New Wave of Seattle Real Ale

boom....come on down on April 20th for a full house of cask-conditioned beers :)

Batch No. 67 - Under the Milky Way

Under the Milky Way

Brewed - April 6, 2013

Style - English IPA

Ingredients:

• 9.0 lbs. American 2-Row
• 7.5 lbs. Marris Otter
• 1.0 lbs. Wheat
• 1.0 lbs. Biscuit
• 1.0 lbs. Crystal 20L
• 0.50 lbs. Victory

• 1.00 oz. Cluster (60)
• 1.00 oz. Perle (60)
• 0.50 oz. Willamette (30)
• 0.50 oz. Cluster (30)
• 0.50 oz. Willamette (10)
• 0.50 oz. Cluster (10)
• 0.50 oz. Cascade (5)
• 0.50 oz. Cluster (5)
• Keg #1 Dry-Hops = TBD
• Keg #2 Dry-Hops = TBD

• Wyeast 1028 London Ale (1 pack)
• Wyeast 1056 American Ale (1 pack)

OG – 1.056

Wyeast 1028:
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.012 (estimated)
Attenuation - 78.6% (estimated)
ABV - 5.76% (estimated)

Wyeast 1056:
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.010 (estimated)
Attenuation - 82.1% (estimated)
ABV - 6% (estimated)

Notes:

• First time brewing an English IPA, which isn't hopped quite as aggressively as an American IPA and brewed with English yeast for a slightly more malty, caramel and minerally flavor
• Brewing this for the "New Wave of Seattle Real Ale" Cask Festival that we're hosting at the SODO Lab on April 20th
• Doing 1/2 the batch with Wyeast 1056 in case I don't dig the 1028 London as much
• Mash at 154° and 70 min boil

Batch No. 66 - Such is the Promise

Such is the Promise

Brewed - April 6, 2013

Style - Dark Mild Ale

Ingredients:

• 7.5 lbs.Golden Promise
• 2.0 lbs.American 2-Row
• 1.0 lbs. Pale Chocolate
• 1.0 lbs.Crystal 60L
• 0.9 lbs. Crystal 120L
• 0.50 lbs. Flaked Barley

• 0.75 oz. Northern Brewer (60)

• Wyeast 1968 London ESB (1 pack)
• Safale S-04 English Ale Yeast (dry / 1 pack)

OG – 1.038

Wyeast 1968:
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.010 (estimated)
Attenuation - 73.7% (estimated)
ABV - 3.67% (estimated)

Saflager S-04:
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.010 (estimated)
Attenuation - 73.7% (estimated)
ABV - 3.67% (estimated)

Notes:

• First time brewing a Dark Mild
• Brewing this for the "New Wave of Seattle Real Ale" Cask Festival that we're hosting at the SODO Lab on April 20th
• Mash at 154° and 70 min boil

Batch No. 65 - thirteen° below

thirteen° below

Brewed - February 2, 2013

Style - Czech Lager

Ingredients:

• 16.0 lbs. Pilsner
• 2.0 lbs. Vienna
• 1.0 lbs. CaraPils/Dextrine
• 0.75 lbs.Munich

• 2.00 oz. Perle (60)
• 2.00 oz. Saaz (15)
• 1.85 oz. Saaz (0)

• Blend of Wyeast #2001 Pilsner Urquell and Wyeast #2278 Czech Pilsner (700 ml starter / 1 pack of each)

OG – 1.056
Primary – 63 days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.017 
Attenuation - 69.6%
ABV - 5.11%

Notes:

• basically a repeat of a previous czech pils recipe that turned out really well
• Trying out a blend lager yeasts' mostly due to shop supply prior to brewday
• Mash at 150° and 70 min boil
• Not sure if it was the blend or just not a big enough starter, but attenuation was quite low here (~ 70% versus 83% on my last batch); sample at transfer tasted good, but it's pretty discouraging given the time I let this ferment (60+ days)

