Hop Juice - Northeast IPA Recipe

Inspired by my research into hop glycosides and yeast biotransformation for the July/August issue of Brew Your Own (subscribe here), I brewed an American IPA that showed off yeast-hop interaction. I love the aroma of raw right-from-the-bag hops, but I prefer a base of softer less-green/grassy aromatics. The science is a bit dry, but some yeast strains have the ability to free aromatics and convert certain compounds into more interestingly aromatic ones. From a sensory perspective, the result is a weaker aroma ounce for ounce of hops (requiring a higher hopping rate), but much juicier perception.

The North East has really been killing hoppy beers the last few years. Alchemist and Hill Farmstead started the trend, but newer breweries brewing wonderfully hoppy things include: Trillium, Tree House, Tired Hands, Other Half, and Fiddlehead. What unites them is a bit more yeast character than indistinct Cal/American ale, a wonderfully juicy/fruity/saturated aroma, soft mouthfeel, balanced bitterness, and less than spectacular clarity. A big change from what East Coast IPA meant five years ago: a malty IPA somewhere between American and English IPA.

For yeast, I selected Wyeast 1318 London III (alleged to be from Boddington’s). Not exactly the first strain you’d think of for an American IPA, but my friend Sean had good luck with it and it has been rumored to be the house strain at a hop-specialist brewery. If you are fermenting with WY1318, make sure you use a blow-off; I had never had to worry about 5.5 gallons of mid-gravity beer in an 8 gallon fermentor before!

I included flaked corn (because I had it sitting around) and wheat in the mash. These two adjuncts work counter, with the corn diluting the protein content of the wort while the wheat increases it. I’d read (somewhere) that the proteins in wheat flour are especially foam-positive even compared to flaked wheat, so I wanted to give it a try. I mixed the flour into the milled grain to distribute it, but even at this relatively low amount (half a pound in 10 gallons) the lauter was slower than I’m accustomed to.

The end of the boil brought on big dose of hops (Galaxy and Simcoe), allowing them to steep in the hot wort before chilling. The more hops added to the beer on the hot-side, the more of their water-soluble compounds (like glycosides) the yeast will be able to interact with. I added the first dose of dry hops midway through fermentation, again to allow more yeast-hop interactions. As a side-note, always smell each bag of hops before adding them to the beer; I had to throw away an ounce of Galaxy while brewing and dry hopping because they smelled less than fresh compared to the other packets.

The second half of this batch (pulled before the bittering hops) is well on its way to being an apricot sour – but more about that next week!

Soft and Juicy IPA

Appearance – The draft pour is more hefeweizen or wit than IPA (even extra-hoppy IPA). Translucent peach, I can barely make out my fingers on the opposite side of the glass. Cloudy/hazy side of muddy, but just barely (and this is after a few weeks in the keg!). A few flecks of hop matter in suspension. Pillowy white head, with unremarkable retention.

Smell – Juicy hops, mission accomplished! The Simcoe in the keg provides some hints of resiny pine, but the overwhelming impression is that of freshly squeezed grapefruit and mango. Everything a hoppy beer ought to be: bright, fresh, and vibrant. As I reach the bottom of the glass, just a hint of fresh grain.

Taste – Revitalizing nectar! Juicy ripe citrus and stone fruit. The bitterness is restrained, but present. The finish is long and slightly resiny compared to the front/mid palate. No weird yeastiness, and no alcohol hotness.

Mouthfeel – It has that softness of some of my favorite IPAs. It isn’t sharp at all thanks to the yeast, wheat, and chloride. Could be slightly fuller, especially in the finish. No corn next time?

Drinkability & Notes – Not sure if it was the yeast or the wheat that turned this into one of my cloudier batches. Despite that, one of a string of excellent mid-gravity hoppy beers. I’m not sure why I ever brew DIPAs? I’ll be trying WY1318 again without the flour to see if it really is that un-flocculant.

