Saison with Strawberry and Apricot (Fantôme-ish)

Ask any beer geek, "what got you so into beer?" and you're likely going to hear an answer involving aha moments of when particular beers made a profound impression in that person's life. In my story, one of those moments was when I had Fantôme Saison for the first time. I can distinctly remember the smell of wild strawberries and other nondescript stone fruit busting out of the glass. Once I got past those initial characteristics, spices, earth, and a slight funk were also present. On the palate, those same flavors carried through, but were accompanied by some lactic tartness.

I have been told by people who have asked him, Dany Prignon asserts that there is no fruit in Fantôme Saison. All of the aromatics apparently come from the interplay of malt, yeast and a proprietary blend of spices.

Researching online for a recipe from someone who was familiar with the original beer and who could provide input on their clone attempt, brought me to this thread at Northern Brewer. Very few changes were made to the original recipe. I substituted Hallertauer for Tettananger and used powdered instead of crushed coriander (and less of it). The goal was to make a beer with a similar sensory profile to Fantôme Saison, not to clone it.

At the time that I brewed this beer, I had yet to find a yeast that throws off strawberry esters (until Dmitri of BK Yeast sent me his 2007 Cantillon Iris C2 strain). To achieve that character, frozen strawberries were used because I could not find a strawberry juice that was actually juice from strawberries, and because the frozen strawberries were picked ripe and then frozen, rather than picked green and ripened on the shelf (I couldn't find any freshly picked strawberries at the time that were worth writing home about). Apricot juice (which contained other juices, such as grape juice) from my local health food store was used for the apricot character. A pure, unadulterated apricot juice could not be found.

Fantome inspired

Saison

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 5/13/2012
Batch Size: 11.50 gal	Brewer: Luke Hagenbach
Boil Size: 13.98 gal
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Blichmann 20 Gal brewing system
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 11.50 gal Denver-ish water Water 20.25 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 61.16 % 3.34 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 10.08 % 1.02 lb Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 3.09 % 3.75 oz Hallertauer [2.30 %] (60 min) Hops 12.7 IBU 2.00 lb Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 6.04 % 2.00 oz Hallertauer [2.30 %] (15 min) Hops 3.4 IBU 0.80 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 0.48 tsp Grains of Paradise (GoP) (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 0.12 oz Corriander (crushed) (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 1 Pkgs French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) Yeast-Ale 1 Pkgs Belgian Saison (Wyeast Labs #3724) Yeast-Ale 6.00 lb Frozen Strawberry (secondary 21 days) (6.0 SRM) Adjunct 18.12 % 64 oz Apricot juice (3.0 SRM) Adjunct 1.51 %
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.062 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.003 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.58 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 8.10 %
Bitterness: 16.0 IBU	Calories: 285 cal/pint
Est Color: 7.1 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion Mash, 1 Step, Light Body	Total Grain Weight: 25.11 lb
Sparge Water: 9.90 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Saccharification Add 31.39 qt of water at 160.4 F 150.0 F 10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F 30 min Fly Sparge Fly sparge with enough water to achieve pre-boil volume 168.0 F
Notes

5/13/2012: brew day

Substituted Hallertauer 60 minute addition for Tettananger
Used powdered coriander instead of crushed, and cut it from .29 oz additions to .12 oz.
Cut bitter orange peel from .96 oz to .80 oz.
Used 0.28 mm crush on grain mill. It seemed too fine. Next time ope in slightly.

Measured pre-boil gravity without sugar was 1.052. With sugar it would have been 1.057.
I forgot to add the candy sugar until the last 5 minutes of the boil.
Measured OG was 1.065.

6.5 G fermentor got the 3711 French Saison yeast cake from a previously brewed Sorachi Ace Saison.
6 G fermentor got a 1.5L starter of 3724 Belgian Saison, and was ramped from 73 to 90 degrees over 24 hours.
The Belgian Saison yeast took off vigorously within 12 hours, then subsided within 24 hours. 36 hours later, there was no visible sign of fermentation.
The French Saison yeast took off with a medium krausen (no blow off), and 36 hours later it was still chugging along.

05/26/2012 (13 days) - Pitched 32 oz apricot juice (bottle from local health food store) and 3 lbs defrosted frozen strawberries (Kirkland brand from Costco) into each fermentor. Strawberries were broken up with a potato masher.

06/03/2012 (21 days) - gravity readings:
French saison = 1.003; Belgian saison = 1.029
Will crash cool the French saison for 48 hours, then transfer to a keg. The Belgian saison was moved to ambient heat and will get pitched with the French saison yeast cake.

