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.

The Heifer, The Bullocks and the Runt [Blonde Biere De Garde | Sour BdG | 100% Brett BdG]

I've been wanting to brew a Blonde Biere De Garde ever since reading about them in the Farmhouse Ales book by Phil Markowski.

Biere De Garde is a classic farmhouse style ale similar in some ways to the French Saison Farmhouse Ale.   Where Biere de Garde's differ from Saison is that Bieres de Garde were meant to be cellared for a period or "laid down" and were maltier and higher in gravity.  Since these beers where typically lagered for months in corked champagne or belgian beer bottles they also picked up a distinct cellar aroma brought on by the cork.  Saison's where typically smaller beers, 3%, and drank a bit more fresh to be consumed by the farm-hands in replace of water throughout the summer months.    Here's a nice post on the differences between Biere de Garde and Saison.  I've had a few fantastic examples of the style..Castelain Blonde Biere de Garde, and Jolly Pumpkin Biere de Mars.   Castelain being brewed with an Ale or Lager yeast (not sure) and Jolly Pumpkin brewed with Souring yeasts and bacteria.   I wanted to replicate both versions so I decide to do a 10 gallon split batch.  I ended up doing 11 gallons (The Jeffrey Crane method of experimentation!) and pitched the 1 gallon with 100% Brett Drie as another little side experiment!

Often times I've read that Biere de Garde is fermented with lager yeast and that the yeast isn't an important part of the beers characteristic in modern examples of the style.  I tend to lean towards how they probably were brewed way back in history and I can only imagine that they were brewed with similar yeast strains as Saisons.  For my Ale version of Biere de Garde I went with a relatively unknown yeast called Belgian Shelde which presumably comes from Brouwerij De Koninck in Antwerp, Belgium.   This yeast seemed to be a perfect fit.  Slight sulfury (like a lager) yet retaining Belgian yeast characteristics (clove, fruity, but hopefully no banana as I hate banana in beer)

malt & fermentables

%	LB	OZ	Malt or Fermentable	ppg	°L
55%	15	0	Pilsner Malt	38	2
22%	6	0	Vienna Malt	36	3
7%	2	0	Candi Sugar, Clear	38	0
5%	1	8	Caravienne Malt	34	22
5%	1	8	American Crystal 20L	34	20
5%	1	8	Aromatic Malt	36	26
	27	8

Batch size: 11 gallons
Protien Rest at 127 for 15 minutes
Beta rest at 148 for 1 hour
Alpha rest at 158 for 30 min
Sparge at 168 for 15

Original Gravity:  1.059

Final Gravity:  1.012  

Color:   9° SRM   (Gold to Copper)

Mash Efficiency 58%

hops

use	time	oz	variety	form	aa
boil	60 mins	2.0	Hallertauer	pellet	4.8
boil	15 mins	2.0	Tettnang	pellet	4.5

Bitterness:  23.5 IBU

Alcohol:  6.3-7.3% ABV

Calories: 193 per 12 oz.

The Heifer (Young)
5 G's on Wyeast Belgian Shelde Ale yeast (Brouwerij De Koninck yeast)

2nd Place - Belgian, French, German

Pitched a smack pack at 65 degrees
 and fermenting at the same
5/28/12 - Bottled from Keg
10/13/12 - 2nd place in the Belgian, French, and German category of the Nordeast Big River Homebrew Competition!




The Bullocks (Old)
5 G's on ECY02 Flemish Blend
Siphoned from Sour Saison fermentor (second generation)
pitched at 65 degrees fermenting at 70 degrees.










The Runt (the little one)
1 G on 100% Brett Drie / Avery 15
Pitched at 80 degrees fermenting
vigorously within 18 hours at 65 degrees
5/28/12 - Bottled: I bottled and use carb tabs for carbonation.  I got 5-12 oz, and 1 -750 ml bottles.   Saved the yeast for pitching into a 5 gallon Saison type beer.