Organic American India Black - Split Batch [Ale Yeast | 100% Brett]

I was watching TV the other day about Black history in Minnesota.  One story really stuck out to me.  There was a man by the name of George Bonga who was a fur trader of African American and Native American descent.  He was one of the first people of African American descent born in what is now Minnesota.  Born in Duluth, MN, formally educated in Montreal, and eventually made a home on Leech Lake.  An educated explorer, a voyageur, and fur trader.   He once tracked a murderer down and delivered the man to Ft. Snelling for prosecution which subsequently made him famous.  The thing I found the most interesting was how people of different cultures perceived him.   The Indians referred to him as pale because he was educated like the white men of the time.  He was in fact half Black and half Indian decent.   I thought a Black Indian Pale beer was appropriate.

It's hard to put this beer into a category much like it was hard to put George Bonga into a category.  It'll definitely be a Brown Ale, but because I used locally grown hops it's hard to say how much bittering power they have.  In my experience so far, locally grown MN hops don't bitter properly.  Because of this I adjusted the IBU's down about 15% but I still expect the final IBU's to be lower then even that.  This is one of those beers where I just take handfuls of locally grown hops and through them into the boil to see what happens! 

Bonga Black India Pale

malt & fermentables

%	LB	OZ	Malt or Fermentable	ppg	°L
79%	20	0	Briess Organic 2-Row	34	2
8%	2	0	Briess Organic Caramel 60L	34	60
6%	1	8	Briess Organic Chocolate Malt	34	350
4%	1	0	Briess Special Roast	34	50
2%	0	8	Briess Crystal 120L	34	120
1%	0	4	Briess Roasted Barley	34	300
	25	4

Batch size: 10.0 gallons

Mashed at 157 for 1 hour. Sparge at 170 for 20 minutes

Original Gravity: 1.060

Final Gravity:  1.015?

Color:  32° SRM (Black)

Mash Efficiency: 70% 

Hops

use	time	oz	variety	form	aa
boil	60 mins	3.0	Organic Magnum	leaf	12.0
boil	15 mins	1.0	Organic Cascade	leaf	4.0
boil	5 mins	1.0	Organic Cascade	leaf	4.0
boil	1 min	1.0	Organic Cascade	leaf	4.0

Bitterness: 58.8 IBU

Alcohol: 6.0% ABV

Calories: 198 per 12 oz.

5 G's fermenting on Wyeast NB NeoBritannia 1945

Large starter of second generation top cropped from Ithaca Brute Clone

Pitched at 65 degrees and fermenting at the same. 

5/28/12 - Aroma is smoky, and roasty.  Flavor develops with Caramel, chocolate, and a slight Green Tea flavor in the finish (from the local MN Cascades).   Nice beer, but could drop the crystal malt a tad and up the Chocolate malt.  Bottled from the Keg.

5 G's fermenting with 100% Brett:   Three varieties equal parts           |  Brett Lambicus  |  Brett Bruxellis  |  Brett Drie  |

Pitched with equal parts of each strain of Brett.
Pitched at 86 degrees 
5.18.12 - Added 1/4 ounce Medium Toast French Cubes.
5.28.12 - Bottled using 4.3 ounce corn sugar in 5 gallons to reach 2.5 volumes of carbonation.

•  No, it's not an Ale.  It's fermenting with 100% Brettanomyces.
• No, It's not just 100% Brett....it's 33.33% of 3 different kinds of Brett. (WY Brett L, WY Brett B, and Avery 15/ Brett Drie)
• No, it's not just Organic, it's locally grown Organic (OK...94% of the grain/hops is Organic)  
• No, it's not an American Brown, a Brown Porter, an India Brown, a Cascadian Dark, or Black IPA.