Inspiration
This beer is my classic Mediamatic Saison with some adjustments made to the grain and small adjustments to the mash, water and hop schedules. The grain bill was inspired by Chien Bleu's beer called Jasper. I had the beer while camping this summer and travelling through France, and really liked it a lot. It really reminded me of this series of my Mediamatic beers and so I emailed the brewery and they were kind enough to share with me the grain bill. I filled in the rest with my typical recipe formulation.
Recipe
Boil Time: 120 min
Batch Size: 15 liters
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.006 or less
Fermentables
Bohemian Pilsner 62%
Spelt Malted 27%
Flaked Oats 11%
Hops
5.5g - Warrior, Type: Pellet added at First Wort
100g - Hallertau Blanc, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Whirlpool 30 minutes 80C
Mash Guidelines
1) Infusion, Temp: 65 C, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 77 C, Time: 10 min
Yeast
Saison Brett Blend Yeast Bay slurry + starter generation 4
Water
Amsterdam Source + 2g Gypsum added to mash
Mash add: 4ml Lactic Acid = 5.45 pH
Boil Add: 1 gram CaCl
4ml Lactic Acid = 5.15 pH
Post-Boil: 5.20 pH
5L pulled off before whirlpool to ferment at home in a 5L jug with Chien Bleu dregs from XYLA & ALFIO and dregs from Cloudwater's Betty & Galaxy Foudre Beer
Notes
Brewed 20210905
Primary starts at 22C
20210907: 1.012
Already tasting incredible, I'm getting a lot of fruit, hay and juiciness from the Hallertau Blanc
20210912: 1.006
20210913: Transfer to 9L keg for secondary 22C
20211008 Packaged half normally, and the other half with dregs from Four Winds Brewing (NØRWOOD // Fermented warm w/ traditional Norwegian farmhouse yeast, Kveik, Nørwood is aged in oak barrels & conditioned with Brett C. dregs)
20211211: Tasting incredibly soft, creamy, farmhouse, rustic, a light rich graininess, and brett forward. Really looking forward to continuing to age this beer.
20220114: Cracked the second last Norwood bottle and it tastes incredible now. This yeast is really interesting to continue using for brett bottle conditioning. Maybe the best saison I've made. Fruity, brett forward, full-bodied, dry and the carbonation level perfect to cut through it all.
20220401: Cracked last bottle of the normal version of the beer, now roughly 6 months old. Assertive carbonation, and a fairly neutral flavor in the beer. I can taste the rustic grain of spelt in the beer and smell it in the nose. The flavour is overall earthy and a little floral with a hint of brett in the background. The latest version of this beer in this series (Saison Yeast Experiment) is much more expressive and fruity. Turning the temperature up to 25/26 like I do now I think makes a big difference in the final flavour. Overall a nice, refreshing beer but is lacking the flavour that I would like to see from my house saison - especially a bottle of 6 months.
Batch Size: 15 liters
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.006 or less
Fermentables
Bohemian Pilsner 62%
Spelt Malted 27%
Flaked Oats 11%
Hops
5.5g - Warrior, Type: Pellet added at First Wort
100g - Hallertau Blanc, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Whirlpool 30 minutes 80C
Mash Guidelines
1) Infusion, Temp: 65 C, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 77 C, Time: 10 min
Yeast
Saison Brett Blend Yeast Bay slurry + starter generation 4
Water
Amsterdam Source + 2g Gypsum added to mash
Mash add: 4ml Lactic Acid = 5.45 pH
Boil Add: 1 gram CaCl
4ml Lactic Acid = 5.15 pH
Post-Boil: 5.20 pH
5L pulled off before whirlpool to ferment at home in a 5L jug with Chien Bleu dregs from XYLA & ALFIO and dregs from Cloudwater's Betty & Galaxy Foudre Beer
Notes
Brewed 20210905
Primary starts at 22C
20210907: 1.012
Already tasting incredible, I'm getting a lot of fruit, hay and juiciness from the Hallertau Blanc
20210912: 1.006
20210913: Transfer to 9L keg for secondary 22C
20211008 Packaged half normally, and the other half with dregs from Four Winds Brewing (NØRWOOD // Fermented warm w/ traditional Norwegian farmhouse yeast, Kveik, Nørwood is aged in oak barrels & conditioned with Brett C. dregs)
20211211: Tasting incredibly soft, creamy, farmhouse, rustic, a light rich graininess, and brett forward. Really looking forward to continuing to age this beer.
20220114: Cracked the second last Norwood bottle and it tastes incredible now. This yeast is really interesting to continue using for brett bottle conditioning. Maybe the best saison I've made. Fruity, brett forward, full-bodied, dry and the carbonation level perfect to cut through it all.
20220401: Cracked last bottle of the normal version of the beer, now roughly 6 months old. Assertive carbonation, and a fairly neutral flavor in the beer. I can taste the rustic grain of spelt in the beer and smell it in the nose. The flavour is overall earthy and a little floral with a hint of brett in the background. The latest version of this beer in this series (Saison Yeast Experiment) is much more expressive and fruity. Turning the temperature up to 25/26 like I do now I think makes a big difference in the final flavour. Overall a nice, refreshing beer but is lacking the flavour that I would like to see from my house saison - especially a bottle of 6 months.