Soft and Juicy IPA

Recipe Specifics
--------------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.25
Anticipated OG: 1.058
Anticipated SRM: 3.7
Anticipated IBU: 57.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain
------
81.6% - 10.00 lbs. Rahr 2-Row Brewers Malt
8.2% - 1.00 lbs. Flaked Corn (Maize)
6.1% - 0.75 lbs. Weyermann CaraFoam
2.0% - 0.25 lbs. Weyermann Acidulated Malt
2.0% - 0.25 lbs. King Arthur All Purpose Flour

Hops
------
1.38 oz. Magnum (Pellet, 11.50% AA) @ 60 min.
2.00 oz. Simcoe (Pellet, 14.00% AA) @ 0 min.
2.00 oz. Galaxy (Pellet, 12.00% AA) @ 0 min.
3.00 oz. Galaxy (Pellet, 12.00% AA) Dry Hop Primary
3.00 oz. Simcoe (Whole, 14.00% AA) Keg Hop

Extras
-------
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 8 min.
0.50 Whirlfloc @ 8 min.

Yeast
------
WYeast 1318 London Ale III

Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Washington, Hoppy

Mash Schedule
-----------------
Sacch Rest - 30 min @ 154F

Notes
-------
5/23/15 - 2 L stir-plate starter with a 3 month old Wyeast pack of 1318.

Brewed 5/24/15

Note: this recipe was actually double everything listed, half was run off after 30 minutes for souring.

Mash was 3 gallons of distilled, plus 4.25 filtered DC tap. 2 tsp of 10% phosphoric acid. 6 g each CaCl and Gypsum. Mash pH = 5.33 after 5 minutes of recirculation. 1 gallon of distilled added as a cold sparge. 120 PPM chloride and 140 PPM sulfate, including mash and sparge water.

Collected 6.5 gallons of 1.045 runnings. Boiled 30 minutes without hops. Topped off the boil with 3/4 gallon of filtered tap water.

Added flame-out hops. Whirpooled for 5 minutes, settled for 25. Down to 170F naturally. Thanks to warm-weather ground water only able to chill to 72F. Left at 62F to chill for five hours before pitching.

5/27/15 Added the 3 oz of Galaxy dry hops. Warmed to 66F to encourage fermentation to finish strong.

6/4/15 Kegged with 3 oz of whole Simcoe. Still very cloudy. Right into the fridge. FG 1.013.

Indië Wit (India White Ale) Recipe

There are flavors that just naturally work together. It’s no real challenge to add sour cherries to a sour brown, or coffee to a porter (although it can take skill to get these combinations to really sing). However, there are other combinations that take work to make even palatable. Belgian IPA falls into that category for me. Too often the phenolic yeast and citrusy American hops clash, or one gets in the way of the other. Too much bitterness with a really low FG or so much hop aroma the yeast is lost completely. There are examples that prove it is possible (e.g., Anchorage Galaxy IPA, Selkirk Infidel), but it has never been a "style" that I go out of my way to sample.

Rather than take an IPA recipe and swap out the American/English strain for an abbey, I started with a standard wit with WY3711 French Saison (which worked previously) and blasted it with late-boil and dry hopping. I went with a blend of hops (Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe) that I used previously in Simcoe & Sons Pale Ale, which was fermented with Conan. I allowed the wit to cool uncovered for about 40 minutes before adding the hop stand addition. The lower temperature is supposed to preserve some of the more volatile hop oils (and avoid additional IBUs), however I was underwhelmed with the hop character before dry hopping.

In addition to the character of the yeast, I counted on the subtle spicing with the classic duo of coriander and orange peel to bridge the gap from hops to yeast. Each contains compounds that are also derived from American hops (like citronellol and linalool). I prefer the Fruit Pebbles character of Indian coriander (as I’ve talked about previously), rather than the standard supermarket variety. Rather than fresh zest, I added sweet dried orange peel from Penzey’s in place of the pithy bitter Curaçao variety usually sold for brewing (and added to many classic Belgian wits).

I may have gone overboard with the mash acidification. As I refine my mini-cold-sparge process on my new brew house I’m struggling to figure out what mash pH to target. I add about 90% of my water at the start of the mash, so if I target ~5.2 pH as I would in a more conventional setup it requires much more acid (owing to the more dilute mash). The result is a noticeable acidity in this batch. It actually works well here thanks to the low bitterness and citrusy flavors, but would be a disaster in a pale lager or even an IPA.

Indië Wit Tasting

Appearance – One advantage of bottling beers that you intend to serve yeasty is that you can always roll to resuspend the correct amount of yeast. Stored cold in a keg and most strains drop out after a few weeks. When I went to take a photo for this batch yesterday there was less beer and more yeast in the keg than I realized before I rocked it; instead of a slightly milky haze, I got a glass full of trub… Take two is much prettier with 24 hours to settle. Could be whiter (if I’d used Pilsner malt), but the head is rocky and substantial.

