. It's definitely let fruity and has great pepper and even a woody tone. I'm anxious to brew more beers with this one. I'll be using it in a beer I'm working on to be a tribute to Saison de Pipaix. I've been talking with Dave Janssen of <a href="http://www.horscategoriebrewing.com/">Hors Catégorie Brewing</a> about designing this one so be on the look out for that.<br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-89136459057591509452016-08-02T11:07:00.000-05:002017-04-26T11:05:29.240-05:00Rye Saison with Pekko HopsNew world hops have brought many things to brewing. Whether it's creating American Pale Ales and IPAs, dry hopped sours, or the new "it" beer, the Northeast IPA, there are so many new flavors coming to us from recent hop varieties. Something I've really enjoyed is using these new hops in Saison brewing. With Kathleen I've always used Amarillo hops because that's one of my favorites. It's definitely not a traditional hop for Saison but it's my spin on brewing them. I've also had great success with Australian or NZ varietals like Nelson Sauvin or Galaxy. Hallertau Blanc from Germany has also become a staple as a dry hop for me. I really love all the additions all of those lend to Saison.<br />
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Some time ago a local brewery, <a href="http://www.luckytownbrewing.com/">Lucky Town Brewery</a>, put out a Saison for a Jackson Zoo benefit called Saison de Zoo. In that beer the head brewer, Lucas Simmons, used a relatively new at the time hop called <a href="http://www.adha.us/varietals/pekko-adha-871">Pekko</a>. It was a phenomenal Saison and one of the best I've had brewed locally from any of the MS breweries. It had awesome herbal qualities and young had a fantastic mint quality. As the beer aged (I drank it everywhere it was on tap for as long as I could) it began to open up. The mint faded but there was a really great citrus and earthy quality after that. I knew I wanted to use them in a beer and Lucas was kind enough to give me a couple ounces to work with.<br />
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Here's the recipe:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rye</span> Saison</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 7-31-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.5 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 8.63 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.76 gal </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.0<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">53</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.049 (I believe the flaked rye was pretty old and didn't help efficien<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cy at all)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.1</span> SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span></span></span></span> IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>% (around 68.2% for this brew)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 75 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span>% Barke Pils<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ner</span> Malt (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weyermann</span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">20<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flaked Rye</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (Briess)</span></span> </span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4% </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Malted</span> Oats <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Thomas Fawcett)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4</span></span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Table Sugar (added @ 5 min)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.0</span></span></span></span></span> IBUs of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crystal</span> (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.8</span>% AA)</span></span> @ 60 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.3</span> IBU<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pekko (15.4% AA)</span> @ <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5</span> min</span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8.5 IBUs 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5 min Whirlpool with Pe<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">kko<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(15.4% AA)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeast:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp566-belgian-saison-ii-yeast"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">W<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hite<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Labs WLP<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">566 Belgian Saison II</span></span></span></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mash Schedule:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Temperatu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re mash of 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9</span></span>F for 75 min with a 10 minute mashout at 168F</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHt5hdBaECM/V6C98GNWNUI/AAAAAAAABZE/bulsetT2crcll1nEWcGMttgQdgUNw2sbACEw/s1600/DSC00523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHt5hdBaECM/V6C98GNWNUI/AAAAAAAABZE/bulsetT2crcll1nEWcGMttgQdgUNw2sbACEw/s400/DSC00523.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting the hops and sugar weighed out. Was actually 5 min addition not 15.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I really wanted to use this hop with some rye. I thought the two would work well together and came up with the above recipe rather quickly. I intended to use rye malt but I discovered on brew day that my bag had become infested with some weevils. Always store your grain in proper containers folks. A brown paper bag is not proper. I luckily had some flaked rye to use for this brew but next time I buy some rye malt I'll be storing it in an airtight container. The flaked rye was pretty old so I'm thinking that was one thing that gave me the hit in efficiency. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QryqTUxvoEM/V6C98ZAmb-I/AAAAAAAABZI/YN74dJsJkPgt3SARveqBXqTRO86jkeVMgCEw/s1600/DSC00526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QryqTUxvoEM/V6C98ZAmb-I/AAAAAAAABZI/YN74dJsJkPgt3SARveqBXqTRO86jkeVMgCEw/s400/DSC00526.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to audible to flaked rye do to some invasive weevils in the malted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I added the milled Pilsner and malted oats in the mash tun and spread the flaked rye over the top. Then I underlet the mash and held a temp of 148-149F over 75 minutes. I then mashed out at 168F for 10 min and started collecting my first runnings. I sparged with 170F degree water to get a boil volume of 8.75 gallons. This probably hit my efficiency a little as well since the target boil volume is 8.63 gallons but I'm happy with where the gravity ended up with this one at 1.049.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ssHZgHJq9mg/V6C99h6eKXI/AAAAAAAABZc/M054fXrmH48n1sy2kX8jcqqFmSa5Vbj-wCEw/s1600/DSC00534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ssHZgHJq9mg/V6C99h6eKXI/AAAAAAAABZc/M054fXrmH48n1sy2kX8jcqqFmSa5Vbj-wCEw/s400/DSC00534.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fly sparging.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The Pekko hops really have an awesome aroma in the bag. Herbal, mint, orange juice is what I'd use to describe it. I used a late addition of 30g at 5 minutes with the table sugar and then added another 20g at flameout for a 15 minute whirlpool. After that I ran the wort through the wort chiller and cooled to 66F. I pitched my starter of White Labs WLP566 Belgian Saison II and left at room temp (around 71F) for fermentation to begin.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lfij1CroE0Q/V6C9-BepTfI/AAAAAAAABZU/rxEuBQ88asUt7VGDsI-LWtuMwe6r4wZtgCEw/s1600/DSC00535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lfij1CroE0Q/V6C9-BepTfI/AAAAAAAABZU/rxEuBQ88asUt7VGDsI-LWtuMwe6r4wZtgCEw/s400/DSC00535.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolling but controlled boil.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I'm using WLP566 for this beer after not having used this yeast for a long time. I'm not sure why I never used it again because if I remember correctly, I really enjoyed the beer I made with it. The last time I used it was a simple Saison with 90% Belgian pale malt and 10% wheat malt with Styrian Goldings and EKG hops. So I thought I'd give it another go and keep the culture around for a few other projects. This one will most likely be kegged with maybe a few bottles to see how it develops over time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5N0nII3PKs0/V6C9-aHzYDI/AAAAAAAABZY/a8kz-jZsTbcmE7Uv0wzgRb7W-HBIgGspACEw/s1600/DSC00538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5N0nII3PKs0/V6C9-aHzYDI/AAAAAAAABZY/a8kz-jZsTbcmE7Uv0wzgRb7W-HBIgGspACEw/s400/DSC00538.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Room temperature fermentation. Averaging 72-74F mostly.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Updates:<br />
<br />
7-31-16: By 6PM fermentation was underway. Steady activity of off gassing through the airlock. <br />
<br />
8-9-16: Gravity at 1.003 and the beer was already pretty clear. Kegged it up and set it in the keezer to carbonate. Sample had lots of herbal qualities and I really dug it. <br />
<br />
Tasting notes <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/08/tasting-notes-for-rye-saison-with-pekko.html" target="_blank">here</a>!<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-48099850216774337072016-07-14T19:53:00.000-05:002016-11-17T11:25:19.511-06:00Foraged Yeast Brew DayEarlier this year I decided I wanted to try some yeast capturing again. Last year I had some pretty bad experiences that resulted in lots of mold and some terrible smelling Mason jars around the house. My original technique was to make a batch of extract wort and place the jars covered in cheese cloth around my yard in various places. That seemed to be how a lot of people were doing it. Well in two attempts, I have been very unsuccessful that way. I'm sure it had to do with my technique as well as the microbes around my house.<br />
<br />
<br />
After those failed attempts I decided to try another way recommended by Jeff Mello of <a href="http://bootlegbiology.com/">Bootleg Biology</a>. This is also the technique that I spoke with Gerard Olson from <a href="http://www.forestandmain.com/">Forest and Main Brewing Co.</a> when I visited there earlier this year. Basically you use foraged objects like flowers and fruits (among other things) to try and capture a wild yeast culture. I recently wrote a small primer article for <a href="http://www.craftcommander.com/">Craft Commander</a> on foraging for wild yeast. You can take a look at that <a href="http://www.craftcommander.com/brewing/2016/7/14/brewing-beer-with-a-sense-of-place-foraging-yeast-for-beginners">here</a>. It's not exactly scientific but it covers the basic steps I used in capturing my culture I used in this beer.<br />
<br />
<br />
For my culture I decided to user clover flowers from my front yard. The afternoon I picked the flowers there was a ton of activity. A mild breeze was blowing and bees were visible all over the flowers. Hopefully I'll get something really nice out of this!<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Foraged Yeast<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Be<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">er</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 15</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 7-9-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.0</span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.04</span></span></span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.16</span> gal </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.0<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">42</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.044</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.0</span></span></span></span> SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0.0</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span> IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">75</span></span> Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10</span>0</span></span></span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pilsner</span></span> Malt (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avangard</span></span>)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">24.6</span></span></span></span></span> IBUs of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ramis </span></span></span></span></span>@ 60 min</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeast:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Foraged Yeast from Clover Flowers</span> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mash Schedule:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Temperatu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re mash of 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9</span></span>F for 75 min with a 10 minute mashout at 168F</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CnLHkhJObjQ/V4ZSfQzf-0I/AAAAAAAABYU/Pc1Ugo18aA0sUbfABNUIkxgouYTbLIJ_wCLcB/s1600/DSC00490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CnLHkhJObjQ/V4ZSfQzf-0I/AAAAAAAABYU/Pc1Ugo18aA0sUbfABNUIkxgouYTbLIJ_wCLcB/s400/DSC00490.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">100% Avangard Pilsner malt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I mashed in for 75 min with the temperature of 149F. I wanted to get something really fermentable and give the foraged culture something easy to work with. 100% Pilsner should give a good base to let whatever I've capture shine through.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sp4-cTglHBo/V4ZSfyjBXlI/AAAAAAAABYc/vYBJIOSmQwMVgYVyhDWg0pUoDpKnnn2rgCEw/s1600/DSC00501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sp4-cTglHBo/V4ZSfyjBXlI/AAAAAAAABYc/vYBJIOSmQwMVgYVyhDWg0pUoDpKnnn2rgCEw/s400/DSC00501.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love seeing clear wort. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I boiled the wort for 75 min and added around 14g of Aramis hops at 60 minutes. With this batch being so small I wasn't able to use my stainless hop spider so I put the hops in a nylon hop bag.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0CfXqWyoAOM/V4ZSfzRniHI/AAAAAAAABYY/Rcs1GmolWjA8HQzEZUrHsDYq0AWmgGZDACEw/s1600/DSC00507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0CfXqWyoAOM/V4ZSfzRniHI/AAAAAAAABYY/Rcs1GmolWjA8HQzEZUrHsDYq0AWmgGZDACEw/s400/DSC00507.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nylon hop bag and 14g or so of Aramis hops</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After the boil I recirculated the wort for about 15 minutes and then ran it through my heat exchanger to get the wort down to 68F. I collected just under 4 gallons in the carboy and pitched my culture while keeping back a small bit for further propagation. If this beer turns out well, I'll send some of the yeast slurry over to Jeff Mello. I covered the top of the carboy with sanitized aluminum foil as I do with most of my beers. I'll add a bung and airlock after activity starts to slow.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eHzOfJv672g/V4ZSgWsGV3I/AAAAAAAABYg/t9iOdncXWEkW_IYpMVrO-ZYculPmL8gZACEw/s1600/DSC00510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eHzOfJv672g/V4ZSgWsGV3I/AAAAAAAABYg/t9iOdncXWEkW_IYpMVrO-ZYculPmL8gZACEw/s400/DSC00510.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now it's time for some fermentation!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Super simple brew day. The smallest batch I've done on my system so far. I didn't even have enough in the mash tun to use the thermometer in the side. This wasn't a problem as I rely on the temperature probe I have in the outlet to regulate my mash temps. I'm really looking forward to the outcome of this beer! I'll also be foraging some more cultures very soon!<br />
