Trepidation - Belgian Tripel DIPA with Brett Drie and Wyeast French Saison

I wanted to brew something big for a yeast cake I had of a Session Saison Brett.  Because I  loved my first version of a Belgian Tripel/DIPA that I brewed a year ago that was inspired by Houblon Chouffe.   In addition to that, I also loved the Anchorage Brewing Bitter Monk when I had it in La Crosse at The Bodega a year ago.   I decided that I'd try my shot at something similar.   Anchorage Brewing Bitter Monk is a Belgian-Style DIPA aged in Chardonnay barrels with Brett.   It had a whole lot going on and the Chardonnay character was maybe a little too much, but the idea of it was amazing, and the execution was phenomenal and so I decided I must try and create something like this.   I paid $18 for a 750 ml of this beer and if I can create 5 gallons of something similar... I'll be living like a king!  

I took a pretty traditional Belgian Tripel grain bill, and then hopped it up with a mix of hops to reach a balance of earthyness in the flavor and then the piney, fruity aspects in the aroma.   The brett drie and Saison yeast should give a fruity flavor to the beer as well as spicyness on the nose. 

My brett of choice for this beer is brett drie for hoppy beers where you want more fruit and less funk.   Brett drie is an amazing bretta strain in that it has little "tradional" brett characteristics like barnyard, horse hay, cat piss, and more of the spicy fruity ones, like POG or tropical fruit.   In fact it's very similar to Wyeast French Saison in my opinion.   That all being said, I thought it would be a great complement to this beer. 

Both Wyeast French Saison and Brett Drie will help to attenuate this beer to an extremely high level.  For that reason, I mashed really high at 157 degrees as to not dry this out too far! Since Wyeast French Saison is similar to Wyeast Belgian Ardennes, I thought it could be a good idea for this beer!   I've always wonder how dry Wyeast French Saison would get when mashed high and now we'll find out! 

I'll sample it in a couple weeks a see where it's headed, and may add a tiny bit of oak chips that have been soaked in chardonnay.  That is completely up in the air right now.

Batch Size: 5.75 gallons

Specific Gravity: 1.073 OG

Color: 7° SRM Gold to Copper

Mash Efficiency: 65 %

Bitterness: 56 IBU

Alcohol: 8.7% ABV

Calories: 236 per 12 oz.
Mash Temp: 157-158 degrees
Fermentation Temp: 72 degrees

Malt & Fermentables

	%	LB	OZ			°L	PPG
	91%	17	~	Rahr Pilsner Malt	Mash	2°	34
	5%	1	~	Belgian Candi Sugar - Clear	Boil	0°	32
	2%	~	6	Belgian Biscuit Malt	Mash	24°	35
	2%	~	6	Belgian Aromatic	Mash	23°	34
		19	12

Hops

	Usage	Time	OZ			AA » IBU
	boil	60 min	0.6	Columbus		13.5 » 21.8
	boil	10 min	1	Columbus		13.5 » 13.2
	boil	10 min	1	Sterling		6.3   » 6.2
	boil	10 min	2	Styrian Goldings		3.6   » 7.0
	boil	1 min	1 ½	Amarillo		7.0   » 1.2
	boil	1 min	0.3	Apollo		19.7 » 0.7
	boil	1 min	1	Columbus		13.5 » 1.6
	boil	1 min	1	Simcoe		11.0 » 1.3
	boil	1 min	0.3	Summit		18.0 » 0.6
	dry hop	10 days	2	Amarillo		7.0   » 0.0
	dry hop	10 days	0.5	Simcoe		19.7 » 0.0
	dry hop	10 days	1	Sterling		6.3   » 0.0

Yeast

French Saison (3711)

WLP644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois My only worry is that this beer will dry out too much.   My related worry is that the beer will be too bitter. My only other worry is that the hops I used won't mesh with the Saison and Brett. My only other worry is that I'll add oak and chardonnay to a perfectly good beer and make it too complex and muttled. My only other worry is that, I need to Stop Making Sense! ***Name inspired by Russian River, beer inspired by Houblon Chouffe and Bitter Monk, recipe created by me.