Batch No. 64 - Yogurt the Magnificent

Yogurt the Magnificent

Brewed - February 2, 2013

Style - Schwarzbier (Black Beer)

Ingredients:

• 10.0 lbs. Munich
• 4.5 lbs. Pilsner
• 0.7 lbs.Crystal 40L
• 0.7 lbs. Chocolate
• 0.35 lbs. Carafa II
• 0.35 lbs. Roasted Barley

• 2.00 oz. Hallertaur (60)
• 1.00 oz. Hallertaur (20)
• 0.50 oz. Hallertaur (5)

• Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager (600 ml starter / 1 pack)
• Saflager S-23 Lager Yeast (dry / 1 pack)

OG – 1.048

Wyeast 2206:
Primary – 63 days
Secondary/Lager - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.017
Attenuation - 64.6%
ABV - 4.1%

Saflager S-23:
Primary – 63 days
Secondary/Lager - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.015
Attenuation - 68.75%
ABV - 4.32%

Notes:

• First time brewing a Schwarzbier
• Brewed this along with a czech pils knowing that I'd be out fo the country and I could just let this one go for a while in my chest freezer
• Trying out two different lager yeasts and using both Wyeast and Saflager again
• Mash at 154° and 75 min boil
• Tasted great when I transferred it for lagering on 4/6, but didn't get that great of attenuation with either yeast

Batch No. 63 - Pantomime Mixture

Pantomime Mixture Hard Cider

"Brewed" - December 29, 2012

Style - Common Cider

Ingredients:

• 5 gallons Apple Juice
• Blend of Jonogold, Melrose & Spartan Apples
• Pressed & blended by Cellar Ciders in Sultan, WA

• Safale S-04 English Ale Yeast

OG – 1.056
Primary – 98 days
Secondary - ??

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.002
Attenuation - 96.43%
ABV - 7.1%


Step 1: Transfer juice to keg
Step 2: Add yeast

That's it....really....I can't believe I didn't do this sooner.....easiest brew day ever!!!! LOL


Updates:

• more out of lazyiness, this fermented in my closet for nearly 100 days and all the way down to 1.002; drinks with clean, refreshing tartness; will let it sit in a keg for a few weeks before transferring it at least one more time to help it clear and condition

Notes:

•  Fermenting this in a keg and at home in my walk-in pantry closet it keep temps in the low 60's

Batch No. 62 - American Beauty Pale Ale

American Beauty Pale Ale

Brewed - December 8, 2012

Style - American Pale Ale

Ingredients:

• 12.0 lbs. Gambrinus 2-Row
• 5.0 lbs. Maris Otter Pale
• 1.5 lbs. Munich Light
• 0.5 lbs. Crystal 20L
• 0.5 lbs. Crystal 40L
• 0.5 lbs. Victory

• 0.75 oz. Cascade (60)
• 0.50 oz. Belma (60)
• 0.50 oz. Cascade (30)
• 0.50 oz. Amarillo (30)
• 0.50 oz. Belma (30)
• 0.50 oz. Belma (10)
• 0.50 oz. Belma (5)
• 0.50 oz. Belma (KO)
• 2.5 oz. Belma only (dry hop - keg #1)
• 1.5 oz. Belma, 0.70 oz. Cascade & 0.70 oz. Centennial (dry hop - keg #2)

• Wyeast #1056 American Ale (2 packs / 1000 ml starter)

OG – 1.058
Primary – 14 days
Secondary - 24 days (dry hopped for 16 days)

Kegged - January 7, 2013

FG - 1.011
Attenuation - 71%
ABV - 6.16%

Notes:

• American Pale Ale brewed with new hop variety - Belma, which means beautiful, from Hops Direct and Puterbaugh Farms
• Mash at ~ 152° for 60 minutes
• 60 min boil
• Dry Hop keg #1 with 2.50 oz. Belma only
• Dry Hop keg #2 with blend: 1.5 oz. of Belma, 0.7 oz. Cascade & 0.7 oz.