Smell – Citrus and stone fruit. The hops, yeast, and spices play a three-part harmony. No sharp edges. The hops have mellowed a bit, allowing the “wit-iness” of the beer (doughy wheat and yeasty spice) to display a bit more prominently. When it was fresh the aroma was IPA-forward. Still fresh, but mellowed.

Taste – Bright. I wouldn’t even call it tart, but the acidity adds a quenching/refreshing quality that is near perfect on a 100F day like today. The American hops provide a mixture of apricot and grapefruit. Retro-olfactory is the most prominent spot for the coriander and orange peel. The French saison strain mostly stays out of the flavor, adding to the citrus and enhancing the general “Belgian” leaning balance. Bitterness is mild.

Mouthfeel – Medium bodied, the proteins from all that wheat add some heft as does the texture of the yeast. Firm carbonation, but it is not as spritzy as the style can be.

Drinkability & Notes – Wit is one of my favorite styles for augmentation because the base is mild without being too crisp or clean. Add this hoppy combination to the list of those that work. It is always a good sign that I’m surprised that a keg is about to run out (compared to the ones that end up feeling like I somehow squeezed 7 gallons into a 5 gallon Corny). Might have to brew another batch of wit before the summer is done!

Indië Wit Recipe

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.38
Anticipated OG: 1.050
Anticipated SRM: 3.6
Anticipated IBU: 18.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Grain
------
48.4% 5.50 lbs. Rahr Pale Malt
26.4% 3.00 lbs. Great Western Flaked Wheat
22.0% 2.50 lbs. Great Western Wheat Malt America
3.3% 0.38 lbs. Weyermann Acidulated Malt

Hops
------
0.44 oz. Magnum (Pellet, 11.80% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Citra (Pellet, 10.00% AA) @ Hop-stand
1.00 oz. Mosaic (Pellet, 10.00% AA) @ Hop-stand
1.00 oz. Simcoe (Pellet, 14.00% AA) @ Hop-stand
1.00 oz. Citra (Pellet, 10.00% AA) @ Dry Hop (Primary)
1.00 oz. Mosaic (Pellet, 10.00% AA) @ Dry Hop (Primary)
1.00 oz. Simcoe (Pellet, 14.00% AA) @ Dry Hop (Primary)

Extras
--------
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 min.
0.25 oz Indian Coriander @ 0 min.
6.50 gm Penzey's Orange Peel @ 0 min.

Yeast
------
WYeast 3711 French Saison

Water Profile
----------------
Profile: Washington, DC

Mash Schedule
-------------
Sacch Rest - 60 min @ 158 F

Notes
-------
Brewed 4/5/15

7 gallons of filtered DC water with 2.5 g of CaCl. .75 oz of Phosphoric acid. Measured pH 5.41.

1 gallon cold sparge with .25 oz of phosphoric acid. Collected 6.75 gallons of 1.044 runnings.

Let settle for 40 minutes with .25 oz each Penzey's Orange Peel and Indian coriander (coarse ground).

Added 1 oz each Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe to steep for 20 minutes.

Ran off 5.5 gallons @ 66F and pitched remains from a one gallon saison experiment. Left at 65F ambient to ferment.

4/9/15 Dry hopped with 1 oz each Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe. Allowed to warm to 70F to complete fermentation.

4/19/15 Kegged, force carbonation.

6/23/15 Tasting notes (above).

Anniversary Beer Pairing Dinner

For our second wedding anniversary, rather than take Audrey out for a fancy dinner, I cooked. I used the meal as an excuse to open up a few bottles that deserved a memorable occasion. The problem with special bottles is that the older they grow the more special they become until there is almost no occasion extraordinary enough to open them. When you finally do, they often are way past their prime.

First Course: Roasted/chilled lobster and baby kale salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette (lobster rolls are a shared favorite, but I wanted to start with something light).

Pairing: 2008 Boon Mariage Parfait (after our wedding we shared a bottle of the 2004 vintage that happened to have been bottled on Audrey's birthday, this one was brewed the year we met). The strong gueuze mirrored the brightness of the dressing without overwhelming the delicate lobster.



