Thursday, August 27, 2009

Saison Updates

Rêve de Wallonia
  • Having some fermentation issues
  • Despite high temps the fermentation was stuck at 1.035 (Wyeast #3724 is notorious for getting stuck)
  • Sample pulled was murky (lots of yeast still in suspension) and very sweet
  • On August 14th a second yeast starter was dumped into the carboy containing a different saison yeast, Wyeast #3711 French Saison
  • As of August 27th is is down now to 1.027 - still quite a bit high
  • Sample pulled was still murky and overly sweet
  • Still need to wait, but getting to be a long time now sitting on the trub and yeast cake; keeping it too long like this could start to produce off flavors

Saison de Deux Médecine
  • Transfered to secondary on August 2nd
  • No more yarrow was added
  • Split into 2 carboys - 2.5 gallons in each
  • Brett has not been added yet; waiting for Wallonia to be ready b/c I'm splitting the package of yeast between the two
  • Crystal clear and had interesting vegi/asparagus flavors
  • Planning to bottle the first half this weekend (8/29) - can't wait to drink!!


Batch No. 19 - The Curtain Wit

The Curtain Wit

Brewed - August 2, 2009

Style - Belgian Witbier
Source - various recipes / Bob's HBS

Ingredients:
  • 3.0 lbs. Wheat DME
  • 3.0 lbs. Golden Light DME
  • 2.0 lbs. Belgian Pilsner (partial mash)
  • 1.0 lbs. Flaked Wheat (partial mash)
  • 1.0 oz. Saaz (60)
  • 1.0 oz. Linden (0)
  • 1.0 oz. Lemon Zest (0)
  • 2.5 oz. Orange Zest (0)
  • 1.5 tbsp. Powdered Ginger (0)
  • 1.0 tbsp. Coriander Powder (0)
  • Yeast slurry from Colin's Pro-Am Witbier
OG - 1.064
Primary - 14 days
Secondary - 14 days

Bottled - August 20, 2009

FG - 1.016
Attenuation - 75.0%
ABV - 6.29%

Notes:
- Spur of the moment brew as I had some extra ingredients around and was able to use the fresh yeast slurry from Colin's Pro-Am Witbier brewed at Rock Bottom Bellevue; unsure at the moment what the actual yeast was, but probably the standard witbier yeast
- More generous with orange zest and ginger than previous saison
- Partial mash a little easier second time around; need some equipment upgrades though