We're putting together a low-ish alcohol "grisette" style saison that will be fully-fermented with traditional yeast, then transferring it into our bourbon barrel along with a Brettanomyces culture to (eventually) create a funky, sour and dry sessionable multi-grain farmhouse ale.
MASH SCHEDULE:
- Sacch rest @ 151 F with 6 gal of 162 F water; hold for 60 minutes
- Collected 5 gallons then sparged to collect 2 more (boiled down to 6.5 gal to start boil)
10/17/15: This was probably our best brew day on the HERMS setup. We nailed our yield, nailed our gravity (actually got higher efficiency than we thought, but we'll take it even though this is supposed to be a "weaker" beer) and barely spilled a single drop of wort. We'll be following this closely and once it's finished with its primary we'll be transferring it to our bourbon barrel and throwing in a Brett culture (in particular, Omega Labs' All The Bretts 2015!).
11/7/15: About to take this out of the barrel and into a carboy now. We tried a sample last night and felt that it has just about grabbed all it should from the barrel. There's no lactic acid present, so chances are that the gose actually took a lot of that with it, but we're actually okay with it. Brett is obviously subtle as it's only been conditioning in the barrel for a week, but it's already intensely complex with notes of tannic oak, vanilla and tropical fruit all on top of a complex grain profile. We figured that if there's no lacto present, we'd just move it, yeast and all, into a fermenter to avoid over-extraction of harsher tannin/oak flavors over time. We'll continue to see how this progresses, but it should be excellent, if slightly less insane than originally posited. Also of note, the recipe and brew day for this were so goddamn good, that it will likely end up being a rotating brew for us.
1/29/16: Well, this has gone through quite a few changes and it's been a long time since I've updated about it. We bottled this about three weeks ago and we honestly weren't sure what to expect. We had it in primary for about a week starting in mid-October. We racked it into our bourbon barrel (with a Brett culture) for two weeks and pulled it once we determined that it had likely soaked up everything it needed to. The previously-housed beer (BBA black gose) seemingly pulled a lot of the lactic acid bacteria out of the barrel, as this was bottled with very little, if any, lactobacillus.
Since we moved this from the barrel back to a fermenter (to avoid tannic harshness), a huge pellicle had formed on top of the beer (11/14 was when I noted this; a week after transfer), and I knew the Brett blend had taken hold. We bottled it on 1/8, so it's had about one-and-a-half months of aging total. We added no sugar for carbonation, choosing to let the Brett blend do its job.
Here are my notes about this beer (1/30/16):
A: Decent head of pure, bone-white foam that reaches a couple fingers but eventually terminates as a small, immeasurable ring over the course of an hour or so. Body is hazy and opaque at about 5-6 SRM (as expected). Lace show is nonexistent (also, kind of expected).
S: Farmhouse funk, some oak and peach, slight notes of rye malt. Honestly, the nose of this, other than the initial blast of Brett you're likely to detect, is not out of the ordinary at all. Hardly picks up any barrel character, for instance.
T: The flavor is something else entirely, however. Each sip begins with a sharp tanginess that shocks the palate, coalescing into a stiff, wooden and rye-forward middle that seems to highlight the tropical qualities of the El Dorado hops. Strong tannic woodiness picks up in the late-middle of each sip, followed by some light spicy hops and bright fleshy fruit.
M: Heady carb when first poured but remains a great and balanced drink after lots of time in the glass. Very balanced due to the blend of funk and late-hop uniqueness. Easy to drink but challenging in flavor.
O: This is just great. I'd love to drink this all the time. The fact that this was probably our easiest brew day to date (on the newer HERMS system) makes this all the more essential to brew again. It involved a bit of aging and requires some Brett treatment, for sure, but I think this could become something we regularly create... Brett or not! Cheers~!
3/18/16: This is getting even better. Been about a month and a half and it's even denser with Brett funk and layered notes of vanilla and oak. Developing quite nicely.