Second Course: Medjool dates filled with mascarpone and Greek yogurt, roasted with olive oil and coarse salt (one of the ~10 stand-outs from the tasting menu at Komi - Audrey's present to me for my birthday last year). I'd made them once before, but the key insight was chilling before roasting (recipe), next time I might freeze them completely and roast them longer.

Pairing: 2009 Pelican Stormwatcher's Winterfest - the last bottle remaining from our Portland trip in 2010. I hesitated to serve such a strong beer so early in the meal, but I needed something substantial to stand up to such a rich dish. Luckily the beer had held up well (Audrey isn't a fan of aged-out barleywines), and the maltiness worked well with the creamy dates.



Third Course: Dry-aged New York strip basted with garlic/thyme butter served with pan-fried potatoes (a riff on the meal we cooked after I proposed).

Pairing: 2012 Bruery Sour in the Rye (a bottle I purchased that day, along with our celebratory Bière de Champagne - and actual Champagne). The acidity cut through the fat of the steak and potatoes. The dry-aged steak had almost a Parmesan-nuttiness to it that worked well with the aged sour beer.



Fourth Course: Chambord-chocolate mousse with rum whipped cream and raspberries, dusted with our raspberry-chocolate wedding cake (I also made chocolate mousse for her on our first date). I vacuum-sealed the top of the cake in two halves, this one got a bit over-compressed...

Pairing: Raspberry-Rum Sour Brown (I bought raspberries in this batch the day I proposed). The beer isn't assertively sweet or sour, so it helped to balance the rich dessert. The assertive raspberry flavor played off the light raspberry in the mousse.



Glad the beers all held up well in the cellar and I didn't screw up any of the dishes! I guess it's time for me to start hoarding bottles to do this again in a few years.

Beer and Homebrewing in Brazil

As an American it can be easy to think of good beer as being exclusively brewed in Europe and former English colonies. You might think that every other country has a local generic ultra-pale lager, and not much else… That may have been almost-true 20 years ago, but not any more!

Ronaldo emailed me late last year to ask if I was interested in presenting at the second annual II Congresso Técnico da ACervA Catarinense a homebrewing conference held in Florianopolis, Brazil. I chatted with Stan Hieronymus, who had attended the first year (incorporating the experience into his review of American Sour Beers), and he spoke highly of the hospitality and experience. Once I talked Audrey into it, I agreed to go!

Being a relatively small city in southern Brazil, reaching Florianopolis from the US requires several flights, so I wanted to extend our visit as long as possible. Neither of us had been to South America before, but rather than jump around between cities, we decided to have a more stationary-relaxing trip. Audrey and I arrived Sunday around 4 PM, by way of Miami and Sao Paulo. We’d left DCA the previous night around 8. Florianopolis is a relatively wealthy city with a small airport. We were told taxis are perfectly safe, but were still happy to be greeted by Ronaldo and a few more smiling homebrewers outside security.

We spent the next three days visiting beaches, eating interesting (sea)food, sightseeing, and drinking local beers (it was funny to see Omnipollo and Evil Twin collaborations on the shelf at the local supermarket). Our bed and breakfast (pousada) was up on a hill with a gorgeous view of the island's lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. Breakfast the first day included delicious cheese made by the owner’s father, along with eggs, ham, fruit, jam, and bread.



Wednesday Denny Conn and Drew Beechum arrived. I’ve been aware of them practically since I started brewing, but we'd never met. Denny is known for his simple approach to the brewing process, combined with dedication to perfecting recipes (like his Wry Smile Rye IPA and Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter - I've brewed batches based on both). Drew is known for his prolific writing and brewing, especially unique projects and recipes (e.g., Methode Champenoise for Beer). Together they wrote the engaging Experimental Brewing. In person they were even more entertaining than they are when writing. The final member of the American contingent was Scott Bickham, a BJCP judge pulling double duty administering an exam as well as speaking. The night they arrived we had one of the best meals of the trip, at a Portuguese restaurant with fantastic octopus rice.



The next day was probably the longest and most memorable of the trip. It started with a bus ride to a glass factory, Cristal Blumenau (where we got to blow our own glasses). The glasses (the ones we didn't blow anyway) were beautiful, and the experience felt practically medieval. OSHA takes all the fun out of American factory tours! Denny and Drew have many more pictures on their website (including my glass-blowing face).




