2013.08.18 - Sweaty Bretty Petite

Another saison post here. Basically, my larger saison that is parsed down to be a table beer. 5 gallons of this will go to our friends' wedding in October. (You can check out their captivating blog on farming, The Farmer's Husband, here.) The concept was simply an easy drinking yet interesting beer.

Oh my god, that's the funky shit!

This beer will be fermented with some yeast sent to me from Jeff at Bootleg Biology. I missed meeting up with Jeff at the 2013 National Homebrewers Conference, but he was kind enough to send me along a few samples anyway (thanks brother!). I'll be tracking my progress with this yeast and sending the results and a bottle or two along for the sake of science and homebrewing. Good times.




The recipe is simple, and I wanted this to be dry and let the yeast shine. So here's the recipe, and my notes.

Est Original Gravity: 1.047 SG         Measured Original Gravity: 1.047 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.006 SG              Measured Final Gravity: 

Bitterness: 19.7 IBUs                        Est Color: 6.3 SRM

14 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) 71.3 %

3 lbs Vienna Malt (4.0 SRM) 15.3 %

1 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) 7.6 %

2.1 oz Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM) 0.7 %

1 lbs Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) 5.1 % (Add at end of boil)

1.00 oz Magnum [14.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 19.7 IBUs

1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs

1.00 oz Summit [15.90 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs

2.0 liter starter of Funky Saison (Bootleg Biology)

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2013.08.18 - brew day

12:00 - Dough in w/ 8 gallons. Dropped from 155º to 148º (target of 145º) Recirc. Add water salts.

1:10 - Drain to BK. Gravity of 1.060.

1:30 - Batch Sparge with 8.5 gallons of 165º h2o. Bring temp back up to 165º. Recirc.

1:50 - Drain sparge to kettle. Add boil salts.

2:20 - Boil. Gravity of 1.040.

3:20 - Add Magnum hops.

3:40 - Add sugar. Add yeast nutrient. Insert chiller and begin pump recirc.

3:55 - Flameout. Add 1 oz. Chinook leaf. Chill to 180º and hold for 20 mins.

4:30 - Add 1 oz. Summit. Chiller back on.

4:50 - Hit ~85ºF. Drain to wittmenter 15.5. Original gravity of 1.047.

Let sit out to further drop temp. Dropped to ~74ºF overnight. Put in chest freezer to drop to 68º F.

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2013.08.19

12:30 PM - Pitched 2 liters of active fermenting yeast - Bootleg Biology Funky Saison. Aerated with 1.5 volume O2 for ~ 1 minute. Hold at 68ºF for 36-48 hours.

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2013.08.21

12:00 PM - Raised temp to ~70ºF (21.5ºC)

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2013.08.22

3:00 PM - Raised temp to ~73ºF (23ºC)

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2013.08.23

12:00 PM - Raised temp to ~ 76ºF (24.5º C)

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2013.08.25

5:30 PM - Raised temp to ~79 ºF (26º C)

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2013.08.26

Raised temp to ~83º F (27.5º C)

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2013.08.27

Raised temp to ~86º F (30.5ºC)

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2013.08.29

Raised temp to ~90ºF (33º C)

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Sample from fermenter on 2013.09.08.
Consensus: delicious. 

2013.09.08

Gravity reading 1.005 @ 87ºF … 1.009

Drop temp to ambient (~70º)

Appearance: light yellow gold, clear w/ slight haze (will definitely be clear with cold conditioning).

Smell: White grape juice, w/ slight melon. touch of spicy alcohol. Low note of funk -- not much.

Taste (uncarbed and warm): Light and refreshing. Pepper, melony fruit. Totally dry on the back end. Pretty excited about this one!