<br />
Updates:<br />
<br />
7-10-16: 6AM krausen has already formed and fermentation is under way!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfca0a_KwjE/V4ZSh3IpjyI/AAAAAAAABYw/mBhyFODfxPIz54UlK0pvPiHm9uHQxpM5ACEw/s1600/DSC00514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfca0a_KwjE/V4ZSh3IpjyI/AAAAAAAABYw/mBhyFODfxPIz54UlK0pvPiHm9uHQxpM5ACEw/s320/DSC00514.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
7-11-16: Very active. At least 3 inches of thick krausen on top and a nice yeasty smell coming from the carboy.<br />
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<br />
7-12-16: Activity has slowed just a bit. I swapped the foil for a bung and airlock but steady CO2 off gassing came through the 3 piece airlock when I added the Star-San solution to it. Looking really promising. The aroma was very similar to the starters. Hints of honey, light tartness and a bit of citrus seemed to come through too.<br />
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7-24-16: All signs of fermentation have stopped. Looks like it has even flocculated really well. I'll be packaging soon!<br />
<br />
9-7-16: Bottled the batch.<br />
<br />
10-7-16: Tasted one bottle. Slight bit of THP there so I'm going to give it some more time before I do tasting notes. <br />
<br />
Final tasting notes here!<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-5048954496703374912016-07-08T08:25:00.003-05:002016-11-16T13:13:13.977-06:00Spur of the Moment Bière de GardeThere comes a day in every homebrewer's time brewing where there are some extra grains lying around. Usually it isn't enough to play a big role in a beer but sometimes it could be the perfect amount. I had a few things left over from past beers and received some new yeast I wanted to brew with so I decided to make a spur of the moment Bière de Garde.<br />
<br />
I have used Golden Naked Oats in another Bière de Garde and IPA late last year and earlier this year. I still have a few pounds of it left. I also had some Caramunich and a little Special B. I thought these may be some perfect specialty malts to make a nice amber biere that I can drink late in the Summer into early Fall.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Spur</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 14</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 7-1-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.5 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.76</span> gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.76 gal </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.0<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">56</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.057</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4</span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span></span></span></span> SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.2</span></span></span></span></span> IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>% (about 78% on this brew)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.60</span>%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span>0</span> Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">81.5</span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pilsner</span></span> Malt (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avangard</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.4</span></span>% </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Golden Naked Oats</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Simpson's</span></span>)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.6% Special B</span> (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ding<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eman's</span></span>) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5</span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span>% <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">aramunich III Malt (Weyermann)</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">23.2</span></span></span></span></span> IBUs of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Aramis</span></span></span></span> @ 60 min</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeast:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.wyeastlab.com/vssprogram.cfm?website=1">Wyeast 3864-PC Canadian/Belgian Ale</a></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mash Schedule:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Temperatu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re mash of 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9</span></span>F for 75 min with a 10 minute mash out at 168F</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOWVX-5Ds48/V3-oV3LwfwI/AAAAAAAABXI/xVorB5lAnQozV9DaJVzk5eP954OMNf_oACKgB/s1600/DSC00475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOWVX-5Ds48/V3-oV3LwfwI/AAAAAAAABXI/xVorB5lAnQozV9DaJVzk5eP954OMNf_oACKgB/s400/DSC00475.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out the contrast in the different grains. Pretty cool.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This is my first time using a Belgian strain to ferment a Bière de Garde. With Wyeast having Canadian/Belgian Ale 3864 out now as a PC strain, I decided to use it. I'm hoping I can ferment in the mid 60s to keep any esters at bay and create a semi clean beer. After primary fermentation is done, I will set it to lager for 4-6 weeks before bottling. This time I also plan to use the same yeast to bottle condition the beer. I'll do the same practice as with Bob's technique but this time using the Belgian strain.<br />
<br />
I have to believe that in Northern France where these beers were historically brewed, that there were some farmers/homes using a Belgian strain borrowed from a neighbor who borrowed it from their neighbor who got it from a Belgian brewery. All that is possible right? In Phil Markowski's Farmhouse Ales book (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Farmhouse-Ales-Culture-Craftsmanship-Tradition/dp/0937381845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467382966&sr=8-1&keywords=farmhouse+ales">get it here if you haven't already</a>) he suggests using clean ale strains to ferment Bières de Garde. I'm a large fan of White Labs WLP072 French Ale but it being a seasonal Platinum strain it's hard to come by. I try keeping it around but my culture has definitely taken on a new life and probably has been infected.<br />
<br />
Wyeast suggested this yeast for the style in the 2016 release description and I've wanted to use this yeast before when I was making a lot of other Belgian styles. This way I'm killing two birds as it were. I've read a few places where Belgian strains are recommended but I have yet to use one myself. I made a small starter around 800mL for this one the night before. The next day the flask was full of milky yeast.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZIblm-ht2c/V3-oUthSiLI/AAAAAAAABXE/TA9ZnNYba3omsBMqMAGaNQy34TEIfvTdACLcB/s1600/DSC00477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZIblm-ht2c/V3-oUthSiLI/AAAAAAAABXE/TA9ZnNYba3omsBMqMAGaNQy34TEIfvTdACLcB/s400/DSC00477.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Under letting the mash. I really like doughing in this way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The mash went very well and I sparged over about an hour to get my boil volume. I also had better extraction in that my preboil gravity was 1.043 instead of the target 1.038. Little better mash efficiency. I boiled this one for 2 hours. I'm now set on that being the minimum boiling time for the style for me. I really like the results of going up to 3 hours but I didn't have the time for that this brew day. I boiled and added the hops with 60 min left in the boil then ran through the heat exchanger and into my Speidel.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BWs-cFAuSIw/V3-oXHpMlSI/AAAAAAAABXY/COgXMcs3nw8FEBgIu6DS5Vf5PTKjpD7ogCKgB/s1600/DSC00484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BWs-cFAuSIw/V3-oXHpMlSI/AAAAAAAABXY/COgXMcs3nw8FEBgIu6DS5Vf5PTKjpD7ogCKgB/s400/DSC00484.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome color on the first runnings.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I set the temp to hold at 64F for the first couple of days. If the beer is slow to start fermenting I'll bump it up. I'd like to keep the temperatures low to encourage a more clean ferment with lower amounts of esters from the yeast. I'll ramp as needed to complete fermentation. I really liked the flavor and aroma of the wort. Sweet of course but there was some great malt aroma and a nice raisin character that I'm sure came from the Special B malt. <br />
<br />
<br />
Nothing too exciting on this brew day. I got to use up some older grains and I'm really liking the color that came out of using them. I'll let this one sit in cold storage for 4-6 weeks then bottle condition and have tasting notes up soon!<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DAzyltqyRCA/V3-oWaOsBXI/AAAAAAAABXQ/uQHOR4o9BRU-v6ebyUwDdnGoodi6Ay6HwCKgB/s1600/DSC00479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DAzyltqyRCA/V3-oWaOsBXI/AAAAAAAABXQ/uQHOR4o9BRU-v6ebyUwDdnGoodi6Ay6HwCKgB/s400/DSC00479.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decent BdG I had on brew day. A bit sweet and has a grape flavor for me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Some extra reading that was shared recently on the Farmhouse Facebook
can be found here. I enjoyed reading some brewers talk about Bière de
Garde as it's not really a popular subject now. It could possibly
become the new Saison eventually but I doubt it.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/biere-de-garde-beer-style-youre-overlooking-shouldnt?src=62416_FB4">https://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/biere-de-garde-beer-style-youre-overlooking-shouldnt?src=62416_FB4</a><br />
<br />
Also some pretty good guidelines for Bières de Garde. I feel these are pretty accurate for the style. More so than the BJCP's guidelines in the past.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.craftbeer.com/styles/biere-de-garde">https://www.craftbeer.com/styles/biere-de-garde</a><br />
<br />
Updates:<br />
<br />
7-2-16: Fermentation started by 6AM. Pretty vigorous fermentation at that!<br />
<br />
7-3-16: Raised temp to 66F. Fermentation was still going but not as quite as busy as the day before.<br />
<br />
7-5-16: Set temp to 68F to hopefully finish the fermentation. Still steady activity showing in the airlock.<br />
<br />
7-12-16: CO2 still off gassing from the airlock. The yeast is still working!<br />
<br />
7-31-16: Pulled my first sample. Really clear so I'm sure most of the yeast has flocculated out and fermentation is over. I REALLY enjoyed the flavors of this one. Malty and just a hint of sweetness but not a ton. Few esters but nothing you typically get from Belgian yeast. Gravity was sitting at 1.010 so I set the freezer tempt o 50F to start the lagering process. I'll bump it down further over the next few days. I'm thinking a portion of this will go into secondary with some brettanomyces but the majority will be packaged clean.<br />
<br />
10-7-16: Kegged and bottled. Decided to package all clean with this batch. Still some dark fruit notes and slight bit of yeast character but definitely seems very clean. <br />
<br />
Tasting notes <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/11/tasting-notes-for-spur-biere-de-garde.html">here</a>!<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-42792336843002957942016-06-26T16:05:00.004-05:002016-06-26T16:05:40.215-05:00Tasting Notes for Kathleen Round 3 - More Hops!I wanted to increase the usage of hops in this beer and add some dry hopping to see if the discussions we had on the Saison Facebook group had any effect on the head retention for this beer. I also used Bob's carbonation technique to see if that would give me better retention as well. Here are the tasting notes for the most recent batch of Kathleen. Brew day post is <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/06/kathleen-round-3-more-hops.html">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NZ7ivw2FdVo/V3BCmlEDdgI/AAAAAAAABWU/A3k1QIChcoIotPH5ARI9D2JTgMdkzsYAwCKgB/s1600/DSC00458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NZ7ivw2FdVo/V3BCmlEDdgI/AAAAAAAABWU/A3k1QIChcoIotPH5ARI9D2JTgMdkzsYAwCKgB/s400/DSC00458.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Drinking on 6-25-16<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 5.88% (estimated after blending)<br />
SG: 1.048 or 11.91°P<br />
FG: 1.002 or 0.51°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 96% <br />
Actual Attenuation: 78%<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kI3lWwc9KEg/V3BC4XKHHEI/AAAAAAAABWo/L9KeqMT3Qv4RmsNjmw6zzRKrH4iALDWHwCKgB/s1600/DSC00465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kI3lWwc9KEg/V3BC4XKHHEI/AAAAAAAABWo/L9KeqMT3Qv4RmsNjmw6zzRKrH4iALDWHwCKgB/s400/DSC00465.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glowing in the sunlight.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Hazy golden straw in color with a rough white head when poured. Retention is decent but I still want it better. The beer looks as if it is glowing in the light. I enjoy clear beers but I also really like when a beer like Kathleen has this appearance of slightly murky. Plays on a rustic note to me. Carbonation runs of the edge of the glass and continues to bubble as I drink it. Head finally gave way and there was just a ring and a patch of bubbles floating.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EpYcJAKAMbg/V3BClZLjyqI/AAAAAAAABWI/pQ-Rvu0zzecs8UnSl5reJaLAQmoGK2__wCKgB/s1600/DSC00460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EpYcJAKAMbg/V3BClZLjyqI/AAAAAAAABWI/pQ-Rvu0zzecs8UnSl5reJaLAQmoGK2__wCKgB/s400/DSC00460.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Head retention still leaving me wanting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Citrus, pear, and white grape are what I get at first sniff. Then I get more floral and grassy notes as I dig in. Some funky dried hay aromas are there too. Tropical fruit and the great fruity brett notes that I like of pineapple and maybe even white grape show up. I really like the brett strain that is in the C2C blend. Those flavors are also one of the reasons I tend to like Drie or Trois Vrai strains as well. </span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Definite white grape in the flavor. More citrus and pear notes but this time it's more like a white grapefruit flavor that is bitter and dry just like when you eat a white grapefruit or if you are having a Salty Dog cocktail. It's very refreshing. The grassy and spice notes are at the very end with the tartness. May be a touch acetic but that may just be me over analyzing it. If it is, it's not offensive by any means. The increased bitterness is very nice. This may be one of the highest perceived bitterness beers I've done in a while.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium mouthfeel, spritsy carbonation and a clean finish. The tartness makes you want another drink and the bitterness creates such a clean finish that I really enjoy. </span><br />
<br />
<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span>
I'm more impressed with this beer than any I've done in a long while.