After that excitement, we had a hearty lunch at Bier Vila in Blumenau. The city was previously home to the world’s second largest Oktoberfest outside Munich. We tried one of the local "specialties," Chope de Vinho (wine-beer): essentially pale lager sweetened with sticky-sweet wine. We were told that despite not being marketed or publicized in any way by the brewery, it represents a significant portion of their sales. Followed by a stop at the well-stocked beer store one door down (there were a few 750s from Brooklyn Brewing prices for the equivalent of more than $100).

Back on the bus to the local brewing school (Escola Superior de Cerveja e Malte) for a tour. Then onto Cervejaraia Bierland for beers and a tour. The strong German heritage in the area around Blumenau at least partly explains the interest in good beer in southern Brazil compared to the rest of the country. While we drank several Vienna lagers (Bierland's is particularly clean and malty - the brewery staff wore white aprons and hairnets) and Pilsners, there are also many breweries producing Belgian and American inspired beers. For example I grabbed a bottle of Tupiniquim Frutas De Jardim - Amora (a beer with Brett and blackberries).

The last stop of the day was for a cachaça (sugar cane liquor) tasting at Du Pipe a funky little distillery on the edge of the rain forrest. There were some bats living above the barrels, I got a weird rash on my ankles from wondering off the path, but the homemade sausages were delicious! Finally the long bus ride back to the city, and a couple slices of Mafioso pizza before crashing.

 



The conference itself started Friday. I was impressed by the knowledge and excitement of so many of the homebrewers who attended. Translation was handled simultaneously, via headphones. This extra bit of equipment allowed me to speak more naturally than if I had to wait for translation between each sentence. It also made answering questions seamless (I wore the headphones for that). I was impressed how much effort and thought had gone into the conference! I was also surprised to see my picture in the local paper the next day (article)!

The “cocktail” reception following the first day was really eye opening. I thought that the beers were as good as most American homebrew club meeting I've attended. Sure there was one butter-bomb, and another was too fruity-sweet for my palate, but overall they were fun and delicious. I was especially excited to try some beers brewed with Brazilian fruits and woods (amburana – adds a cinnamon and chile-like spice). Sadly southern Brazil doesn’t have the huge variety of fruits that the more tropical latitudes in the north provide.

It was interesting seeing the differences in "standard" equipment as well. There were some corny kegs, but also lots of small sanke kegs (a result of relatively inexpensive Chinese-made imports). Rather than standard ice-cooled jokey boxes, most of the beers were served through plug-in refrigerated taps. It was enlightening to hear about the different hurdles Brazilian homebrewers face. Sourcing hops was one of the biggest. While malt ends up being a similar price to what I pay, high quality hops have to be ordered directly with high shipping costs. There is a local yeast lab, but many strains that aren't available locally are passed around between brewers.

I was especially impressed by the beers shared by the guys from Random Nano (including sours, and a stout with mushrooms), and a few bottles of sour beer sent down from a homebrewer (Rodrigo) in northern Brazil. It is always fun being a guest at events like this because brewers go out of their way to bring their best batches! In general I thought the weirder ingredients were really well balanced in most of the beers I tried.



It was great to see many of the best elements of American homebrewing culture translate well to Brazil. People were friendly, nerdy, and passionate about what they drink and eat. I also thought it was funny that the seven brewers who won their categories in the associated homebrewing contest all had beards. Not sure what the connection is...



Our last full day in Florianoplis we visited Cervejaria Badenia, a German-style brewery (run by a couple Germans) where we had some delicious lagers and local smoked trout with horseradish. Then onto a classic roadside churrascaria, where meat is brought around and lopped off onto your plate. Most of the cuts were relatively familiar, but a few like the hump of the Gyr Indian cattle (which tasted like pot roast) were new to me.



With a few hours off we dashed over to the mall to get suitcases for Denny and Drew to haul home all the glassware, bottles, and souvenirs they’d picked up (still not sure how all ours fit). Then off to Ronaldo’s house for more meat, homebrew, book signing, and group photos with the smaller local homebrewing club. Luckily the two bottles of homebrew I brought with me survived the trip, and seemed to live up to the expectations.



I'm not saying that it's time to book a flight to Florianopolis for your next beer-centric vacation, but give it a few more years. We heard lots of buzz about beer from locals when we mentioned why we were visiting. There are several new breweries in the works including Ronaldo's Bruxa (named after a local witch, and not the yeast.)