06/05/2012 (23 days) - Transferred French Saison version to keg and bottled about 3-4 750ml bottles. Transferred the Belgian saison version to secondary and added the washed French saison yeast.

06/17/2012 (35 days) - Belgian saison (pitched on French saison yeast cake) gravity reading 1.011. Bottled 3.17 gallons (12 liters) with 2.4 oz priming sugar, which should calculate out to 2.25 volumes of CO2, unless the Brett takes the FG below 1.011 (edit: it sure as hell did!)
(7) 750ml bottles were bottled with ECY05 (half of a container), and (9) 750ml bottles were bottled with washed cake of ECY20 (from a Sanctification clone). All bottles were bottle conditioned for several months before trying.

7/7/2013 - All of the bottles were super gushers from the beginning. It's actually amazing that they have not exploded. I made a rookie mistake of bottling too early when using Brett and bacteria. Both versions are tart and full of fruit, but there is way too much fruit floating around in the bottles, and due to the bottles being gushers, everything gets stirred up and quite cloudy.

Tasting notes and comments:

Many months have passed since I have had the non-wild versions of this beer, and proper tasting notes do not exist. From memory, I recall the fruit character being a bit overwhelming and gave the beer a sweet characteristic, despite the low 1.003 finishing gravity. Changes that I would make to the recipe would be to scale back the amount of fruit character and change the primary yeast to the now regularly available WY3724. I would reduce the strawberries by 1 lb (2.5 lbs/carboy) and substitute the apricot juice with 2 lbs/carboy of fresh apricots. A version with no fruit and pitching BKYeast C2 in primary alongside WY3724 would also be interesting.

The versions bottle conditioned with ECY05 and ECY20 are coming around nicely, with ECY05 having a slightly more funky character, while ECY20 is more sour.

To refresh my memory, I opened a bottle of the ECY20. Even after chilling in the freezer for 30 minutes, the bottle was a gusher, causing the yeast and fruit sediment at the bottom to mix into solution.

Appearance:
Cloudy reddish amber color with a huge, white, fizzy head that diminishes quickly, leaving behind a modest amount of lacing. The beer is hazy from the yeast and fruit particulates being stirred up by the gushing bottle.

Smell:
I would be hard-pressed to find a more prevalent and pleasant, fresh-picked strawberry aroma than what is wafting out of this glass. Mixed into the background of the dominant strawberry aroma are fresh picked wildflowers. If I didn't know that Brett was in this beer, I wouldn't have guessed it. Although, Brett's oxygen scavenging capabilities have kept this beer smelling as fresh as the day that I bottled it. Actually, even more fresh and perfumey, if that is possible.

Mouthfeel:
Spritzy, Champagne level carbonation bites at the tongue. There is just enough body to keep the beer from tasting thin on the palate.

Taste:
The fresh fruit is more muted in the flavor profile than it is in the aroma, but it is still there. There is just enough alcohol present to let you know this beer is not a 4-6% beer. The lactic acid is present enough to qualify this as a moderately sour beer. No acetic acid can be detected. A slight tannic bite on the finish that I can only associate with new oak, persists for several seconds.

Overall:
I'm quite impressed with how much fresh strawberry comes through on the nose; the smells coming out of the glass are beautiful and captivating (everyone that I have poured this for has made a big deal about the aroma). The slight booziness and tannic astringency on the finish could be done without, and the carbonation is way into the dangerous level for glass bottles.

0 IBU 100% Brettanomyces fermented IPA

A Crooked Stave WWBG clone recipe

There are few things I enjoy more as a brewer and beer enthusiast than (1) randomly discovering a new brewery that makes excellent beer, and (2) being introduced to a new beer style or process that works out magically. My introduction to Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project gave me both.

I randomly stumbled across Crooked Stave while on vacation in Fort Collins in 2011, shortly after Chad Yakobson started gypsy brewing out of Funkwerks (another great brewery, if you don’t know about it). This was my first experience with 100% Brettanomyces fermented beers. The first two beers that I had from Crooked Stave were WWBR and Pure Guava Petite Sour. It was hard to believe – other than the fact that both were gushers - that they had gone from boil kettle to bottle in about 6 weeks time.