I've loved the previous batches of Kathleen but this one really shines
above the rest. Increasing the bitterness a bit, adding more hops, and
dry hopping generously has really made a beer that resembles the
previous batches but has even more in flavor and aroma. I really enjoy the increase in bitterness. It adds to the drinkability of this beer and really creates a clean finish.<br />
<br />
The head retention is still leaving me wanting. I used Bob's technique on this Saison that was brewed with brett and it really seems to have better head retention. I think having the acidic beer blended in is something that is effecting the retention on these beers. I may try and shoot for a 3.5 vol level instead of 3.2 vol like I did this time. I may have to do that and see if it yields better results and lets the head linger just a bit longer. Dry hopping didn't have too much of an effect this time but again that may be due to the acid beer having an effect on it. The dry hops did however seem to have an effect on the clarity but, I'm not overly concerned with that.<br />
<br />
I really love brewing and drinking this beer. I think the process of blending in the sour, mature beer is something I'll continue to do in my brewing practices. It's not required for all beers but it really is great when used with Saison and similar styles. This glass was so easy to drink on a 98F degree day here in Mississippi. It was so good, I think I may have another glass of Saison to follow it up!<br />
<br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-71944939179579490882016-06-16T11:05:00.001-05:002016-06-22T11:25:06.838-05:00Tasting Notes of the Dark Saison 2015It's been a while since I brewed <a href="http://thefarmhouseobsession.blogspot.com/search/label/Dark%20Saison">this beer</a>.
Back in late October I decided I wanted to brew a dark Saison for the
Winter. Well, here it is, Summer, and I'm just now getting tasting
notes done. This year I'll brew much sooner so that I will
have the beer for drinking during the colder months. Take a look at the
post of the brew day to see where the inspiration of this beer came
from. Michael Tonsmeire has done a ton of dark funky Saisons over the
years. The original post is one of my most read ones so I believe there are many out there who are interested in dark Saison as a style.<br />
<br />
Using the notes from Michael Thorpe's post on
his blog <a href="http://spontaneousfunk.blogspot.com/">Spontaneous Funk</a>, I decided to use some tart cherry juice for
bottle conditioning this beer. His post can be found <a href="http://spontaneousfunk.blogspot.com/2015/02/science-art-6-blend-tasting-notes_4.html">here</a> with
a lot of great info. Knowing I would need 150-155g of sugar to get
this beer to 2.8-3.0 vol of CO2, I used 48oz of the juice. Each 8oz
serving contained 25g of sugar. That would mean just over 6 servings to
get where I wanted with 5 gallons of beer.<br />
<br />
I chose to use tart cherry juice since the beer had a great cherry note from the <a href="http://www.gigayeast.com/sour-cherry-funk-gb150">GigaYeast Sour Cherry Funk</a>.
The pH of the beer was only down to 4.3 (strangely high I think?) but the tart flavors of the
juice and maybe a bit more time in the bottle may increase the tartness
over time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bxOabTrh-ZQ/V2LNjlzkUHI/AAAAAAAABUE/Sk4SPTYmxyEu3jMs5C6In5i8G8a4zOyJgCLcB/s1600/DSC00420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bxOabTrh-ZQ/V2LNjlzkUHI/AAAAAAAABUE/Sk4SPTYmxyEu3jMs5C6In5i8G8a4zOyJgCLcB/s400/DSC00420.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slightly cold at the time of the photo. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 7.9%<br />
SG: 1.060 or 14.74°P<br />
FG: 1.000 or 0.00°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 100%<br />
Actual Attenuation: 81.4%<br />
<br />
Tasting on 6-9-16<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Dark bro<span style="font-family: inherit;">w<span style="font-family: inherit;">n with hints of ruby <span style="font-family: inherit;">throughout the glass. Off white to almost cream colored<span style="font-family: inherit;">, rocky </span>head with lots of fine bubbles<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Carbonation running up the glass. More carbonation than I expected. I wasn't sure how <span style="font-family: inherit;">using the juice to carbona<span style="font-family: inherit;">te wou<span style="font-family: inherit;">ld work <span style="font-family: inherit;">out but Thorpe was spot on with his c<span style="font-family: inherit;">alculations that I cop<span style="font-family: inherit;">ied<span style="font-family: inherit;"> (not that I doub<span style="font-family: inherit;">ted Thorpe, it was more me s<span style="font-family: inherit;">crewing it up than anything<span style="font-family: inherit;">). Really nice lacing as I d<span style="font-family: inherit;">rank the g<span style="font-family: inherit;">lass and a portion of the head stuck around the entire <span style="font-family: inherit;">time drinking. Had a solid cap throughout.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gALAv536xV4/V2LNj43VNuI/AAAAAAAABUI/vsYq3arwetMn4z8UEmi4ikrICAC2G0xzwCKgB/s1600/DSC00422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gALAv536xV4/V2LNj43VNuI/AAAAAAAABUI/vsYq3arwetMn4z8UEmi4ikrICAC2G0xzwCKgB/s400/DSC00422.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Cherry is notic<span style="font-family: inherit;">eable when you firs<span style="font-family: inherit;">t take<span style="font-family: inherit;"> a sniff. Malt character <span style="font-family: inherit;">borderline</span> sweetness but more of a slightly sweet chocolate note. </span></span></span>Maybe more caramel than <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">chocolate</span> I would say. Just a bit <span style="font-family: inherit;">of yeast aroma in the form of spice that I didn't get in early d<span style="font-family: inherit;">rinking of <span style="font-family: inherit;">the bottles. <span style="font-family: inherit;">The cherry is right at the point of being medicinal but not quite. As the beer <span style="font-family: inherit;">warms the cherry turns to more of a dark fruit aroma. </span></span></span></span></span></span>Fig<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and dried or candied fruity is what I start to get with some graininess and a bit of pepper.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7atSWEwngzQ/V2LNkpHqpKI/AAAAAAAABUg/loNJYqJpN-MnlNZr3coyA6kilsNNmnXaQCKgB/s1600/DSC00424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7atSWEwngzQ/V2LNkpHqpKI/AAAAAAAABUg/loNJYqJpN-MnlNZr3coyA6kilsNNmnXaQCKgB/s400/DSC00424.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not perfectly in the sunlight but still pretty dark overall.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> There is <span style="font-family: inherit;">more yeast spice <span style="font-family: inherit;">in the flavor than the aroma. But in <span style="font-family: inherit;">a good way. Less c<span style="font-family: inherit;">aram<span style="font-family: inherit;">el or chocolat<span style="font-family: inherit;">e sweetness and more of a dried fruit/dark cherry char<span style="font-family: inherit;">acter going on. You get just a bit of sweetness but it isn't <span style="font-family: inherit;">overly sweet at all. It's really drinkable. Dry <span style="font-family: inherit;">in the finish <span style="font-family: inherit;">but just a touch of sweetness before it fades. Initially there was something off in the beer <span style="font-family: inherit;">I was associating with 3725 but now it seem<span style="font-family: inherit;">s to <span style="font-family: inherit;">have mellowed out. It was something <span style="font-family: inherit;">reminiscent of s<span style="font-family: inherit;">oapy I <span style="font-family: inherit;">think</span>. No<span style="font-family: inherit;">ne of that is present now. <span style="font-family: inherit;">May<span style="font-family: inherit;">be just a touch of al<span style="font-family: inherit;">cohol as the beer warms<span style="font-family: inherit;"> but the fruit not<span style="font-family: inherit;">es really come out more. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium-full mouthfeel for sure. It has a creaminess to it almost. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Lively carbonation <span style="font-family: inherit;">help to mo<span style="font-family: inherit;">ve it thro<span style="font-family: inherit;">ugh the <span style="font-family: inherit;">mouth<span style="font-family: inherit;">. It's definitely a fuller mouthfeel than my t<span style="font-family: inherit;">ypical Saison<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and I think that's a good thing. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span> I'm impressed with the beer I really didn't like just a few months ago. I think I'm really sensitive to the medicinal cherry notes in beers that aren't sour. I get the cough syrup note in commercial versions of stouts or other beers with cherry that aren't sour. I never tend to pick that out of sour beers with cherries. That may have to do with something in the darker malts but I'm not sure. I really enjoyed drinking this beer and a few others that have had it have said they enjoyed it as well. What's to note is that there really isn't much funk at all in this beer from the brett in the Sour Cherry Funk. I understand there not being any tartness due to the higher IBUs but the brett has seemed to have strong cherry flavors as described. That's the whole reason I wanted to use the cherry juice to prime this beer. I find that super interesting and think that this blend would be great in a Belgian Strong Dark or something similar. I'll have to test that out in the future maybe.<br />
<br />
I do think this is a much better beer for colder weather, as I intended it to be. I'm
already working on my dark Saison recipe for this year. I'll brew it
much earlier this time and use a different fruit or fruit juice to
interact with it. This one is also using some new microbes from Bootleg Biology that I'll go over in that post. I'm really looking forward to this years brew. The autumnal Saison is looking to be something interesting this year as well. More on all of that to come!<br />
<br />
<br />
Cheers!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-26630853737854469812016-06-07T17:30:00.000-05:002018-06-22T19:32:53.247-05:00Kathleen Round 3 - More Hops!There have been some recent discussions on the Saison, Bière de Garde, and Farmhouse Facebook groups about head retention in Saisons. I have been wanting to improve the head retention in my beers and make it more consistent. One of the things I plan on doing is upping the target CO2 volume to around 3.2+ and changing my process a bit. That was the suggestion of some of the participants in the discussion. Another suggestion was to have more hop additions and to dry hop. This is batch of Kathleen will involve both of those suggestions.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1b7Z2AslmRU/V1bSapHtDII/AAAAAAAABTU/ZlQDfoB0pGMD62dgWYjOvwnoiF2XVia6gCKgB/s1600/DSC00382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1b7Z2AslmRU/V1bSapHtDII/AAAAAAAABTU/ZlQDfoB0pGMD62dgWYjOvwnoiF2XVia6gCKgB/s400/DSC00382.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always take good brewing notes. ALWAYS.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Kathleen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 4-30-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.5 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 8.63 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.76 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.048</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 2.6 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> 32.0 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 74.6 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 74.6 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 75 Minutes <span style="font-size: x-small;">(De<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">creased boil tim<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e to save some time<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. If any DMS is noti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ceable, I'll report back<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">72.6% Pils<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ner</span> Malt (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avangard</span>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.0% Spelt Malt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.0% Raw Wheat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.4% Flaked Oats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">16.5 IBUs of EKG (or whatever I have on hand now) @ 60 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.7 IBUs of Amarillo @ 15 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.2 IBUs of EKG @ 5 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.5 IBUs of Amarillo @ 5 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dry hop with Amarillo and Hallertau Blanc</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.eastcoastyeast.com/ale---lager-yeast.html">East Coast Yeast ECY-08 Brasserie Blend</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.omegayeast.com/portfolio/c2c-american-farmhouse/">Omega Yeast Labs C2C American Farmhouse</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Trying out blending these two into a house culture)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
By increasing the amount of hops in the late additions as well as bumping back the 10 minute addition to 15 mintues, I'm able to get to a higher estimated IBUs. I'll also be dry hopping after fermentation is completed. I plan to still blend a portion of mature beer in with the fresh brew but the final gravity of the fresh part will determine if I dry hop before blending or if I blend and then dry hop. I want the beer to be as dry as possible as not to cause issue with bottling. I think I'll use a smaller percentage of mature beer but we will see when that time comes.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtahqOD9XO0/V1bSbN_sJBI/AAAAAAAABTU/E_Tg4_C0kE0uzwlfy08cnHZyxIS2pEBfACKgB/s1600/DSC00387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtahqOD9XO0/V1bSbN_sJBI/AAAAAAAABTU/E_Tg4_C0kE0uzwlfy08cnHZyxIS2pEBfACKgB/s400/DSC00387.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the boil. That means it's time to start cleaning!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For bottling the Bière de Coupage batch, I'll be using Bob Sylvester's (of <a href="http://saintsomewherebrewing.com/">St. Somewhere Brewing Company</a>) technique he shared on the Farmhouse Ales FB group. Bob said for 7 bbl of beer he uses 12# of cane sugar and 250g dry Champagne yeast. He puts both of these in 3.5 gallons of 108F water and allows the yeast to bloom for 20 minutes or so. Using his numbers, I came up with the below:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Per gallon:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0.885oz of sugar</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.15g of yeast</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.00oz of water</span></div>
<br />