I was hesitant to agree to go when I was invited – which is my initial reaction to being asked to do just about anything – but much like summer camp, friendships formed quickly, time flew by, and I was sorry to be heading back to DC when the time came. A special thanks to Ronaldo, Rafael, Júlio, Gabriel and everyone else who drove us around, shared beers, bought/made us food, and went out of their way to make it a fantastic experience! Luckily some of them will be at NHC in San Diego in a couple weeks, so hopefully I’ll be able to repay some of their hospitality!

Triple Funky/Sour Rye Saison Tasting

Saison is dead, long live saison! For a style that has about as much cohesion as IPA these days, there are so many opinions on what saison is. Last week while I was in Brazil for a homebrewing conference, I spent many hours talking to two of my homebrew heroes: Drew Beechum and Denny Conn (authors of the fascinating book Experimental Homebrewing). Drew is one of the handful of people who deserve credit for popularizing saison's range since I started brewing in 2005, but he is suspect when it comes to adding Brett to the style.

BJCP seems to agree with Drew; with the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines they have given Brett’d saisons an explicit home in the American Wild Ale category’s Brett Beer sub-category (Belgian Specialty is gone!). Gordon Strong asked me to comment on American Wilds draft about a year ago, and I made the case that Brett has been isolated from several of the classic Belgian examples. Too much Brett and I agree the peppery-spice is overwhelmed, but I love a touch of funk in the style! His counterargument was that it is not intentionally part of many modern Belgian saisons, and breaking the funky versions out makes both entering and judging easier.

American Wild Ale is a new home for the sort of weird funky/sour beers that encompass most of what I brew. Clearly I need an edge after most of my sours scored in the mid-30s at the National Homebrewers Competition (my gueuze and cherry brown were knocked for being too sour, my lemon Berliner for not being sour enough). My general goal in commenting was to make the target balance and drinkability, rather than rewarding the sharpest or classic-Brett-forward beers.

This funky/tart rye saison was brewed with a fellow government employee during the great furlough of 2013. We split the batch three ways and pitched various microbes (mostly from the dregs of homebrewed saisons). I wanted to taste the influence of such a small amount of bugs compared to the primary yeast (a blend of White Labs WLP585 Belgian Saison III and WLP568 Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast Blend).

Left: Dregs from Funky Dark Saison #4 Middle: B. nanus and B. naardenensis Right: Two Bootleg Biology Pithos isolates.



Rye Saison Tasting - Three Ways

Appearance – Three seemingly identical beers. Clear muted-yellow, with delicate dense white heads. The sudden burst of rain didn't help retention.

Smell:
Funky Dark #4 – Lambic-like. Musty-dusty with some lemon rind.
Nanus/Naardenensis – The fruitiest, but also some rubber band.
Bootleg Biology Pithos Isolates – Mild basement funkiness, while retaining the most peppery saison character of the three.

Taste:
FD4 – The most acidic, more American Wild than Brett saison. Luckily the acidity is tangy, lactic, really bright. Lots of white wine (despite the lack of wine, grapes, or oak).
N/N – The least acidic and mildest funk. The fruit is more orchard than citrus.
Pithos – Mild citrusy tartness. Dry, earthy, but lacks depth.

Mouthfeel – All three are all pretty similar, firm carbonation (perfect for a pale/funky beers), medium-thin body. The proteins from the rye keep it from being watery, even after the carbonation calms down.

Drinkability & Notes – For my tastes, the dregs from Funky Dark #4 were the winner (itself WLP670 American Farmhouse, and Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces bruxellensis). It has the balance of acidity, funk, fruit, and spice that I want in a beer. Rather than trying to recreate this beer exactly would be close to impossible, but I’d suggest that once you start bottling sour beers you’re happy with that you start using dregs from your homebrewed sours!

Alsatian Saison Recipe

I like conceptual series of beers, for example our annual dark-funky saisons. This batch is the third in a different sort of lineage, hoppy saisons fermented with an evolving mixed culture. It is the follow-up to the delicious Nu Zuland Saison, this time with European hops an wine. I wanted an excuse to try Hull Melon ("honeydew melon and strawberry") and Hallertau Blanc ("passion fruit, grapefruit, pineapple, grape and lemongrass"), two German hops released to compete with the bolder-fruitier flavors of modern American and Southern Hemisphere varieties like Citra and Nelson Sauvin.