Batch No. 61 - Three Billy Goats

Three Billy Goats

Brewed - December 8, 2012

Style - Maibock / Helles Bock

Ingredients:

• 17.0 lbs. Weyermann Pilsner
• 4.40 lbs. Munich
• 3.0 lbs.Vienna
• 0.33 lbs. Melanoidin

• 1.00 oz. Northern Brewer (60)
• 0.75 oz. Hallertaur (60)

• White Labs WLP835 German "X" Lager (1000 ml starter / 1 vials)
• Wyeast #2206 Bavarian Lager (1000 ml starter / 1 pack)

OG – 1.070
Primary – 56 days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

White Labs WLP835:
FG - 1.018
Attenuation - 75.0%
ABV - 7.1%

Wyeast #2206:
FG - 1.020
Attenuation - 72.2%
ABV - 6.8%

Notes:

• First time brewing a Maibock / Helles Bock
• Trying out two different lager yeasts and using both for the first time
• Mash at 154° and 90 min boil
• Carboy #1 (White Labs) - start at 40° in my chest freezer
• Carboy #2 (Wyeast) - start at 40° in my chest freezer

Batch No. 60 - Mellow Mood Rauchbier

Mellow Mood

Brewed - November 8, 2012

Style - Classic Rauchbier

Ingredients:

• 12.5 lbs.Weyermann Rauch
• 4.5 lbs. Pilsner
• 2.0 lbs. Munich
• 0.75 lbs. CaraMunich
• 0.75 lbs. Melanoidin
• 0.10 lbs. Black Barley

• 1.75 oz. Hallertaur (60)
• 0.75 oz. Hallertaur (20)

• White Labs WLP830 German Lager (1000 ml starter / 2 vials)
•  Saflager S-23 Lager Yeast (dry / 1 pack)

OG – 1.058

White Labs WLP830:
Primary – 86 days
Secondary/Lager - 60 days

Kegged -April 3, 2013

FG - 1.017
Attenuation - 70.7%
ABV - 5.37%

Saflager S-23:
Primary – 30 days
Secondary/Lager - 35 days

Kegged -January 15, 2013

FG - 1.014
Attenuation - 75.9%
ABV - 5.76%

Notes:

• First attempt at a Classic Rauchbier, a style that continues to grow on me esp. with the rich smokey and clean, crisp dark lager flavors
• I held up at ~ 61% rauch malt and based on the brewing day aromas and flavors, I hope it's turns out smokey enough
• Trying out two different lager yeasts and using both White Labs and Saflager for the first time (have used dry ale yeast but haven't tried with a lager until now)
• Mash at 154° and 60 min boil
• Carboy #1 (White Labs) - true lager fermentation; start at 40° in my chest freezer; 12/8/12: only down to 1.035!!; 1/15/13: down to 1.017 and it tastes great, so I decided to live with the FG and pull it out of chest freezer for short d-rest and now lagering
• Carboy #2 (Saflager) - fermenting at control room ambient; low 50's to start and will monitor; 12/8/12: down to 1.014 and transferred to a keg for lagering 

Batch No. 59 - No Simple Highway

No Simple Highway

Brewed - September 22, 2012

Style - Saison

Ingredients:

• 13.0 lbs. Weyermann Pilsner
• 1.5 lbs. Red Wheat
• 1.5 lbs. White Wheat
• 1.5 lbs. Belgian Caravienne
• 0.75 lbs. Flaked Wheat

• 1.75 oz. Perle (60)
• 0.50 oz. Saaz (30
• 1.00 oz. Saaz (10)
• 1.50 oz. Saaz (0)

• Wyeast #3711 French Saison (slurry from previous beer)

OG –1.046
Primary – 14 days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.003 
Attenuation - 93.5%
ABV - 5.63%


Notes:

• A simple, sessionable Saison

• I ended up putting this in the rye whiskey barrel on 10/24/12; not much whiskey flavor remains and hoping to get more dry oak out if than anything; need to check soon and transfer it before much whiskey comes out