Bob mentioned to me that the volume of the yeast is less important than the amount of sugar. You could overshoot the amount of yeast without any ill effects. He also recommended using Red Star yeast as that was his favorite. It has become hard to find for him so he has been using <a href="http://www.maurivin.com/media/29.pdf">Maurivin PDM</a> and <a href="http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/FT-VR-44-EN.pdf">Fermentis Safoeno VR 44</a>. I'll be using this formula for whatever the volume is of the beer after I've blended. My LHBS has the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011DR7II/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687602&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0064OBJGK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=141B3WRJEE8Y5EZRZTFR">Red Star Premier Cuveé</a> so I'll be using that. I'm doing all of this to help with the head production and retention. Since every one of his beers I've had all have an amazing pillow-y head that seems to stock around forever, I figured I'd give this a try. It may also shorten the carbonation period as some of my blends can take up to a month to get where I like them. He stated that the carbonation happens the same day of bottling if done correctly. He also says to wait 10 days and that's it. That with time, the initial "rough" carbonation you get in the first couple days will mellow out into the fluffy stuff. That's exactly what I'm looking for.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;"><u>Disclaimer:</u></span></b> If anyone plans to do this, make SURE you are using the correct bottles. The champagne bottles I typically use are rated for up to 5 vol of CO2. If you don't have some of the thick glass bottles rated for the higher carbonation levels, you WILL get bottle bombs. It can be dangerous using anything not rated for the higher level of carbonation. The caps (or corks if you use them) seals are usually much stronger than the glass so when you go to open them, you could have a bottle shatter. So proceed with caution and use the right equipment.<br />
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The Milk the Funk group has added Bob's technique into the Wiki since I have drafted this post. You can check that out <a href="http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Packaging#Bob_Sylvester.27s_Priming_Guide">here</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V7XcXqB5h8Y/V1bSbzv78uI/AAAAAAAABTU/kmaU19QiR8oWuSl0LtZ6Yg8VnaHM3eDHACKgB/s1600/DSC00391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V7XcXqB5h8Y/V1bSbzv78uI/AAAAAAAABTU/kmaU19QiR8oWuSl0LtZ6Yg8VnaHM3eDHACKgB/s400/DSC00391.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No air lock. Semi-open fermentation to let the yeast work.</td></tr>
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Brew day was very typical. Rainy out but everything went very smoothly. I mashed in at 149 and held it there for 75 min. It fluctuated from 149 to 150F throughout the mash. I then boiled for 75 min and cooled the wort to 68F and transferred to my FastFerment. I pitched the yeast and left the beer at room temperature to ferment without any temperature control. Temps in the house fluctuated from mid 60s to high 70s throughout the fermentation. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-09gPp-Xkn5A/V1bSbvgLrmI/AAAAAAAABTU/0oYdC7YELeoU58_QaK5xtLeWanonrPStgCKgB/s1600/DSC00390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-09gPp-Xkn5A/V1bSbvgLrmI/AAAAAAAABTU/0oYdC7YELeoU58_QaK5xtLeWanonrPStgCKgB/s400/DSC00390.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My brewing area. Still haven't gotten the control panel mounted yet.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>Updates:</b><br />
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5-3-16: Very nice fermentation action going on.<br />
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5-16-16: Gravity of the beer was 1.002. This mirrors the FG of the batch of Kathleen done with ECY-08 alone. This is also where the previous batch with 3726 was after fermentation was completed.<br />
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5-23-16: Racked the beer to secondary to combine with the mature beer and to dry hop for a week before bottling. The mature portion was 20 months old at this point. I dry hopped with one ounce of Amarillo and two ounces of Hallertau Blanc. I used roughly 1 gallon of mature beer and 6 gallons of fresh Saison. I wanted to get a little less sour and more along the lines of "tart" for this batch. Really just enough acidity to brighten everything up With blending the calculated ABV came to about 5.88%. Very close to the last batch. <br />
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5-30-16: Bottled the beer. Tasting notes to follow. Aroma from the dry hops was fantastic! My sugar amount was 5.65oz for right at 5 gallons of beer. I'm glad I did a larger batch as the amount lost from dry hopping with 3oz of hops was a good bit. I used 5g of the dried yeast. That was a little higher than the formula, but Bob mentioned that the amount of yeast wasn't as much of a concern as the amount of sugar. If you use too much yeast it won't be a problem. I would imagine using a little less would not be a problem either.<br />
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Tasting notes right <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/06/tasting-notes-for-kathleen-round-3-more.html">here</a>!<br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-3855424056029757312016-06-02T13:53:00.001-05:002016-06-22T11:26:17.324-05:00Tasting Notes for a Bière de Coupage Saison!I love the process of Bière de Coupage. I like that it lets you experiment with blending while also having the opportunity to enhance a base beer. Some of you reading may know or have seen posts by James Sites in the Milk the Funk group. He is a wealth of knowledge and has a ton of brewing experience. He also seems to be a brewing scholar always researching and sharing information. He sent me a few beers to try and asked if I'd give some tasting notes on them. Since he sent a Saison brewed in the Bière de Coupage tradition, I thought I'd do a post here with my tasting notes and thoughts on the beer. He also sent along a couple other sour beers I can't wait to get into.<br />
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I'm not sure of the details of James's process but I do know he said he brewed a Saison and a quick sour to blend in with it. If he shares more details, I'll update the post.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Stellmacher Brewing Co - Mercedes</b></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decided to pop this one while I was feeding my new sourdough starter.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> S<span style="font-family: inherit;">lightly haz<span style="font-family: inherit;">y deep yellow in color. Not clo<span style="font-family: inherit;">udy really but n<span style="font-family: inherit;">ot brightly clear. White to of<span style="font-family: inherit;">f-white head full of tiny bubbles with a few larger one<span style="font-family: inherit;">s mixed in <span style="font-family: inherit;">here and there. Carbonation is streaming up the edges of the glass and there was a solid pop when I pulle<span style="font-family: inherit;">d the cork. Head dissipated to a cap and eventually a<span style="font-family: inherit;"> ring on<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the glass as I drank. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Pretty d</span>ecent la<span style="font-family: inherit;">cing <span style="font-family: inherit;">on the beer too. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First impression is a<span style="font-family: inherit;">n eart<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">h</span>y, sp<span style="font-family: inherit;">icy Saison n<span style="font-family: inherit;">ose with a bit of almost woody note. Ced<span style="font-family: inherit;">ar-ish if you will. Light lemon and stone fruits <span style="font-family: inherit;">like peach with a touch of pear. As it warmed up it had some tart green apple character. <span style="font-family: inherit;">But not in an off way, more like a <span style="font-family: inherit;">Granny Smith Apple way. Just a slight touch of honey and<span style="font-family: inherit;">/or malt character in the <span style="font-family: inherit;">nose.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-auK56QxF2Js/V1BXxoF3ImI/AAAAAAAABSU/XLvJXgNoTIQP5BKXableBYIFNcMwVKfkwCKgB/s1600/DSC00412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-auK56QxF2Js/V1BXxoF3ImI/AAAAAAAABSU/XLvJXgNoTIQP5BKXableBYIFNcMwVKfkwCKgB/s400/DSC00412.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a little bit of condensation on the glass.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, very Saison forward with just a<span style="font-family: inherit;"> touch of tartness. <span style="font-family: inherit;">A very light tartness tho<span style="font-family: inherit;">ugh. Not something I would consider <span style="font-family: inherit;">sour at all. Firs<span style="font-family: inherit;">t sip has almost a white pepper finish and is really dry i<span style="font-family: inherit;">n the finish. (<span style="font-family: inherit;">I like dry, REALLY dry.) Second sip more of the fruity flavors show up. That hint of pear/apple is there but more peach<span style="font-family: inherit;"> or even a touch of white grape is there. Not a bit of alcohol detected. I'm not sure what the ABV on this one is<span style="font-family: inherit;"> but you can<span style="font-family: inherit;">'t detect any alcohol at all.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As it warms a <span style="font-family: inherit;">good bitterness shows up and the pepper shines through more.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> There is a slight <span style="font-family: inherit;">vege<span style="font-family: inherit;">ta<span style="font-family: inherit;">l <span style="font-family: inherit;">note on the fin<span style="font-family: inherit;">ish <span style="font-family: inherit;">with just a touch of astringency. But it isn<span style="font-family: inherit;">'t offen<span style="font-family: inherit;">sive at all. It's something I tend to get in Saison from time to time.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">P<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">erfect</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">prickly</span> carbonation, medium mouthfeel and <span style="font-family: inherit;">a really dry drinkable beer. Carbonation lends to a smooth mouthfeel <span style="font-family: inherit;">that I really love in Saison. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </u><br />
<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;"> </span>This is a super nice beer that was executed really well. The cutting of the base with the acid beer has surely brightened up all the flavors and it still maintains the Saison qualities which is very important to me. If there is too much of the cutting beer, then you can lose what you started out with. There could be just a hint more sourness in there but that may not have been what James was going for. He did tell me he used a quick sour to blend and I think those are perfect for brightening up a Saison.<br />
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The differences in this beer and my main beer, Kathleen, I use Bière de Coupage with, are that mine has a bit more fruity flavors and less pepper in the base beer. I don't actually prefer either one, but the yeast strains I've used the past few times have added more fruit tones than pepper notes. That also may be due to my fermentation temp of usually over 80F for each one. Again, I don't know all of James's process but those are just impressions. Kathleen also has a bit of funk to it due to the beer I blend in it being a mixed culture fermentation that has matured for a minimum of a year usually. Same type process with different beers can yield varied results. That's one thing I love about the Coupage process. It really depends on your goal with the beer is and what you have to work with. I'm sure that the mature beer I used had a lot to do with the fruity aspects as unblended Kathleen doesn't have near the stone and tropical fruit flavors that Coupage'd Kathleen has.<br />
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I'm really glad he sent me another bottle of this so I can see how/if it evolves over time. Saison tends to have a longer shelf life than other beers and the lower pH from adding in the acid beer will help even more with storage. Thank you, James, for sending me the bottles and I'm looking forward to popping the others soon! If the others are as good as this one, I know I will enjoy them at least as much!<br />
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Update:<br />
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James shared the recipe information so I thought I would add it in.<br />
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<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">- Grist consisting of 70% Pils and 30% Wheat to an OG of about 1.065/16P<br />- Mash at 158F until fully converted<br />- One hour boil with the first runnings, simply for concentration, with no hops<br />- One oz. per gallon each of Cashmere and Archer hops added at 170F<br />-
Cooled and split between ECY08 - Saison Brasserie and WLP566 - Saison
II with three strains of Brett pitched in each half (B, C, Drie)<br />-
Ferment until terminal then blend the two halves and do two, three-day
dry hoppings with 0.5 oz. per gallon each of Cashmere and Archer. <br />-Second runnings will be boiled for a short time then cooled and racked into an already inoculated oak barrel to sour.<br />-
Blend the first and second runnings once stable terminal gravity is
reached, probably around 1.002/0.5P, at a rate to be determined, but
probably around 3/4ths hoppy brett saison to 1/4th sour base.<br />-Bottle condition</span></span><br />
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Good things!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-91403744901555026192016-04-27T12:15:00.000-05:002016-06-22T11:26:24.929-05:00Farmer In the Rye Tasting NotesI apologize for the delay in posts for pretty much the entire month of April. I didn't brew much this month and took a little time off to get some beers packaged and just take a short break for some other hobbies among other things. I'm back today with a tasting notes post.<br />
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You may remember my exciting brew day for Farmer In the Rye a while back. Had a pretty interesting day with the water line bursting and having to cool the wort overnight. You can catch up about that entire process on the brewing post <a href="http://thefarmhouseobsession.blogspot.com/2016/02/farmer-in-rye-brew-day.html">here</a>. Fermentation went through without a hitch and the beer turned out quite well.<br />
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Here are the tasting notes for Farmer In the Rye:<br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Stats</u>:</b><br />
ABV: 6.3%<br />
SG: 1.050 or 12.39°P<br />
FG: 1.002 or 0.51°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 96%<br />