The old rule of thumb that the hundredths place of the original gravity roughly predicts alcohol by volume (e.g., 1.060 wort will ferment into ~6% ABV) doesn't work well for saisons because of their high attenuation. With the start of DC's four months of oppressive heat and humidity arriving soon, I wanted to keep this batch relatively light and refreshing at 1.047. With the wine it still ended up just above 6% ABV.

I fermented it with a starter made from the yeast slurry harvested from the Nu Zulund Saison keg after it kicked (not a textbook maneuver). This is the third use for my house saison blend (a mixture of The Yeast Bay Saison Blend, WLP644 Trois, CB2, and Wyeast Lacto brevis). This turn is heading towards being the funkiest so far. Likely the late harvests are applying selective pressure that favors Brettanomyces. As a side note, White Labs recently renamed/reclassified WLP644 from Brettanomyces bruxellensis var. Trois to Saccharomyces "bruxellensis" Trois. I could care less what genus it is, I still think Trois is a great strain! If anything I hope the strain gains wider use by brewers who do not want to risk introducing Brett to their gear.

To bolster the flavors of the hops and yeast I blended in an entire bottle of Trimbach Gewurztraminer at kegging. I find this to be a much easier, more consistent, and effective way to introduce wine flavors than soaking oak cubes in wine that are in turn added to the beer. Despite the German name, most Gewürztraminer is grown in what is now France. I selected the varietal because it tends to be a more aromatic and fruity/spicy than most European wines. Maison Trimbach is a storied producer which I've posted about before. This 2010 bottle was bright, citrusy and minerally, a nice match for the flavors already in the beer.

Excited to see how it all comes together after keg conditioning!

Alsatian Funky Saison

Recipe Specifics
--------------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.75
Total Grain (Lbs): 10.90
Anticipated OG: 1.047
Anticipated SRM: 3.4
Anticipated IBU: 24.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 71 %
Wort Boil Time: 65 Minutes

Grain
-------
82.5% - 8.99 lbs. Rahr 2-Row Brewer's Malt
14.9% - 1.62 lbs. Great Western Soft White Wheat Flakes
2.6% - 0.28 lbs. Weyermann Acidulated Malt

Hops
------
0.56 oz. Magnum (Pellet, 11.80% AA) @ 60 min.
2.00 oz. Hallertau Blanc (Pellet, 11.2% AA) @ Hop-Stand
2.00 oz. Hull Melon (Pellet, 6.8% AA) @ Hop-Stand
2.00 oz. Hallertau Blanc (Pellet, 11.2% AA) @ Dry Hop
2.00 oz. Hull Melon (Pellet, 6.8% AA) @ Dry Hop

Extras
-------
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 min.
0.50 Whirlfloc @ 5 min.

Yeast
------
House Saison Blend 
(i.e., The Yeast Bay Saison Blend
White Labs WLP644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis var. Trois
Brettanomyces bruxellensis var. CB2 (Jason Rodriguez isolate)
Wyeast WY5223-PC Lactobacillus brevis)

Water Profile
----------------
Profile: Washington, DC

Mash Schedule
-----------------
Sacch Rest - 75 min @ 148F

Notes
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Brewed 3/22/15

7 gallons mash water with 2 g of CaCl. 1 gallon of untreated cold sparge water.

Initial mash pH 5.64 at room temperature with 3 oz of acid malt. 1.5 additional ounces plus .5 fl oz of 10% phosphoric acid brought it down to 5.50.

Collected 6 gallons pre-boil at 1.047, diluted with .75 gallons of water to 1.042. Added .5 fl oz of phosphoric acid to the boil.

Whirlpooled 5 minutes, settled for 15 minutes. Wort pH= 5.46. Naturally cooled to 180F. Then added 2 oz each Hallertau Blanc and Hull Melon. Allowed to steep an additional 30 minutes before finishing runoff (down to 145F). Chilled to 68 F, pitched the slurry from the Nu Zulund Saison with 1 L of wort pitched the night before, slow activity.

4/9/15 Dry hopped in primary.

4/20/15 Kegged with 3.5 oz of table sugar and 740 ml of Trimbach Gewurztraminer. Left in the cellar to naturally condition. FG 1.003 (5.8% ABV, 6.1% with wine).

7/7/15 Tasting notes. Wine comes through more than the hops. Good balance of fruity and funky. Was sulfury initially on tap, but venting the head space over a few days blew it off.