One of my favorite examples of this fast, 100% Brett fermented style is Wild Wild Brett Green (WWBG), a highly hopped, dank, tropical fruit bomb that when consumed fresh presents more like an IPA than anything else. I was intrigued and wanted to make something similar myself. Chad helped me design the recipe below. My recipe is almost entirely his recipe, except I substituted East Coast Yeast Brett blends for Chad’s proprietary Brett strains, and used Amarillo and Nelson hops instead of Galaxy due to the limited supply of Galaxy at that time.

 

WWBG (1.1) Amarillo

[Not so] American IPA

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 3/30/2012
Batch Size: 11.50 gal	Brewer: Luke
Boil Size: 14.73 gal	Asst Brewer: Eric
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: Blichmann 20 Gal brewing system
Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 23.18 lb Brewer's Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western) (2.0 SRM) Grain 79.99 % 2.90 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 10.01 % 1.45 lb Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 5.00 % 1.45 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 5.00 % 2.25 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (0 min) (Boil) Hops - 7.75 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (15 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 7.75 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (Dry Hop 14 days) Hops - 5.47 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops - 1.23 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.20 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops - 1 Pkgs BRETT blend #1 (ECY) (East Coast Yeast #ECY04) Yeast-Ale   1 Pkgs BRETT blend #9 (ECY) (East Coast Yeast #ECY05) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.065 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.18 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.18 %
Bitterness: 0.0 IBU	Calories: 290 cal/pint
Est Color: 5.7 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body	Total Grain Weight: 28.98 lb
Sparge Water: 4.82 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 36.24 qt of water at 162.8 F 152.0 F 10 min Mash Out Add 20.29 qt of water at 203.1 F 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash with fly sparge.
Notes
3/30/2012: 0 minute hop addition was at flameout, Aroma steep addition was 15 minutes post flameout, and the hops soaked for 15 minutes before chilling to 67F. Pitched one carboy with ECY04, and one with ECY05 Batch size of 11.5 gal yielded closer to 10.5 gal (5.25 gal into each fermentor) due to the large hop loss. 04/10/12: 10 day gravity reading (with shitty, non-precise hydrometer): ECY04: 1.014 ECY05: 1.025 Transferred to kegs for secondary/dry-hopping. ECY04 dry hop: 35g Nelson Sauvin/60g Amarillo (waiting on ECY05 to come down in gravity before dry-hopping) 4/19/12: ECY04 removed dry hops and added 2nd dry hop (110g Amarillo). Put in keezer to dry hop at 39 degrees for 2-3 weeks. (check back on 5/3/12). ECY05 - Added 1st dry hops (95g Amarillo). Gravity was still high. Will give it through 4/29/12 before switching out hops. *Additional gravity readings were taken, but not recorded. I believe both versions eventually got down to about 1.007 before cold crashing. ECY05 was left to condition for an additional month before the 2nd dry hop addition was added.

Tasting Notes and Thoughts:

ECY04 - Aromas were mostly tropical (papaya with some pineapple) and citrus, with slight traditional Brett earthiness in the background. The mouth feel was medium with some dryness from the hop compounds. After a couple of weeks on draft, the flavors became integrated and more complex. The Brett gained more fruit ester complexity over time at the expense of the "fresh fruit" aroma.

ECY05 - This version went to my friend Mark's house, so I was less familiar with it and am reporting based on memory. I remember more (but light) barnyard notes, with slightly less tropical flavors - more in the direction one would expect from a beer fermented with Brettanomyces.

While I would not call either version an outright “clone” of WWBG, I would say that both were cut from the same cloth as the beer that inspired them. The propriety strains that Chad used in the Crooked Stave version were specifically chosen for their clean, low ester profile, and their fast attenuation. Galaxy hops also have a distinct aroma and flavor that is difficult to achieve with other hops.

Both of these test versions were good, but I preferred the ECO4 to the ECY05 for this style. It's cleaner and the Brett doesn't compete with the hops. This could have been due to the faster fermentation and quicker consumption of the ECY04, but I would say it’s primarily due to the characteristics that ECY05 produces (barnyard, horse blanket, etc.). Even in the original WWBG version brewed by Crooked Stave, I noticed a big change in the character from when I had it fresh to when I had it a couple of months later. The hops faded and complex Brett notes began to develop. Even so, the next time that I try something similar I will use a more fruit-forward Brett strain (e.g., Trois, BKY C2/C3).

Split batch: Redemption and Sanctification Clone Recipes

For me, homebrewing = experimentation. I have yet to ever brew the same beer twice. While I’ve repeated certain aspects of some recipes, I always tweak something the next time I brew it. It helps me learn.