Actual Attenuation: 78.14%<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Golden in color with hints of copper in certain lights. Crystal clear after spending time in the keg (even the ones in bottles have dropped really clear.) Bright white head with tight bubbles that lingers around throughout drinking the beer. Really awesome lacing around the glass as I drink. I'm loving the color. It's darker than Kathleen and there is definitely a visual difference in the two. Not that it really matters, I do like my beers to not all look identical when pouring for friends.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1zQWXbcYaY/VyDFcrwF9yI/AAAAAAAABRo/sEOsDnQ7Fd8uW7fGvLv46L-48Nw923JZwCKgB/s1600/DSC00370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e1zQWXbcYaY/VyDFcrwF9yI/AAAAAAAABRo/sEOsDnQ7Fd8uW7fGvLv46L-48Nw923JZwCKgB/s400/DSC00370.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Letting the sun do it's work to add the skunkiness. JK JK just getting a look<br />
at the beer in the light of the sun. I didn't detect any skunkiness when drinking.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Saaz spiciness and floral notes from the EKG are definitely noticeable. Some of the spice could definitely be coming form the rye. There is a noticeable bready, malt aroma there too. Faint citrus/lemon notes but those take a back seat to the previous things. Rounding out the nose is the specific character I get from 3726. Just a hint of tartness and more expressed pepper. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xaB33fQUp5g/VyDFjG0ARBI/AAAAAAAABRo/LOtkby3cEFsnu-K40fkVn14PKl5oInBYQCKgB/s1600/DSC00369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xaB33fQUp5g/VyDFjG0ARBI/AAAAAAAABRo/LOtkby3cEFsnu-K40fkVn14PKl5oInBYQCKgB/s400/DSC00369.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scene of the brew day incident.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Initial flavor on the palate is again the spice. There is a pepper spice but also a earthy and, for lack of a better term, rustic spice that I would say is a touch grassy. It is a bit like a black pepper spice but not overwhelming at all. The back end of the mouth there is a citrus-y lemon note that also seems a bit tart. Not a sour tart but more like a pithy citrus rind, borderline bitter, tartness. I'm not sure how to explain that part unless you've ever taken a bite of a lemon or maybe a grapefruit rind. It finishes with some great bread and malt flavors I'm sure from the combination of the Pilsner and rye malt. Then there is just a slight hint of sweetness that's almost honey like. It finishes nice and dry like I intended and only the slightest spice lingering after the swallow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium mouthfeel that could go to medium/full if the carbonation was lower. The carbonation is tingly on the tongue and helps move the beer through the mouth, changing the flavors in and out.</span><br />
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;"> </span>I really like this beer. Ed nailed the recipe for sure. I do also like beers with a higher rye content maybe even up to 30% but this lends the wonderful aspects of rye malt without it going over the top. It adds the rustic quality and I think the perfect amount of flavors and mouthfeel from the grain. I've had and brewed beers with a higher rye content but this one seems to be perfect levels for what it's trying to achieve. The malt, hops and yeast all played great together to create an extremely drinkable and flavorful beer.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cgeURtxA4RE/VyDFjNSc9nI/AAAAAAAABRw/oIq3TqLGPh8Nk49WWEmqT1emo7RYthIxwCKgB/s1600/DSC00374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cgeURtxA4RE/VyDFjNSc9nI/AAAAAAAABRw/oIq3TqLGPh8Nk49WWEmqT1emo7RYthIxwCKgB/s400/DSC00374.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonderful lacing. The cap of head also stuck around through the entire glass.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I've had others drink this from the tap and really like it as well. Without anything like LAB or brett I think this is a beer that many will love without having to be a diehard fan of the Saison style. Some have tasted it and wanted to have brett and/or LAB qualities so I think I'll be brewing this again for some coupage action or even ferment with my house culture of different strains. Either way I do it, this one is definitely worth brewing many more times. It is a super solid beer on it's own and definitely a solid base for blending and mixed fermentation.<br />
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I'll be back soon with another post of some tasting notes. I'm combining a couple others into one longer post to get them out there for people to read. I'll also be brewing another batch of Kathleen this weekend with a few tweaks to the recipe. Looking forward to blending another batch of that beer!<br />
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Good things!<br />
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<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-7539932618388375322016-03-30T17:30:00.000-05:002016-06-22T11:26:32.604-05:00Bière de Coupage - Beer for Cutting - Acid BeerThis is a beer that takes a lot of inspiration from <a href="http://www.councilbrew.com/beatitude/">Council Brewing Company's Beatitude Tart Saison</a> and all the kettle sour/pre soured beers that folks post about on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/">Milk the Funk Facebook page</a>. I've only tried this a few times. The first attempt came out ok, but not very tart or sour. The second one was a no boil that smelled terrible and was dumped. Maybe I'll have some better luck with this process. <br />
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Basically the purpose of this beer is to create an acid beer that I can repitch the yeast cake for more fast souring beers if needed. This will create an acid beer for blending into my Saisons at various levels to achieve different beers. I'm pulling a ton of inspiration from Jeff Crane's (of Council Brewing) presentation you can find <a href="http://www.homebrewcon.org/schedule/past-presentations/">here</a>. You do have to be a member of the NHC to hear the presentation but, there is lots of great info there. Just click on the 2015 tab and go to the How to Brew, Blend, and Maintain an Acid Beer presentation. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Sour for Blending</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 11</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 3-25-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.5 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 6.88 gal (actually closer to 7 gals and Pre Boil OG of 1.042)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.76 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.042</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.044</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 3.0 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> Less than 3.0 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 70.00%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 70.00 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 5 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">85.7% Pilsner Malt (Avangard Malz)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.5% Raw Wheat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.8% Flaked Oats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Less than 3 IBUs of EKG at 5 min</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeast:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gigayeast.com/fast-souring-lacto">GigaYeast Fast Souring Lacto GB110</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Plantarum-Inner-Bowel-Support-Drcaps/dp/B00BZ3YWXC/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1459171513&sr=8-1&keywords=lactobacillus+plantarum">Swanson's L. Plantarum</a>, and <a href="https://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=199">Wyeast 3711 French Saison</a></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4yTFe47z6y8/VvvZjNt3FII/AAAAAAAABRI/JCrDU0bq-qw88id_SvGkWxu6ZTNsXZRsQ/s1600/DSC00362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4yTFe47z6y8/VvvZjNt3FII/AAAAAAAABRI/JCrDU0bq-qw88id_SvGkWxu6ZTNsXZRsQ/s400/DSC00362.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milled all the grain, including the flaked oats.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Super simple and quick brew day. Mashing was the longest portion at 60 min at 150F for this beer. I sparged and got approximately 6.95 gallons of wort at 1.042 gravity. Looking like my efficiency is around 75% after using the equipment profile I built in BeerSmith. I'm pretty sure that's what has been throwing my numbers off in the past brews.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jXGG3AMFGUA/VvvZivFeb_I/AAAAAAAABQ8/8q2J_Z1flTMuAO5uXQlGXXnI4PiZbJH4A/s1600/DSC00363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jXGG3AMFGUA/VvvZivFeb_I/AAAAAAAABQ8/8q2J_Z1flTMuAO5uXQlGXXnI4PiZbJH4A/s400/DSC00363.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm using 3711 for a quick and highly attenuated beer and the Plantarum and<br />
and GigaYeast cultures to hopefully develop a clean sourness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Short boil of 5 minutes just to pasteurize the wort and make sure nothing funky survived from the grain in the mash. I added in enough EKG to get approximately 2.6 IBUs in the short boil. I then removed the hop spider as soon as the boil was over to not get any more IBUs from the short whirlpool. After about 10 minutes, I ran the wort through my plate chiller into the fermentor rather quickly to have the wort at 80F when it was all done. I then pitched 5 capsules of the Swanson's L. Plantarum, the Fast Souring Lacto from GigaYeast and the Smack Pack of 3711.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oOk5cZT8roc/VvvZdZGYYOI/AAAAAAAABQ4/lywk0wN5HAcwHi3eeJGRQG6Kr8qqO9ljQ/s1600/DSC00364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oOk5cZT8roc/VvvZdZGYYOI/AAAAAAAABQ4/lywk0wN5HAcwHi3eeJGRQG6Kr8qqO9ljQ/s400/DSC00364.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terrible picture but gravity of 1.044 after the 5 minute boil.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I'm leaving this beer in my kitchen at room temperature to take advantage of the Plantarum's effectiveness at room temperature. Low IBUs, good pitch of Lactobacillus, and a good temperature are key to produce a clean lactic tartness. Hopefully I have achieved that with this brew. A short time will tell!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iYNb9BcnyCc/VvvZjfuXzFI/AAAAAAAABRE/PUpimmIeR08UVfqrSJQ5-vKXsQ94LZPeQ/s1600/DSC00365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iYNb9BcnyCc/VvvZjfuXzFI/AAAAAAAABRE/PUpimmIeR08UVfqrSJQ5-vKXsQ94LZPeQ/s400/DSC00365.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Updates:<br />
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3-26-16: Had to put a blow off tube in as the krausen was pushing through the airlock. The good news is, it smelled really tart!<br />
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3-27-16: Steady fermentation through the blow off tube. Temperature ranging from 74-76F<br />
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3-29-16: Fermentation slowed but activity still present with temperature sitting at 78F. Will take a gravity and pH reading next week.<br />
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4-10-16: Took pH reading and was shocked to see the beer at 4.51 pH. Maybe I pitched the lacto too cool and the 3711 took off way too fast. I'm going to let this one sit for a while and see if it drops. Next time I'll pitch the Lacto first and use even less hops to see what happens. Theoretically this should be much lower in pH.<br />
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Good things!<br />
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<a href="https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1135/1372039296_16a2160e28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1135/1372039296_16a2160e28.jpg" /></a></div>
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Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/farmhouseobsession/">farmhouseobsession</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-67919368090262714352016-03-23T17:54:00.006-05:002016-12-12T11:51:50.866-06:00First Day of Spring Brew DayMarch 20th was the first day of Spring and I wanted to celebrate by brewing a Wheat Saison. I know what most people are saying, "Isn't it just a Saison if it has wheat?" Well that is definitely a regular ingredient in Saison recipes, yes. But this time I wanted to kick it up to at least 30% of the total grain bill. For this recipe it's just over 30%. I'm using malted and raw wheat and fermenting with a Saison/Brett blend that I've been wanting to use for a while now, Omega Yeast Labs C2C American Farmhouse. I've heard a ton of great things from this blend so I'm excited to see how it turns out. I've heard that in 6-8 weeks you can get a great beer with apparent brettanomyces notes as well as Saison characteristics.<br />
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Inspiration from this beer comes from some of the beers I've had and read about. <a href="http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22511/61139/">Hill Farmstead Florence</a> is one of my favorite beers I've had from their brewery. It's also way up in the top of my list for favorite Saisons overall. <a href="http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32319/104648/">Saison du Blé</a> from Side Project is also a very prominent example of a wheat Saison. While I have no idea of the recipes of either of these beers, I'm taking a stab at it with the below recipe for a beer I'm calling Fluffy.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Fluffy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 10</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 3-20-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.00 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 9.26 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.63 gal (Ended up with right at 7 gallons)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.050</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.047</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 10.8 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> 30.0 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 70.00%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 74.4 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 75 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">69.6% Pilsen Malt (Avangard Malz)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">23.9% Red Wheat (Briess)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6.5% Raw Wheat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">17.1 IBUs of EKG @ 60 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.5 IBUs of Amarillo @ 20 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.4 IBUs of Pacifa @ 10 min</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.omegayeast.com/portfolio/c2c-american-farmhouse/">Omega Yeast Labs C2C American Farmhouse</a></span><br />
