Another bottling day down. Today I bottled Saison Lo Terminal. (Say it like your French.) Aka sick saison, aka brett saison, aka yer mom's saison... It's Wyeast's 3724 Dupont Strain with their Brettanomyces Anomalus which I'm sad to say is no longer available. Glad I got to use it three times before they parked 'er in the shed. This was a beer that started at 1.061. I believe I transfered it at 1.006 when it was "done". Boy was I wrong. It finished at 1.003 for 7.7% abv. I made it in April in a Saison brewing frenzy which included both 3724 and 3726 beers, as well as some Pediococcus beers.

In tasting it along the way, I wasn't sure what to think. It seemed like it was getting fruitier, but still had some unidentifiable character I called 'mealy'. Anyway, the ferment was pretty evenly split between both animals. Since 3724 notoriously gets ultra sluggish at 1.035 (the rumors are true!) the B. Anom. was really able to kick in and take it to town. I tried it last night and it had really changed. I was surprised. It had become way more defined and pleasantly fruity and had developed just the slightest edge of acidity that wasn't there the last time I had tried it. (September?) It might just be the sleeper hit of the season (saison).

It's an experimental bierre with experimental packaging. I got ahold of some of the bigger 29mm crowns so that I can cap champagne bottles. I also bought a Gilda hand corker so that I can cork 'em wine style then cap 'em ala Lindemin's, Cantillon, and old La Chouffe bottles. AND if that's not enough, this is supposed to be the first labeled batch.

Something I found out today is that not all champagne bottles are created equal. Not only are they differently shaped with different crown options, but there are different lip shapes and collar shapes so as to make it more of a puzzle than I originally thought. I ended up using only #7 corks as I couldn't get any of the #8's to fit in all the way. I think there's also more of a learning curve on the corker also, after today's use. I don't have it totally dialed like I wanted to, but at least I finally did it.

I primed it with dextrose to equal about 2.8 volumes.
I bottled with Wyeast 1007 German Ale.

Totals:

24 12 oz bottles
5 750 ml capped only
3 750 ml corked and capped
2 375 ml corked and capped
2 22 oz
1 .5 L
0 partridge/pear tree