Inspiration
This is my Left Fields Farmhouse Saison Series. The idea behind this series is to explore saison yeast strains (along with mixed fermentation), brewing techniques, malt composition and water profiles, all within the context of the farm I'm currently living on in Sorrento - Left Fields Farms. What this means, is that I hope to experiment with, and include fruits and other ingredients in these beers as they come into season on the farm - giving a stronger context and sense of place to the beer.
It's taken so long to brew this beer that the recipe has taken on new meanings and become quite a lot more developed since it's first draft. Not only did I have the pleasure of drawing a great deal of inspiration for recipes while at the Farmhouse Saison and Wild Ale Festival at U.B.C. Farm last month, I was also lucky enough to have email correspondence with Sean Burke (The Commons Brewery head brewer) about the beer that this had initially been based on. The idea for this beer started out by seeing a post on Facebook from the Commons Brewery about their Motueka Saison. It sounded like a deadly combination, and something that I knew I had to try. So I drew up a recipe that seemed similar to what I could find online about the beer. However, much to my delight, they decided to send a keg of it up to B.C. for the Farmhouse Fest at U.B.C. Farm a week later! It ended up being the best beer I tried all afternoon (and that's saying a lot!), so I decided to send Sean an email about brewing the recipe myself. In the meantime, I updated the recipe again, not to clone it, but to draw some influence from what I liked about it. About a week or so later, Sean got back to me with tips for brewing the beer. What a good guy.
The yeast I've used in this beer should be really interesting. Both are from The Yeast Bay: the Wallonian Farmhouse and the Saison Blend. I've split the beer into two carboys and inoculated each with their own strain. I can't wait to do a side-by-side comparison. The following isn't the recipe Sean sent, it's more a combination of my own ideas and experiments paired with elements of the original recipe. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Named after the thing I used all summer to start (hot wire) my truck.
Tasting notes below:
It's taken so long to brew this beer that the recipe has taken on new meanings and become quite a lot more developed since it's first draft. Not only did I have the pleasure of drawing a great deal of inspiration for recipes while at the Farmhouse Saison and Wild Ale Festival at U.B.C. Farm last month, I was also lucky enough to have email correspondence with Sean Burke (The Commons Brewery head brewer) about the beer that this had initially been based on. The idea for this beer started out by seeing a post on Facebook from the Commons Brewery about their Motueka Saison. It sounded like a deadly combination, and something that I knew I had to try. So I drew up a recipe that seemed similar to what I could find online about the beer. However, much to my delight, they decided to send a keg of it up to B.C. for the Farmhouse Fest at U.B.C. Farm a week later! It ended up being the best beer I tried all afternoon (and that's saying a lot!), so I decided to send Sean an email about brewing the recipe myself. In the meantime, I updated the recipe again, not to clone it, but to draw some influence from what I liked about it. About a week or so later, Sean got back to me with tips for brewing the beer. What a good guy.
The yeast I've used in this beer should be really interesting. Both are from The Yeast Bay: the Wallonian Farmhouse and the Saison Blend. I've split the beer into two carboys and inoculated each with their own strain. I can't wait to do a side-by-side comparison. The following isn't the recipe Sean sent, it's more a combination of my own ideas and experiments paired with elements of the original recipe. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Named after the thing I used all summer to start (hot wire) my truck.
Tasting notes below:
The Recipe
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 3.9 gallons (fermentor volume)
Efficiency: 74% (brewhouse)
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.007/ 1.009
ABV (standard): 5.7%
IBU (tinseth): 14
SRM (morey): 3.3
Grain
5.9 lb - Belgian - Pilsner (83.1%)
0.8 lb - American - White Wheat (11.3%)
0.4 lb - Flaked Wheat (5.6%)
Hops
2 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min
17 g - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 10 min
17 g - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 0 min
8 g - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
Mash
1) Temp: 149 F, Time: 90 min
2) Temp: 170, Time: 15 min
Yeast
The Yeast Bay - Saison Blend
The Yeast Bay - Wallonian Farmhouse
Water
Ca2: 75
Mg2: 5
Na: 10
Cl: 45
SO4: 130
HCO3: 0
Notes
Brewed on August 2nd
Fermentation begins at 66F and free rises to 68F over 1 day
August 3rd. Fermentation ramped up to 76F on each and held for duration
Dry hopped on August 10th
Cold crashed on August 13th
Kegged on August 16th, added 1lb (2lb total) of fresh Plums picked from the farm to each keg
Drank on August 31st with Left Fields hop pickers. Beer tasted tart from the plum and added a layer of nice complexity to the beer. Vastly prefer Saison Blend to the Wallonian Farmhouse. The Saison Blend was a lot more fruity and dry, as opposed to the Wallonian tasting sweeter, spicy and clove-like. The SB just worked more synergistically with the plums. I don't think I'll use plums again in a saison, though I enjoyed the experiment. With that being said, I will be attempting to harvest wild yeast from our plums here on the farm this week.
Batch Size: 3.9 gallons (fermentor volume)
Efficiency: 74% (brewhouse)
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.007/ 1.009
ABV (standard): 5.7%
IBU (tinseth): 14
SRM (morey): 3.3
Grain
5.9 lb - Belgian - Pilsner (83.1%)
0.8 lb - American - White Wheat (11.3%)
0.4 lb - Flaked Wheat (5.6%)
Hops
2 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min
17 g - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 10 min
17 g - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 0 min
8 g - Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days
Mash
1) Temp: 149 F, Time: 90 min
2) Temp: 170, Time: 15 min
Yeast
The Yeast Bay - Saison Blend
The Yeast Bay - Wallonian Farmhouse
Water
Ca2: 75
Mg2: 5
Na: 10
Cl: 45
SO4: 130
HCO3: 0
Notes
Brewed on August 2nd
Fermentation begins at 66F and free rises to 68F over 1 day
August 3rd. Fermentation ramped up to 76F on each and held for duration
Dry hopped on August 10th
Cold crashed on August 13th
Kegged on August 16th, added 1lb (2lb total) of fresh Plums picked from the farm to each keg
Drank on August 31st with Left Fields hop pickers. Beer tasted tart from the plum and added a layer of nice complexity to the beer. Vastly prefer Saison Blend to the Wallonian Farmhouse. The Saison Blend was a lot more fruity and dry, as opposed to the Wallonian tasting sweeter, spicy and clove-like. The SB just worked more synergistically with the plums. I don't think I'll use plums again in a saison, though I enjoyed the experiment. With that being said, I will be attempting to harvest wild yeast from our plums here on the farm this week.