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I added about a half pound of rice hulls to my mash just to help with the lautering of such a high percentage of wheat malt. I definitely think this is a good idea even with my false bottom. I've had some issues before at lower percentages so it definitely won't hurt. I mashed for just over 60 minutes at 149F for this batch. I did not do a mash out. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HalYP5Gs1Z4/VvMdayrI7gI/AAAAAAAABQU/SbPuXTGzCYkjJJQUnJ8UsyhNx8e1riYWQ/s1600/DSC00352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HalYP5Gs1Z4/VvMdayrI7gI/AAAAAAAABQU/SbPuXTGzCYkjJJQUnJ8UsyhNx8e1riYWQ/s400/DSC00352.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rice hulls are a must.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I designed this beer to really play up the wheat in the Saison and give a great mouthfeel and just feel more delicate than other beers. Going forward I may dial it back to a smaller beer but we will see. I definitely have some ideas for blends with this beer. I recently acquired a couple sanke kegs to use for blending and bottling as well as fermentation of larger batches. I have a big idea in my head of pulling some Saison from the solera barrel and blending with different Batches of Kathleen and Fluffy to create different beers. This will also lead to blending on different fruits I'm sure. Lots of projects for the future!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wOXDnaSBzRA/VvMdcYgqLOI/AAAAAAAABQY/CwEEpoJNjBYDYz5nBxzUhN5SPpkYm-1SA/s1600/DSC00356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wOXDnaSBzRA/VvMdcYgqLOI/AAAAAAAABQY/CwEEpoJNjBYDYz5nBxzUhN5SPpkYm-1SA/s400/DSC00356.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It grows! Hot break like crazy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After the boil I ran the wort through the chiller into the other new Speidel fermentor and pitched the starter of the C2C. The next morning I decided to pull it out of the fermentation freezer and just let it sit ambient in my dining room. It was very active by that afternoon. I haven't decided whether or not I'll dry hop this. I'll have time to think in the 6-8 weeks it sits.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0XYS2Sy-3g/VvMdcqkBmYI/AAAAAAAABQo/BeUM0uIVRV0A8wYv91sO5l-DeP_-yBkYA/s1600/DSC00357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0XYS2Sy-3g/VvMdcqkBmYI/AAAAAAAABQo/BeUM0uIVRV0A8wYv91sO5l-DeP_-yBkYA/s400/DSC00357.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hop additions: EKG @ 60, Amarillo @ 20, Pacifica @ 10</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm still coming up short on my efficiency with this new brew system. The last few brews I've dialed back the boil to be less vigorous and as a result, I'm not hitting the target volume or the starting gravity. I could have boiled longer on all of those brews but then I would have skewed the hops and IBUs to maybe a more bitter beer than I'm looking for. I may also adjust my batch size to 6.5 gallons. With the heat exchanger and hoses, there is significant loss off wort. So if I were to up my batch size, I would make up for that. All of this is part of dialing in my system. It's much more complicated than the pot and cooler system I was used to. In the mean time I have some pretty good brews to drink while I get everything figured out!</span><br />
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Edit: In playing with the equipment profiles in Beersmith, I think that is my biggest issue. I changed the parameters to match more of what my system does instead of using one of the standards and in doing that, my efficiency went up to around 77%. So that's what I really need to do. I've adjusted the boil off rate so that now I can dial back the boil and maybe be closer to my numbers without having to boil off up to 3 gallons at a time. New recipes will reflect this going forward.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBLmJxXT6hA/VvMdqrm0T-I/AAAAAAAABQg/eS3xZq6K9moAzsw_-HakA1wYuXq5vrU_A/s1600/DSC00358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBLmJxXT6hA/VvMdqrm0T-I/AAAAAAAABQg/eS3xZq6K9moAzsw_-HakA1wYuXq5vrU_A/s400/DSC00358.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always take good notes while brewing. It also helps to drink a good beer<br />
when possible.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Nothing too noteworthy in this post and nothing out of the ordinary. Just wanted to brew with this blend and brew a beer I've been wanting to for a while. I'll have some tasting notes on the, somewhat new, blend soon!!<br />
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Good things!<br />
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Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mdbc_saison/">mdbc_saison</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-34883776019287247062016-03-15T15:03:00.000-05:002016-09-16T09:23:47.626-05:00Beware the Ides of MarchAs my brewing has progressed over the years, I've gone through different cycles. I've long been on the brew different recipes every time train. While that is fun, I'm now moving towards perfecting and recreating beers each time I brew them. One thing I have always loved is the seasonality of farmhouse brewing. This means two different things for me. Using seasonal ingredients in the beer and brewing beers around the same time each year. I've already done this with a dark Saison and I plan on doing it with many more. This time with a Bière de Mars I'm calling Perenna.<br />
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Since I was young I've always been enamored with Greek and Roman mythology. They have such wonderful stories. Anna Perenna is the Roman Goddess of long life, renewal, health, and plenty. Searching on the internet I learned her two names both make reference to the year: <i>anna</i> means "to live through a year", while <i>perenna</i> means "last many years" (still seen in the English words <i>annual</i> and <i>perennial</i>". She is often described as both young and old depending on what story you read about her. She had her own festival that took place on the Ides of March, the 15th, or the midpoint of the month. In the Roman calendar, March was the first month of the year. Festivals were held, people camped out, brought food and drink, and what was even more awesome about it was that even the common folk were involved. It was a great way to start the year.<br />
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In the same light, I plan to brew this beer every year to be ready around the Ides of March. Biere de Mars translates to "beer of March" or "March beer". With this first brew, I plan to ferment in primary with White Labs WLP072 and then put it in cold storage for 6-8 weeks. After that period I will add a mixed culture of LAB and brettanomyces. With this first brew, I'll be creating the mature beer to use in the Bière de Coupage process next spring. I'll brew the same beer (or similar) and use the mature portion to cut the fresh and package. I'll then add the remainder of the fresh into the mature and have a solera of sorts for my Bière de Mars. Each year I can repeat the process and use some of the beer from previous years. This is my idea at least, hopefully I will be able to create something nice out of it. The goal is to have a beer that is a more complex Bière de Garde. I'm hoping the malt flavors will remain even after all the microbes have done their job. If not, I'll extend my boil each time to see how that effects the overall flavors. The fresh portion will refresh the old beer and it will be fun to see what comes of them. I'll brew the fresh one around January and after the cold storage I'll be able to blend and dry hop before packaging. I may or may not make minor tweaks to the recipe each time. We will see when I get there.<br />
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Read more on a detailed solera project here at the <a href="http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/p/solers-project.html">Ales of Riverwards</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Perenna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 3-13-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.00 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 11.36 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.63 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.054</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Actual OG:</b> 1.050 (post boil volume was much closer to 7.5 gal, still working on the system)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 5.1 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> 19.2 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 72.00%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 76.5 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 135 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">81.6% Pilsen Malt (Avangard Malz)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">14.3% Golden Naked Oats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.1% Dark Wheat Malt (Weyermann)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">18.1 IBUs of Bramling Cross (or whatever I have on hand at the time) @ 60 min</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">White Labs WLP072 French Ale for Primary</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I mashed the grains for 60 minutes at 150F and then raised the mash to 168F for a mash out of 10 minutes. Very smooth on the mash and the lauter so nothing much to report here. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQZc8wL6rXA/VubgWsW-X1I/AAAAAAAABPo/b1JqqnaVrj4UKD4UFx5OSh8_WSfWjlXtg/s1600/DSC00336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQZc8wL6rXA/VubgWsW-X1I/AAAAAAAABPo/b1JqqnaVrj4UKD4UFx5OSh8_WSfWjlXtg/s400/DSC00336.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sparge arm recirculating the mash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJdxjU0S9aA/VubgXSzKwmI/AAAAAAAABPo/04pVFGyKEAA96t4RZ9zEAEF6C7wCC9J2w/s1600/DSC00337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJdxjU0S9aA/VubgXSzKwmI/AAAAAAAABPo/04pVFGyKEAA96t4RZ9zEAEF6C7wCC9J2w/s400/DSC00337.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Single tier system in action</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boil was a longer boil than I have done previously. I bumped it up to 2 hours and 15 minutes. I liked the color change over the boil. There have been talks as to whether or not the long boil effects the color. I am in the camp that it does. Others believe that it is simply the concentration of the sugars by driving off the liquid that changes the wort and makes it darker. Having brewed a few Bière de Gardes and seeing how the flavors of a longer boil change, I still believe that it is the caramelizing of the sugars that is giving the darker color. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fq7PPkMizjQ/VubgXKfkelI/AAAAAAAABPo/_ZSfW9zmbS0t6BSTb-53ZrXB3eHCVZSeg/s1600/DSC00340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fq7PPkMizjQ/VubgXKfkelI/AAAAAAAABPo/_ZSfW9zmbS0t6BSTb-53ZrXB3eHCVZSeg/s400/DSC00340.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming to a boil at the full volume. Lots of wort to boil off!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Recently I acquired 2 new 30L Speidel fermentors. I was going to go with some SS Brewtech Brew Buckets, and I still may, but these were priced right and I had been eyeing them before. There have been a few folks recommending them to me so I thought I'd give them a try.<br />
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From one of my saved vials, I made a 1200mL starter a few days earlier and it was in the fridge over night. I decanted the beer from the top and pitched the entire starter into the Speidel. I'll harvest the yeast cake from this brew as it was very clean going in. If it doesn't look promising, I'll be moving to a different yeast going forward for my BdG brews. I still want to try WLP029. I set the fermentation freezer to 66F and placed the Speidel in.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yso478uVlWY/VubgcYaqHmI/AAAAAAAABPk/oYxgJGJtLSg6xqa9ZlLgb-ZPbcExj22FA/s1600/DSC00343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yso478uVlWY/VubgcYaqHmI/AAAAAAAABPk/oYxgJGJtLSg6xqa9ZlLgb-ZPbcExj22FA/s400/DSC00343.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There she rests in my one of my new Speidel fermentors.<br />
Excited about using these!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I'm really looking forward to brewing beers like this multiple times and blending different generations of them. I'm still not positive on what I want to add into the secondary for this beer. I do have a couple vials of mixed cultures I need to use soon. It could be <a href="http://www.theyeastbay.com/wild-yeast-and-bacteria-products/melange">The Yeast Bay Melange</a> or I may prop up the <a href="http://bootlegbiology.com/product/sour-solera-blend/">Sour Solera from Bootleg Biology</a>. That would be a fun aspect for this beer. I won't be using the Speidel for the solera. Just a Better Bottle that I can use their trap airlock on to keep from having to remember to keep the airlock topped up.<br />
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I'll post back with the updates as this project moves along.<br />
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Updates:<br />
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3-14-16: Checked at 5:45PM and fermentation was steady. <br />
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3-30-16: Fermentation seems to have finished. Will transfer and add the secondary microbes soon. thinking about using some of Tired Hands Emptiness culture that I received from Daniel Rohm of <a href="http://insearchofsaison.tumblr.com/">In Search of Saison</a>.<br />
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5-15-16: Removed the beer from cold storage and transferred to secondary. I build up a starter of White Labs Pedio, Fall Sour Solera from Bootleg Biology, and Funk Weapon #1 from Bootleg Biology. I pitched that into secondary with the beer. I may add more microbes as this goes a long. <br />
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9-16-16: Aroma is funk town with great fruit notes and good levels of acidity. Should be brewing the fresh batch at the end of this year or beginning of next to blend and be ready for packaging. <br />
<br />
Good things!<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mdbc_saison/">mdbc_saison</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-69576506879342825252016-02-29T17:30:00.000-06:002016-07-06T14:22:20.220-05:00Supple Citrus - A Citrus Saison Brew DayI love a Saison that has a citrus quality to it. Some of the popular yeast strains used to ferment them can give the citrus qualities but using actual citrus in the beer is something I've liked to do for a while now. Each year I brew a beer I call Supple Citrus and I've used a different citrus fruit each time. So far I've used Minneola, Satsuma, and Tangelo Oranges. This beer was mostly inspired by <a href="http://www.crookedstave.com/2013/04/25/st-bretta-brew-day/">Crooked Stave's St. Bretta</a> beers. Each season they release the beer with a different citrus fruit. Some of my favorite ones released have been the ones with Blood Oranges. I've always been unlucky finding Blood Oranges around here but this year I was fortunate enough to find some beautiful fresh organic ones. I saw them and decided it was time to brew this beer.<br />