Another way that I learn is by comparing and contrasting. I’ve been to many beer tastings, but the ones that have taught me the most are the ones in which I can do side-by-side tasting  rather than one after the other. I can smell one, then smell the other; taste one, then taste the other. The sensory experiences are so close to one another that it helps my brain distinguish between minute differences that I otherwise wouldn’t pick up on.

This was an inspiration for why I chose to build a system that brews 12 gallon batches. It allows me to spend the same amount of time brewing one base beer, and then do different things on the cold side of the equation. I can compare yeasts, fermentation temperatures, hops, dry-hopping schedules, and so on. The learning experience has been so much more than it would have been doing single batches, and it barely costs me any more time or money to pull it off.

Two beers that I’ve always enjoyed from Russian River Brewing Company are Redemption and Sanctification. Redemption is a Belgian Single, also referred to as “Enkel.” Traditionally, Trappist breweries would make this lighter version of their regular beers for consumption by the monks at the monastery. Redemption is similar to a Belgian Blonde, but is lower in gravity.

Sanctification is a non-barrel aged sour golden that is advertised as being primary fermented with 100% Brettanomyces, although Vinnie has stated that they also add Lactobacillus and Pediococcus from a house mixed culture.

After doing a little digging around, I found that these two beers were extremely similar in the malt profile, with the distinguishing differences being that Redemption is lighter on the non-2 row malts (3% each, compared to 5% each), and Sanctification is 4-6 (depending on the source) points higher in original gravity than Redemption. The Russian River Brewing Company website shows the original gravities at 1.048 and 1.052. In emails and interviews, Vinnie has quoted them at 1.052 and 1.058.

For my split batch, I went with the Sanctification malt bill and chose the higher of the two target gravities because I was most interested in getting the Sanctification beer down. A Belgian single can be whipped up anytime, but a sour beer requires a little hell of a lot more time before it is ready for consumption. A  portion of the hop schedule was moved to a 0 minute addition, which lowered the projected IBUs somewhat.
WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale yeast was used for Redemption because my local homebrew shop was out WLP530 Abbey Ale Yeast and there wasn’t time to order online. For Sanctification, ECY20 Bug County was used rather that the complex culture mix that Vinnie gave in his recipe.

Brew date: 03/24/2012
Batch size: 11.5 US Gal
Estimated/Actual OG: 1.058/1.056
Estimated IBU: 20.0
Estimated SRM: 4.2
Estimated ABV: 6.0% (Redemption)/7.0% (Sanctification)
Estimated total efficiency: 72%

Water:
Started with R.O., then additions to match Beersmith’s “Antwerp” profile.

Grain:
85.0% (21.60 lb) – American 2-row (Great Western) – 2.0 SRM
5% (1.27 lb) – Vienna malt – 3.5 SRM
5% (1.27 lb) – Acid malt – 3.0 SRM
5% (1.27 lb) – White wheat malt (Great Western) 2.4 SRM

Hops:
80 min – 1.48 oz Styrian Goldings (5.40% AA)
15 min – 1.48 oz Styrian Goldings (5.40% AA)
0 min – 0.5 oz Styrian Goldings (5.40% AA)

Other/Adjuncts:
15 min – 1 tsp Wyeast yeast nutrient
15 min – 0.5 tsp Supermoss
10 drops Fermcap

Mash:

50 minutes @152°F
10 minutes @168°F

Boil:
90 minutes

Yeast:
WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale (Redemption)
ECY20 Bug County (Sanctification)

Results/Notes:
Due to what must have been poor programming on my part, the fly sparge process turned on 38 minutes into the mash while I wasn’t paying attention (a pitfall of automation). The manual ball valve to the boil kettle was closed. The mash tun read 16 gallons (probably 5 gallons above the grain bed) before it was noticed and stopped. The mash temp was brought back up to 152°F for about 10 minutes before ramp out.

The sparge went fast (15 minutes), which likely added to the poor mash efficiency.
Pre-boil gravity was 1.043. Target was 1.047. The boil was slowly rolling due to some burner issues I had been having. At 90 minutes, the gravity was at 1.046. The boil was extended by 40 minutes. Gravity read 1.056 at knockout.

The batch was split into two carboys. A 1.5L starter of WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale was pitched into one carboy, and ECY20 Bug County was pitched into the other. Fermentation was at 68°F.
The Belgian Single was given a 1-week primary and 2 week secondary before racking half to a keg and bottling the other half. The Sanctification was given a 2 week primary and then racked to secondary for what might be forever, or a year, whichever comes first.