Brett Bière de Garde

https://byo.com/recipe/biere-de-garde-2/

Bière de Garde
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.075 FG = 1.011
IBU = 24 SRM = 12 ABV = 8.5%

Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) continental Pilsner malt (2 °L)
2.9 lbs. (1.3 kg) Munich malt (8 °L)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) cane or beet sugar (0 °L)
10.6 oz. (0.3 kg) caramel Vienne malt (20 °L)
1.4 oz. (40 g) black malt (500 °L)
5.5 AAU Kent Goldings hops (60 min.) (1.1 oz./31 g at 5% alpha acids)
Irish moss (15 min.)
White Labs WLP072 (French Ale) or White Labs WLP011 (European Ale)
Priming sugar (if bottling)

Step by Step
I currently use Best Malz Pilsen and Munich, but feel free to substitute any high quality malt of the same type and color from a different sup-plier. The black malt and caramel Vienne I use is from Briess. I use the cheapest granular white sugar I can find at the store, sometimes it is cane sugar and sometimes it is beet sugar. My hops are in pellet form and come from Hop Union, Crosby Hop Farm, or Hopsteiner depending on the variety.

Mill the grains and then dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.5 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight) and a temperature of 147 °F (64 °C). Hold the mash at 147 °F (64 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. With the low mash temperature, you may need to lengthen the rest time to 90 minutes or more to get full conversion. Infuse the mash with near-boiling water while stirring or with a recirculating mash system raise the temperature to mash out at 168 °F (76 °C). Sparge slowly with 170 °F (77 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 6.5 gallons (25 L) and the gravity is 1.058.

The total wort boil time is 90 minutes, which helps reduce the S-Methyl Methionine (SMM) present in the lightly kilned Pilsner malt and results in less Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS) in the finished beer. Add the hops with 60 minutes remaining in the boil. Add Irish moss or other kettle finings with 15 minutes left in the boil. Chill the wort to 66 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is around 260 billion cells, which is approximately 2–3 packages of liquid yeast or one package of liquid yeast in a 0.9 gallon (3.4 L) starter.

Start fermentation around 66 °F (19 °C) and then raise the temperature a few degrees more (70 °F/21 °C) several days into active fermentation. Let the beer ferment until the yeast drops to the bottom and forms a layer. With healthy yeast, this should be complete in ten days or less, but there is no need to rush it. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target a carbonation level of 2 to 2.5 volumes.

If you decide to add Brettanomyces or other critters, you might want to do it in a secondary fermenter and then package the beer after it has developed the character you desire. At that point, you can rack to a keg and force carbonate or you can add priming sugar and a fresh dose of yeast to carbonate in the bottle. Be careful if you bottle directly from the primary fermenter with Brettanomyces, there could still be significant sugars present and could result in bottle bombs.