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Another inspiration for this beer is <a href="http://jesterkingbrewery.com/introducing-jester-king-provenance">Jester King's Provenance</a> series. I'll admit, I'm inspired by a ton of their beers. Between them and Tired Hands, there is a ton to be inspired by. But the Provenance beers are along the same lines of St. Bretta. The use citrus zest and juice to compliment the beers and make something unique. I also find it interesting that they use the fruit juice in primary instead of adding it to secondary. Here is their quote:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We don’t add fruit (or fruit flavorings or concentrates for
that matter) to filtered and pasteurized beer at packaging time to make what
amounts to a beer cooler. Rather, we incorporate the fruit into the
fermentation, so that wild yeast and souring bacteria can transform the fruit
flavors into something that’s greater than the sum of the parts. For instance,
think about the difference between grape juice and wine. Why are the two so
different from one another? It’s because the grape juice has been fermented by
living microorganisms. We apply the same principle to the use of fruit in our
beer."</blockquote>
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That's very interesting compared to what a lot of others do. I've been doing this with my beers each year and loving the results. You get the qualities of the fruit juice without the sweetness and you get other subtle flavors and aromas from the fermentation of the fruit juice you otherwise may not get. It all depends on what you are looking for. I know many others that will add zest and juice after primary and like their results with that process. I do like the idea of "dry zesting." I may have to try that in the future.<br />
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Edit: The same night I put this post up, Jester King released another blog post with some of the homebrew recipes for their beers. You can find them <a href="http://jesterkingbrewery.com/jester-king-homebrew-recipes-part-ii">here</a>. I was pretty close to their recipe without even knowing!<br />
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I'm also using something Shaun Hill developed with citrus called International Citrus Units. He discusses this with Brandon Jones on his blog, Embrace the Funk, <a href="http://embracethefunk.com/2012/05/14/icu-measurements-advice-from-hill-farmstead/">here</a>. Using this formula of 1000mg of zest per 1L of liquid, I'm targeting 500 International Citrus Units, or ICUs, for my 6 gallon batch. With the amount of wort after the boil being just over 6.5 gallons, I figured I'd be somewhere in that ball park. Check out the article, really interesting stuff. Michael Thorpe of Spontaneous Funk also has a great write up for his beer Demeter Auran using this technique. Click <a href="http://spontaneousfunk.blogspot.com/2013/01/demeter-auran-recipe.html">here</a> for that link.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4jR9jP6pXA/VtRqHCwXPPI/AAAAAAAABPE/Hw2fN5G9kx4/s1600/DSC00313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w4jR9jP6pXA/VtRqHCwXPPI/AAAAAAAABPE/Hw2fN5G9kx4/s400/DSC00313.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If I wasn't careful, I would have eaten every one of these instead of putting<br />
them in the beer. They were magnificent.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I call this beer Supple Citrus. The definition of supple is bending and moving easily and gracefully: flexible. When used as a verb it means to make more flexible. I gave this beer that name as I am always flexible as to what citrus fruit I use in it. I also find this beer to be graceful and delicate in the end product. A beer that is meant to be drank in volumes or one that can be shared with others.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Supple Citrus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 2-28-16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.00 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 9.78 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.63 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.045</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 2.4 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> 20.0 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated ICU:</b> 500 ICUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 70.00%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 74.4 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 90 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">85% Pilsner Malt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">15% Red Wheat Malt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mash Profile:</b> 148F for 75 min, mash out @ 168F for 10 min, fly sparge with 170F water to reach boil volume of 9.78 gallons</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10.7 IBUs of Aramis @ 60 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9.3 IBUs of Mandarina Bavaria @ 10 min</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp585-belgian-saison-iii-yeast">White Labs WLP585</a>, <a href="https://www.wyeastlab.com/Q3PC2015.cfm">Wyeast 3726</a>, <a href="https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp648-brettanomyces-bruxellensis-trois-vrai">White Labs WLP648</a>, <a href="http://www.omegayeast.com/portfolio/lactobacillus-blend/">Omega OYL-605</a>, <a href="http://www.gigayeast.com/fast-souring-lacto">GigaYeast GB110</a>, <a href="http://www.eastcoastyeast.com/wild-stuff.html">East Coast Yeast ECY04</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">240mL blood orange juice and 12.5g of blood orange zest added during whirlpool</span><br />
<br />
<br />
As you can see I used a great many microbes to carry out fermentation on this beer. The 585 and 3726 were fresh off of starters and I expect them to take care of the bulk of fermentation. I pitched two vials of WLP648 Brettanomyces Trois Vrai, one bag Omega Lacto Blend, one bag GigaYeast Fast Souring Lacto, and half a vial of East Coast Yeast ECY04 Brettanomyces Anomala with them. The latter vials and packs had all been expired mostly but only by a little bit. Sort of a fridge cleaning beer in that aspect I guess you could say. They may or may not have much effect on the beer. But maybe the brettanomyces strains are still viable. If the LAB have any live cells still, they may give a little tartness to the beer over time. If they don't, that will be fine too. I thought I'd rather dump them in the beer than dump them down the drain.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ge_S5jqkdTE/VtRqHOcLCpI/AAAAAAAABOw/gLctpDdD8GQ/s1600/DSC00319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ge_S5jqkdTE/VtRqHOcLCpI/AAAAAAAABOw/gLctpDdD8GQ/s400/DSC00319.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not pictured are 3726 and ECY-04</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The malt bill is very simple and strait forward. I wanted to use Pilsner and wheat malt to give the beer the needed qualities while letting the yeast, citrus, and hops shine. For the hops, I chose to use Aramis to bitter and Mandarina Bavaria for flavor/aroma. Both of the hops have a nice citrus quality and Mandarina Bavaria is very orange forward. It smelled amazing when I opened the bag.<br />
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The entire brew day was very smooth. I even started a loaf of homemade sourdough bread while brewing this one. My efficiency is creeping back up as well. My target was 1.045 but I ended up with a starting gravity of 1.050. I'm sure a little bump came from the juice but I'm seeing better efficiency with each brew now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JvlolMwES_E/VtRqImtb7mI/AAAAAAAABPE/ei2BMyHBmDY/s1600/DSC00328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JvlolMwES_E/VtRqImtb7mI/AAAAAAAABPE/ei2BMyHBmDY/s400/DSC00328.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm very excited with out the brew day went and the wort turned out. Really great flavors that I think will be great fresh and will evolve a good bit over time in the bottle. I'll keep everyone posted as it goes along.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOytoLpsQaw/VtRqIzg0wII/AAAAAAAABPE/anjKvMm5GMA/s1600/DSC00329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOytoLpsQaw/VtRqIzg0wII/AAAAAAAABPE/anjKvMm5GMA/s400/DSC00329.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Semi open fermentation as I'll just let the tin foil sit on the top for the first few days.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Updates:<br />
<br />
2-29-16: Bubbling away at 6:15AM. I opened the chest freezer and citrus aromas filled the room! Temp set at 68F.<br />
<br />
3-2-16: Set temp controller to 72F but allowed it to free rise to this temp and be held here for fermentation to finish.<br />
<br />
3-13-16: Gravity is 1.004. Moved to room temperature to clean up and let the brett strains work.<br />
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6-19-16: Gravity is 1.000. Lots of citrus and pepper notes. I may blend with a touch of sour beer and add some citrus puree. I've seen <a href="http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/827346.htm">this</a> recently and it sounds wonderful. <br />
<br />
Cheers!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mdbc_saison/">mdbc_saison</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-33784026690779148982016-02-18T18:30:00.000-06:002016-03-08T10:05:23.718-06:00Tasting Notes of Kathleen Round 2!I'm finally getting around to posting the tasting notes of the latest batch of Kathleen. I've been very excited with how this beer turned out. The brewing notes and recipe can be found <a href="http://thefarmhouseobsession.blogspot.com/2015/11/kathleen-saison-four-grain-saison-round.html">here</a>. I bottled a portion of this beer clean just how it fermented out. I also blended four gallons of it with a mature eighteen month old "lambic style" pale sour.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Fresh Unblended portion:</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Stats</u>:</b></span><br />
ABV: 6.1%<br />
SG: 1.048 or 11.91°P<br />
FG: 1.002 or 0.51°P<br />
Apparent Attenuation: 96%<br />
Actual Attenuation: 78%<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Apx_Uz66vp8/VsdgO6b2w5I/AAAAAAAABOc/aqcHmicECM8/s1600/DSC00299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Apx_Uz66vp8/VsdgO6b2w5I/AAAAAAAABOc/aqcHmicECM8/s400/DSC00299.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Straw yellow and slightly hazy. Solid white head full of very small bubbles. Pretty good head retention as I drank through the glass. Average lacing as well.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Light hay, a bit of grain, hint of green grass and a touch of citrus. Slight herbal, or medicinal aroma but nothing overpowering but just there at a lower level.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Pilsner grain, soft lemony tartness, green grass, and a touch of pear. The pear is like really unripened pear or other green fruits. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium to medium full mouthfeel. Good carbonation that cleans the palate. Really dry with a sort of slickness to it. Reminds me of 3711 in a way. </span><br />
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<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">: </span>Very drinkable beer with a lot of great notes. I would like a little more hop presence but overall, I really enjoy this beer. I think with 3726 or 565 it will really shine. ECY-08 is a great yeast but I think I prefer the flavor profiles of the others more. The yeast blend really reminds me of 3711. It is very good but the fact that it is hard to get regularly and that I prefer my other strains means I probably won't spring for it again. I am glad I was able to finally get a vial to try out. I have ECY-14 that I will look forward to using as well. I'll keep the 08 around for some other potential projects.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Bière de Coupage portion:</u></b></span><br />
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The blended portion came in just under 6% around 5.88% ABV. It consisted of 4 gallons of fresh Saison and 1 gallon of mature sour blonde. The sour blonde was 16 months old and had a grist of 60/40 Pilsner and white wheat. Fermented with Wyeast Lambic blend and a plethora of bottle dregs from that brew day.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WHEX73K0kio/VsdgOAwhefI/AAAAAAAABOY/NEsJdFMQxuY/s1600/DSC00307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WHEX73K0kio/VsdgOAwhefI/AAAAAAAABOY/NEsJdFMQxuY/s400/DSC00307.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought the light was better when I took these pics. Apparently I was wrong.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Appearance</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Light golden in color with a pure white head that starts strong and fades to a cap as you drink. Surprisingly clearer than the unblended portion. Decent lacing but both head retention and lacing could be better.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Aroma</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Green grass, hint of tropical fruit like pineapple, dry hay, touch of pepper, and a light lemony tartness.<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Flavor</u>:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Earthy and a bit of pepper spice are the first noticeable things. Then a bit of citrus flavor and slight tartness again like a lemony flavor. Pear and more tropical fruit notes than in the nose or the unblended portion. Pineapple and maybe a bit of other tropical fruits. Very slight hint of funk but more earthy than anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>Mouthfeel</u>:</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Medium mouthfeel. Slightly less full than the unblended portion. The slickness is not as apparent though. Carbonation is nice and lively.</span><br />
<br />
<u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Overall</u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">:</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;"> </span>I'm very happy with how this blend turned out. I think the base beer is great alone but the blending of the mature beer adds a brightness to it with the hint of acidity and also added in an earthiness that wasn't as prevalent in the unblended part. Fruity tones seem to be amplified as well. I'm curious as to how this will age so I'll keep a few bottles back and see where it is down the road. <br />
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The base recipe for Kathleen has gone through many changes. Before I even gave it a name, I had brewed this beer with varying portions of specialty grains and even different base grains. I know now that I want to always stick with Pilsner for the base grain. The notes here confirm that I am happy with that for a base. The pale ale base malt left way too much residual sugars and sweet flavors even when the beer was very dry and well attenuated. I'm also fairly happy with the specialty grains as well. Using either rye or spelt around 10% mark adds very nice mouthfeel when paired with the flaked oats. The torrified or raw wheat also adds body and a decent amount of head retention. The specialty grains allow the beer to not feel overly thin or watery since apparent attenuation usually reaches high 90s.<br />