Batch No. 58 - Sticky Fingers Fresh Hop

Sticky Fingers Fresh Hop Ale

Brewed - September 22, 2012

Style - Fresh Hop Ale / American Pale Ale

Ingredients:

• 15.0 lbs. Gambrinus 2-Row
• 4.0 lbs. Maris Otter Pale
• 2.0 lbs. Munich Light
• 0.5 lbs. Crystal 20L
• 0.5 lbs. Crystal 40L
• 0.5 lbs.Victory
• ?? oz. Fresh Cascades

• 1.50 oz. Cascade (60)
• 1.00 oz. Centennial (60)
• 1.00 oz. Cascade (30)
• 0.50 oz. Centennial (30)
• ?? oz. Fresh Cascade (5)
• ?? oz. Fresh Cascade (0)
• ?? oz. TBD (dry hopped)

• Wyeast #1056 American Ale (2 packs / 1000 ml starter)

OG – 1.056
Primary – 10 days
Secondary - 13 days (dry hopped)

Kegged -October 15, 2012

FG - 1.010
Attenuation - 82.1%
ABV - 6.0%

Notes:

• "Fresh Hop" American Pale Ale brewed with fresh Cascade hops harvested the previous evening at Finn Hill Farms....thanks Bob!!!
• Inspired from the trip to Yakima for Hop School and my first fresh hop beer :)
• I didn't weigh the fresh hops, but after picking from the bine, my bucket was filled over the 4-gallon mark
• I added a few oz. or so into the mash with the bulk added at the 5 and 0 min mark of the boil; pellet hops added for bittering at the 60 and 30 min marks

 Trunk full of hops :)

 

Batch No. 57 - Vindobona Lager

Vindobona

Brewed - September 1, 2012

Style - Vienna Lager

Ingredients:

• 17.0 lbs. Vienna
• 2.0 lbs. Pilsner
• 1.0 lbs. CaraMunich
• 0.5 lbs. Melanoidin

• 2.0 oz. Hallertaur (60)
• 0.75 oz. Hallertaur (20)
• 0.50 oz. Hallertaur (0)

• Wyeast #2124 Bohemian Lager (1200 ml starter / 3 pack)

OG – 1.058
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.011 (estimated)
Attenuation - 81.6% (estimated)
ABV - 6.2% (estimated

Notes:

• mmmm, Vienna Lager....love to drink it, so was overdue for making another batch; slight variation to my first batch brewed late last year
• Mash at 154° and 60 min
• Ferment at 40 degrees
• Had trouble cooling below 65, so let the wort cool down to ~ 40 overnight in the chest freezer and pitched the yeast the next day

Batch No. 56 - The Pide of Cucurbita

The Pride of Cucurbita

Brewed - August 25, 2012

Style - Robust Porter

Ingredients:

• 15.0 lbs. American 2-Row
• 4.0 lbs. Smoked Hubbard Squash
• 2.5 lbs. Munich Light
• 2.0 lbs. Vienna
• 2.0 lbs. Chocolate
• 1.5 lbs. Crystal 120L
• 1.5 lbs. Caraplis/Dextrine
• 1.25 lbs. Flaked Barley
• 1.0 lbs. Midnight Wheat

• 1.5 oz. Centennial (60)
• 0.5 oz. Cascade (30)
• 8.5 lbs. Smoked Hubbard Squash (20)
• 0.75 oz. Cascade (10)

• Safale US-05 Dry Yeast (2 packs)

OG – 1.065
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.012 (estimated)
Attenuation - 82% (estimated)
ABV - 6.9% (estimated)


Notes:

• Had some squash left over and since Elysian brewed the smoked squash brown, I decided to use the smoked squash with a darker beer this time - a chocolate porter; should be a good beer for the cool fall weather
• 2.0 lbs. of squash in the mash and 8.5 lbs. in the boil

Batch No. 55 - Theme from the Barrel No. 2

Theme from the Barrel No. 2

Brewed - June 3, 2012

Style - Imperial Porter

Ingredients:

• 11.0 lbs. American 2-Row
• 9.0 lbs. Maris Otter
• 5.0 lbs. Rauch Malt
• 3.0 lbs. Midnight Wheat
• 2.0 lbs. Crystal 60L
• 1.5 lbs. Sugar in the Raw
• 1.5 lbs. Chocolate
• 1.0 lbs. Crystal 90L

• 1.25 oz. Centennial (90)
• 0.75 oz. Cascade (90)
• 0.75 oz. Cascade (30)

• Safale US-05 Dry Yeast (3 packs / no starter)

OG - 1.092
Primary – 25 days
Barrel - ?? days
Secondary - ??? days

Transferred to the barrel -June 28, 2012

Kegged - ???

FG - 1.021
Attenuation - 77.2% 
ABV - 9.3%


Notes:

• Finally brewing one of my favorite styles, an Imperial Porter
• Fermented beer will be dumped into my 7.5-gallon Rye Whiskey Barrel from Woodinville Whiskey Company, which was recently emptied of the American Barleywine
• I'm hoping to get one more good turn out the "fresh" barrel and fuse the imperial porter with the rye whiskey notes; afterwards I will strip and clean the barrel to either use for a few fresh oak beers or turn it loose for sour beers 
• Barrel was rinsed with warm water after transferring out the barleywine and then I burned a sulfur stick in the barrel to prevent microbial growth while it sits for approximately 3 more weeks until the new imperial porter is ready; ideally I would have been more on top of this to have it ready closer to the emptying of the barrel, but I've been busy with NHC beers and the barrel flavors really took off into the barleywine the last 1.5 weeks before transferring it out
• Mash at 152° for 90 minutes
• Turbinado Sugar was added into the boil @ 30 mins to help bump ABV and fermentability
• 90 min boil
• First time using Midnight Wheat malt and the wort had a gorgeous chocolate cappuccino layer as it approached boiling
• I got a normal ~ 10 gallons with this batch, so unlike the barleywine where I used 100% for the barrel, I will have ~ 2.5 gallons of base beer to compare to the barrel-aged version

Updates:

• Hydrated the barrel with water for 2 days prior to transfer
• Transferred to the barrel on June 28, 2012
• Gravity at transfer was 1.021 for a 9.3% ABV
• Transfer to the barrel much easier the 2nd time around!!
• The barrel is definitely bigger than the listed 7.5 gallons; closer to 8.5 gallons and will measure it next time I clean it out

Batch No. 54 - Apple Cores, Smoke Galore and a Blonde of some Uniqueness

Apple Cores, Smoke Galore,
and a Blonde of some Uniqueness

Brewed - May 27, 2012

Style - Blonde Ale / Other Smoked Beer

Ingredients:

• 16.0 lbs. 2-Row
• 1.0 lbs. Crystal 15L
• 0.5 lbs. White Wheat

• 1.5 oz. Willamette (60)
• 0.5 oz. Willamette (20)
• ~ 10 lbs. Smoked Apples (20)

• Wyeast #1056 American Ale (2 packs / 1200 ml starter)

OG – 1.042
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.008 (estimated)
Attenuation - 81% (estimated)
ABV - 4.5% (estimated)

Notes:

• Blonde Ale brewed with ~ 10 lbs. of smoked apples curiosity of Brandon and his BGE; the lot was split between Gala and Fiji apples; like the smoked squash beer, I added this into the boil at the 20 min mark
• Even though the inside of the apples were surprisingly moist and sealed off from the smoke when I cut them into smaller pieces, I don't expect to get much apple flavor, so I will probably be adding apple juice into one of the fermenters after I take a sample
• Mash at ~ 152° for 60 minutes; 60 min boil
• Grain Mill was out of commission, so I used an old coffee grinder; grains were finer than usual and that hurt the efficiency a bit as I expected to be more in the 1.050 OG range

