Beer.002 - Jester-King-Inspired Saison

This beer was brewed on October 21, 2017.  For my second all-grain batch, I was inspired to brew a saison in the vein of something by Jester King-- I had recently had access to a bottle that I saved dregs from, and had propped them up to a pitchable volume.  I can't recall which beer, but I know it was a saison in its base form (may've been Das Wunderkind, or one of the Provenance beers, but I can't be sure).  

A beautiful pellicle formed on the starter after a few cycles of feeding

I fished around online to find existing accounts of people who'd attempted something similar (any beer with a Jester King culture)-- I don't recall whether or not I found much of anything informative, but I do recall discovering that Jester King posted a handful of their recipes on their website's blog.  The one I chose to use was the recipe for Das Uberkind, from this post, which has a good amount of other recipes, as well.

My derivative recipe looked like this:

Batch Size: 11gal                                    Target Gravity: 1.046

/////GRIST////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

7.26kg German Pilsner Malt               83.8%

0.34kg  Flaked Oats                              7.9%

0.68kg Torrified Wheat                           4%

0.15kg Rye Malt                                   1.7%

0.225kg Vienna Malt                           2.6%

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

(The recipe was put into BeerSmith in pounds and ounces, so converting to kg at the homebrew shop made the converted percentages and kg values look pretty unrounded, haha.  I'm telling/presenting it the way it turned out, not the way I originally intended it to.  The homebrew shop was also running very low on Vienna (which I opted for, instead of Munich), so I supplemented it with a bit of rye-- because rye not.

/////HOPS////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

0.75oz EKG (5.6% AA) @ 60min       ~7.9 IBUs

0.75oz Saaz (2%  AA) @ 15min         ~1.4 IBUs

0.75oz Saaz (2%  AA) @ 10min         ~1.0 IBUs

1.5oz Saaz (2%  AA) @ 0min             ~0.0 IBUs

0.25oz EKG (5.6% AA)@ 0mi           ~0.0 IBUs

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

My original 0min hop addition was only going to be 0.75oz of Saaz, but based on what my log said I bought (3oz Saaz, 1oz KG), I bought slightly over what I needed-- I would've just used the extra in the last addition, which I have incorporated into the recipe above.  Also, in hindsight, that IBU level is a little low-- some of the AA values were slightly different than the original ones in BeerSmith.  I guess this one's gonna be tart!

/////WATER/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ca --------76ppm

Mg -------25ppm

Na --------79ppm

SO4 -----105ppm

Cl ----------5ppm

BiCarb --320ppm

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Assumed Halifax, NS Water Profile:    

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ca----------3.9ppm

Mg---------0.4ppm

Na----------16ppm

SO4--------7.7ppm

Cl-----------8.8ppm

BiCarb---13.7ppm

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Water Additions (added to strike water)       
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4)(85%)    19.6mL

Baking Soda (NaHCO3)                   5.6g

Epsom Salt (MgSO4)                        8.2g

Chalk (CaCO3)                                 6.3g

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Single-Infusion Mash @ 156F/68.9C

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Boil for 90min

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The higher mash will theoretically give a bit more body, but in practice, it will provide more longer-chain food for the Brett and bacteria to process.  I don't have many brew day notes from this batch, and don't remember anything weird happening-- I guess that means everything must've went pretty well.    My gravity landed at 1.044 OG, which is great.  Post-boil, the beer was chilled down to ~70F and transferred into 2 carboys, with equal volumes of the Jester King culture added to both (probably ~750mL ea).  As was the case with the prior batch, I'm hoping this beer will dry right out, landing around 1.000FG, which would make the beer 5.8% (but we'll see what happens).  As before, I'll do a follow-up post for every batch that is more of a long-term project, as this one is.  I intend to let this batch continue to develop for 6-12 months, and will add light-toast French oak cubes to this one (perhaps soaked in wine, beforehand).  This will ferment and free-rise as it will, in an ambient room temp that may fluctuate between 66F-74F, season-depending.

One of two carboys, a day after pitching.

If you've looked at my first beer post, you'll have probably noticed that this recipe is very similar to it.  At this point in time, it is safe to say that much of my interest lies in yeast expression, so I will be doing a bit of experimentation to see how different cultures express themselves, with saison-type grists being of interest for me.  I'll likely do some Belgian golden ales, or singles, as well, at some point in the near future.

Stay tuned for updates.

***A closing note:  I happen to still have my receipt from buying my ingredients, so in case you're curious, this batch only cost me $38 CAD.  I provided my own yeast, and already had my water additions, so those costs aren't included-- just hops and grains.  That's a great price for 10 gallons of beer, with the added bonus of brewing experience, considering an 18-pack of Whatever-the-Hell and a night you'll probably forget will cost you about that much.