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A few changes I would like to make to the base is to increase the bitterness and hop presence. Both the unblended and the blended portions lacked a bitterness I would like to have. The hop aromas are there but could stand to be a little more apparent. I have altered the hop bill to reflect this and will be brewing it again with these changes.<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A bit on Bière de Coupage:</span></u></b><br />
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The blending or "cutting" of fresh, hoppy beer with a portion of mature aged beer is a process called Bière de Coupage. There are a few breweries that practice this technique. It adds a layer of complexity and the blend can often bring out qualities of each beer you didn't notice before. It will also alter the evolution of the beer in the bottle. You can start out with a fresh, hoppy, bitter beer that has a hint of tartness in the background. Over time the beer will go through stages of change. The hop presence will fade, bitterness will soften, sourness can increase, and a character of funk from brettanomyces (if it's used in the blend) will begin to come forward. It is a very fun process to watch the beer go through.<br />
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After Garrett Crowell and Adrienne Ballou were on the Sour Hour, I shot an email over to them as I was not able to ask my question about their Bière de Coupage process while the show was on air. Garrett was very helpful and gave me a look into their process. You can find what Garrett said on the <a href="http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Jester_King">Jester King page</a> in the Milk the Funk wiki. Very interesting stuff!<br />
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Amos Browne of Browne and Bitter has also done an article on blending beer and highlights a bit of Bière de Coupage in his posts <a href="http://www.browneandbitter.com/search/label/Coupage">here</a>. Amos, Michael Thorpe of <a href="http://spontaneousfunk.blogspot.com/">Spontaneous Funk</a>, and Ed Coffey of <a href="http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/">Ales of the Riverwards</a> all have some great posts and information on blending beers. Some of them are fresh beer blended with mature beer and others are on blending different ages of sour beers together clean as well as with different fruits. Check them out!<br />
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Cheers!<br />
<br />
<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
<a href="http://www.mason-dixonbrewcrew.com/">MDBC</a><br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mdbc_saison/">mdbc_saison</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969638275790828780.post-32484771460766136932016-02-10T17:30:00.000-06:002016-06-28T14:35:23.198-05:00Farmer In the Rye Brew Day!I've been a long time reader of Ed Coffey's blog, <a href="http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/">Ales of the Riverwards</a>. We often talk on FB of brewing as well as other topics like bread making and even the Tottenham Hotspurs. One of the posts he made back in 2014 was about his Saison, Farmer In the Rye. I loved the name and I also loved the look of the recipe. You can check out his posts on the brew <a href="http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/2013/06/the-farmer-in-rye-saison.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/2014/04/the-yeast-bay-wallonian-farmhouse-strain.html">here</a>. The first of those advanced to the second round of NHC in 2013. Amos Browne from <a href="http://www.browneandbitter.com/">Browne and Bitter</a> also won gold in two local Chicago competitions with the recipe. His notes can be found <a href="http://www.browneandbitter.com/2014/11/tasting-notes-farmer-in-rye-w-wallonian.html">here</a>. So it definitely seems like it would be a great recipe! I've decided to try my hand at it. I'll more than likely brew it a couple times close to each other so that I can have a batch clean and use a batch to Coupage with my older mature beer.<br />
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Although the recipe is listed on Ed's blog, I'll give a run down of what I'm brewing here.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Recipe:</b> Farmer In the Rye</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewer:</b> Gus - Coffey Recipe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch:</b> 8</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Date:</b> 2/7/16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Batch Size:</b> 6.00 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Size:</b> 9.25 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post Boil Volume:</b> 6.63 gal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated OG:</b> 1.052</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated Color:</b> 3.4 SRM</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated IBU:</b> 30.8 IBUs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Brewhouse Efficiency: </b> 70.00%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Est Mash Efficiency:</b> 74.8 %</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Boil Time:</b> 75 Minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fermentables:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">75.5% Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">15.5% Rye Malt (Briess)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3.8% Dark Munich (BestMalz)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5.7% Table Sugar - Added in last 5 minutes of boil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hops:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">19.7 IBUs of Magnum (or whatever I have on hand now) @ 75 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7.3 IBUs of EKG @ 30 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.9 IBUs of Saaz @ 5 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1.9 IBUs of EKG @ 5 min</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Yeast:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I'm going to start posting recipes like this so that that will be easier to scale to whatever size that anyone would like to brew them. Showing the percentages will make it easier than whatever amount I use.)</span><br />
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I'm using his recipe that Ed fermented with The Yeast Bay's <a href="http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/wallonian-farmhouse">Wallonian Farmhouse</a> strain and using my favorite strain, Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale. I don't have a fresh vial of Wallonian handy but I always have 3726 around. I may order some Wallonian to try again in some other projects.<br />
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Here is the description of 3726 from Wyeast:<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">3726-PC Farmhouse Ale </b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">Beer Styles:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.9333px;"> Saison, Biere de Garde, Belgian Blonde Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, Belgian Golden Strong Ale</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">Profile:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.9333px;"> This strain produces complex esters balanced with earthy/spicy notes. Slightly tart and dry with a peppery finish. A perfect strain for farmhouse ales and saisons.</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">Alcohol Tolerance</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.9333px;"> 12% ABV</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">Flocculation</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.9333px;"> medium</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">Attenuation</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.9333px;"> 74-79%</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 14.9333px;">Temp. Range</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.9333px;"> 70-84°F (21-29°C)</span><br />
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<br />
I loved Ed's recipe because it really goes along the lines of what I like in a Saison recipe, simplicity. There is the Rye character malt and a bit of Munich but it really is left simple and there for the yeast to shine and the hops to balance it all out. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--zKE-x0cXXM/Vr3sCmZVmXI/AAAAAAAABN0/p58O618_coM/s1600/DSC00288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--zKE-x0cXXM/Vr3sCmZVmXI/AAAAAAAABN0/p58O618_coM/s400/DSC00288.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Went a little finer with the mill and my efficiency was much better!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I mashed in and hit 148F right on the money. You'll notice in Ed's post he has 90 minutes listed as the mash time. After talking with him, he did say that he mashes for 60 minutes. I ended up somewhere around 75 minutes and a pre-boil gravity of 1.038. The longer mash probably wouldn't do much but the main reason I went longer was that I had this happen.....<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b-ASKbYimSY/Vr3sMUx84LI/AAAAAAAABOA/oGxU5dF1IFM/s1600/DSC00295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b-ASKbYimSY/Vr3sMUx84LI/AAAAAAAABOA/oGxU5dF1IFM/s400/DSC00295.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This actually started a bit earlier in the day. But the water department took a<br />
a couple hours to get there. What started as a trickle became a river in my<br />
side yard. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The day before brewing the water company had been out there because one of my neighbors noticed a small leak. Well throughout the brew day, it became the rushing river you see above. I knew that the water would be shut off so I tried to get through the brew day as fast as possible. I collected the wort in the kettle and set off on the boil.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-889REdSKsQk/Vr3sJEVDxhI/AAAAAAAABN8/U2ZNGEorgiU/s1600/DSC00293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-889REdSKsQk/Vr3sJEVDxhI/AAAAAAAABN8/U2ZNGEorgiU/s320/DSC00293.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">got to love stainless shots!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DijDGKpb4yA/Vr3sCFkJTTI/AAAAAAAABOE/PXIsC1293pE/s1600/DSC00289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DijDGKpb4yA/Vr3sCFkJTTI/AAAAAAAABOE/PXIsC1293pE/s320/DSC00289.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hop additions at the ready!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But, of course, the water was shut off just as I finished up the 75 min boil. With no water to run through my plate chiller, I had no way of cooling the beer. I recirculated for 20-30 minutes to get the wort as cool as I could and then pumped it into the FastFerment.<br />
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I've never done "no chill" brewing but when you don't have another option, experimentation can be used. I made sure my fermenter was very sanitized and I sealed the lid as soon as I had it filled. The next morning the temperature was around 78F. I then pitched the starter of 3726 I had decanted over night. Hopefully, my process was very sanitary and the healthy pitch of yeast should get to work quickly on the wort. You can read further on no chill brewing <a href="http://brulosophy.com/2015/02/09/a-year-of-no-chill-lessons-from-a-secret-xbmt/">here</a> and <a href="https://beerandbrewing.com/VZww_CYAAMwAdK5S/article/no-chill-brewing">here</a>. It's definitely a successful option for those who can't chill their beer or if you have a problem like I did on this brew day.<br />
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My starting gravity was a little lower than the target at 1.050. I believe I was a little short as I had more left in the kettle after the boil than my target post boil volume. I'm still dialing in my system so I'll get the kinks worked out. I have been adjusting the boil intensity lately and I may not have boiled as rigorous as I should have. I'm not overly concerned as I'll still have more beer to drink! <br />
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Sometimes uncontrollable events take place that will throw a wrench in your process. You just have to trudge through it. Dumping the batch wasn't what I wanted to do. I thought about leaving it open overnight to experiment with some spontaneous microbes but the temperature was a little too high (mid to high 50s) and I didn't want to chance that. <br />
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Aside from the water line bursting, it was a very easy brew day. I really like this recipe and hopefully my brew will turn out well. I already have plans to brew this again. Maybe I'll give the Wallonian strain a shot at it or go with some 565 to see if there is any variance. I'll have updates posted below and tasting notes here when I get to them!<br />
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Updates:<br />
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2-8-16: By 5:30PM full krausen was formed and it was bubbling away around 68F. I moved my small ceramic heater to get ready to increase the temperature to 75-78F where I like 3726 to move to when fermentation is well under way.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GhDD5lJq-S4/Vr3sIkJxqMI/AAAAAAAABOM/_wJvMkD18pU/s1600/DSC00297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GhDD5lJq-S4/Vr3sIkJxqMI/AAAAAAAABOM/_wJvMkD18pU/s400/DSC00297.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I kept the lid cracked for first couple days. Psuedo-open fermentation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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2-9-16: Turned on the heater as it was sitting at 72F that morning. By 5PM the temp was sitting at 76F.<br />
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2-10-16: Temp sitting at 78-80F and fermenting very strong. Smells amazing!<br />
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2-11-16: Temp sitting at 82F and the action is slowing a bit. By Friday or Saturday of this week I'm sure fermentation will be completed.<br />
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2-20-16: No visible activity. Yeast has all but fallen out of suspension. Will take gravity sample and determine if ready for bottles.<br />
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Tasting notes can be found <a href="http://www.thefarmhouseobsession.com/2016/04/farmer-in-rye-tasting-notes.html">here</a>!<br />
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Cheers!<br />
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<br />
Andrew "Gus" Addkison<br />
<a href="mailto:gusaddkison@gmail.com">gusaddkison@gmail.com</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/aaddkison">@aaddkison</a> on Twitter<br />
on UnTappd:<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://untappd.com/user/Gus_13">Gus_13</a></span><br />
on Instagram:<br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mdbc_saison/">mdbc_saison</a>Gushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16858341282700870471noreply@blogger.com1