Batch No. 53 - The Alpha Acid Test

The Alpha Acid Test

Brewed - May 18, 2012

Style - American Pale Ale

Ingredients:

• 10.0 lbs. Maris Otter Pale
• 7.0 lbs. Gambrinus 2-Row
• 1.0 lbs. Munich Light
• 0.4 lbs. Crystal 20L
• 0.4 lbs. Crystal 40L
• 0.4 lbs. Biscuit

• 0.90 oz. Chief #3 / P9-VA517005 (60)
• 0.60 oz. Chief #3 / P9-VA517005 (10)
• 0.25 oz. Chief #3 / P9-VA517005 (5)
• 0.25 oz. Chief #3 / P9-VA517005 (1)
• 1.30 oz. Chief #3 / P9-VA517005 (dry hop - keg #1)
• 2.00 oz. Chief #2 / P9-VA436007 (dry hop - keg #2)

• Wyeast #1056 American Ale (2 packs / 1000 ml starter)

OG – 1.052
Primary – 9 days
Secondary - ?? days (dry hopped)

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.006
Attenuation - 88.5%
ABV - 6%

Notes:

• American Pale Ale brewed with some new experimental, high alpha hops
• We received 7 types of experimental hops from Hop Union to be used at our discretion for a beer to pour at NHC; they were all high alpha hops and based on comparing the aromas, I choose one to be the "single" hop to get me to ~ 40 IBU's
• I figured a simple Pale Ale would be a good way to go to really see how the hop does in bittering and flavor 
• I used Chief #2 / P9-VA517005 (15.5% alpha, 5.6% beta) for all hop additions and will dry hop one keg with the 1.3 oz. that remain
• I will use some Chief #3 / P9-VA436007 (17.6% alpha, 6.4% beta) for dry hopping the 2nd keg
• Both of these hops had a nice, fruity, spicy aroma and quite a few others were heavier on the garlic, onion side that I tend not to like that much; we weren't given any flavor profiles, so we'll see how the flavor works out 
• Mash at ~ 152° for 60 minutes; 60 min boil
• Fermentation started in the low 70's

Batch No. 52 - From the Northweiss Corner

From the Northweiss Corner

Brewed - May 18, 2012

Style - Light Hybrid Beer / American (Hoppy) Wheat

Ingredients:

• 12.0 lbs. Rahr Red Wheat
• 5.0 lbs. Weyerman Pilsner
• 5.0 lbs. Weyermann Vienna

• 1.0 oz. Cascade (60)
• 0.75 oz. Amarillo (60)
• 1.5 oz. Amarillo (5)
• 2.0 oz. Amarillo (1)
• 4.0 oz. Amarillo (dry hop)

• Wyeast #3068 Bavarian Wheat (3 packs / 1200 ml starter)

OG – 1.062
Primary – ?? days
Secondary - ?? days (dry hopped)

Kegged - ??

FG - 1.011 (estimated)
Attenuation - 82.3% (estimated)
ABV - 6.7% (estimated)

Notes:

• 2nd go at a New Glarus Crack'd Wheat inspired beer; a hoppy hefeweizen aka a Pacific Northweiss Ale (new style - haha!)
• Mash at ~ 152° for 60 minutes; 60 min boil
• Tried to start fermentation in the mid-60's but ambient temps kept it in the low 70's for the first few days

Batch #51 - Saison de Soufflé Fleur

Saison de Soufflé Fleur

Brewed - May 5, 2012

Style - Saison

Ingredients:

• 27.0 lbs. Pilsner
• 5.0 lbs. Red Wheat
• 2.0 lbs. Munich Light
• 1.0 lbs. White Wheat

• Perle - 3.0 oz. (60)
• Saaz - 2.0 oz. (30)
• Dandelion Tea - 32.0 fluid oz. (1.1 oz. dry dandelion leaf tea)

• Wyeast #3711 French Saison (1200 ml starter / 3 packs)

OG –1.068
Primary – 13 days
Secondary - ?? days

Kegged - ??


FG - 1.005 
Attenuation - 92.7%
ABV - 8.2%


Notes:

• Collaboration brew with fellow homebrewing aficionado Bob Zormeir
• After trying Fantome Pissenlit years ago, I have long wanted to try to brew a dandelion saison; with NHC coming up, this was one the beers I wanted to finally get brewed 
• In this case, we brewed the beer together and each are trying a different method with the dandelions
• On the fly, we scaled up a recipe that Bob has worked up; I had never brewed a 15-gal batch on this system, so it was a learning process
• I didn't estimate the pre-boil runoff correctly and we ended up with 13.5 gallons and overshot the targeted OG
• Bob took ~ 5 gallons home with him and when fermentation slows, he will be adding a tea he made with fresh dandelion flowers and a different saison yeast (Wyeast #3724 Belgain Saison I think)
• I made up some strong dandelion tea an dumped ~ 32.0 liquid ounces into the fermenter before the transfer; ~ 5 gallons were transfer on top and I will be adding more tea depending on flavor, strength, etc.
• The remaining ~ 3.5 gallons will be fermented as is with no dandelions and hopefully will turn out to be a tasting wheat saison 
• We both plan on serving our saisons at the NHC Club Night and it will be interesting to taste the different results 
• Mash at 152° and 90 min boil
• Start the ferment ~ 72° 

Updates:

• Wyeast #3711 is a workhouse and this was down to 1.005 in 13 days
• On May 18th, I added ~ 40 oz. of dandelion tea to 4.5 gals of saison in one keg; I have ~ 3.5 gals in the other and will either leave as is as a base or will use some to blend into the dandelion keg depending on how it tastes in a few weeks 

Transfer to the Barrel

After a long, slow ferment that including re-pitching some dry yeast, the Theme from the Barrel No. 1: American Barleywine was finally ready to transfer into the rye whiskey barrel.  The ~ 2.5 gallon carboy fermented down to ~ 1.028 and the ~ 5.0 gallon carboy fermented down to ~ 1.034.  Not quite as low as I had hoped, but it tastes pretty good and we'll see how it turns out after some time in the barrel.  So that comes out roughly to 1.032, 72% attenuation and a hefty 10.6 % ABV.  The barrel should add a little to the ABV.

One bummer though is that I didn't quite have enough barleywine to top off the barrel, so I had to add a little bit of Shore of the Baltic Sea (the only other dark, strong beer I have going right now).  Didn't quite get the runoff I thought I got during the brewday and my math must have been off somewhere.  I had hoped to have ~ 1 gallon or so to keep around to top off every so often as the beer was absorbed into the barrel, evaporated, etc. but I'll just have to do that with the baltic porter instead.

I'll give it some time and give a taste in the next month or so.

A little Saison tasting :)

Got together with some friends for the long-awaited and much discussed Saison blowout tasting.  Lots of tasty interpretations of the best beer style on earth.  Standouts for me were the Saison Dupont Dry-Hopping, Hill Farmstead Anna & Florence, Au Baron Cuvée des Jonquilles and Fantôme Saison of course!!

Here's a mostly complete list:

• Au Baron Cuvée des Jonquilles
• Southampton Saison Faucille
• Fantôme Hiver (Winter) – 2008
• Boulevard Saison with Brett – Batch 1
• Blaugies Bière Darbyste
• The Commons Oat Saison
• Fantôme Saison – 2008
• Saison Dupont Dry Hopping (magnum)
• Saison Dupont
• Logsdon Seizoen
• Logsdon Seizoen Bretta
• Fantôme Chocolat
• Fantôme Brise-BonBons!
• Hill Farmstead Anna
• Hill Farmstead Flora
• Hill Farmstead Florence 
• Blaugies La Moneuse
• Fantôme La Dalmatienne
• Pelican Saison du Pelican
• Upright Flora Rustica
• Lebbe l’Amalthée
• Saison de Pipaix
• Géants Saison Voisin
• Southampton Cuvee des Fleurs
• Fantôme BBB Dark White