Yard City Brewing

I finally made biere this year. Rebecca said the weather would be favorable and boy (boi!) was it. Today I made lambic. Lambic number 2 in a series of 3 that would be blended to make a Gueuze (head exploding Gueuze!) that we'll be drinking in about 3 1/2 years. D'oh. The wheat is from my mother's family's farm in and around Lewiston, Idaho.

Lambic II

13# Castle Pils
6.5# 'Wagner' Wheat
8oz Debittered Hop Pellets
Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
Starter from 'Gueuzefest '07'

Mash schedule: 122 - 153 - 174
Boiled for 2 hours.

O.G. 1.052

On half the batch I pitched 3278 with no starter and a healthy amount of oxygen. On the other half I pitched unstarted 3278 and a starter from 'Gueuzefest '07'. You call it Thanksgiving, we call it Gueuzefest. Every Thanksgiving Wade and I drink several bottles of Gueuze. I made a starter for the dregs this year. I started it and then stepped it up one time. That's what I pitched today.

The first in the series of 3 was 5.5 gallons of 1.057 wort with 2 packs of 3278. The mash schedule was 113, 131, 143, 156, 171.

This is the end. Thank you.

Wednesday, March 12th was the day. Somehow the Super Saison finally got bottled up! I could hardly believe it. Nearly 6 months to the day since cold conditioning began. I did it in one day in two sessions. One in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I nabbed out the 3711vss French Saison strain that I used to make Jib, and started it 5 days before to make sure that it was alive. I primed it at about 2.8-2.9 volumes. I believe there was still a decent amount of CO2 still in the beer from the gas that was in the headspace during Lagering. It is incubating now upstairs all cuddled in a blanket and heating pads at about 80 degrees. Schnuggy! With the tiny sample I pulled out and carbonated with the carbonator cap, I can see that while it wasn't overly 'hot' when it went in, it certainly had been tamed. And appears now to be dangerously consumable.

Super Saison

10 x 750 ml
4.5 x 375 ml
21 x 12oz
= 563 oz = 4.4 gallons

Super Woody

1 x 1500 ml 'magnum' pi
8 x 750
4 x 375
21 x 12
= 557 oz = 4.35 gal

total = 8.75 gallons of love

1. Lambic
2. 3711 Saison 1
3. 3711 Saison 2
4. 3191 Berliner Weiss Blend Bier
5. Roselare Bier (rumored to be in the next VSS series in April)
6. Belgian Pale w/moderate hopping and Lambic Mix in the secondary
7. Dubbel 1214/3787 split
8. Sour Mash Saison or Wit. I made a Wit 2 years ago with 50% Weyermann Acidulated. It was good, but it didn't have the richer, earthier character that I believe a true sour mash would have. I've only sour mashed to 5% before. I'd like to make a 100% sour mash bierre.
9. Sour cherry beer with sour cherry juice in the kettle and/or secondary.
10. Golden Ale with a low temp ferment of 55-60F with 1007 German Ale.

Or: 'Cuvee de Crapp'

At the beginning of March I starting working on a project that was a long time coming. A 'grande cuvee' of a bunch of wild beer that was apparently going nowhere, at least as far as the flavor profile was concerned. Oh, it had gone somewhere. It had all reached terminal gravity and then some, but there was no real sourness in any of them. Some mild tartness in some, but not the sour character that I wanted. The aromas were there though. With the Brettanomyces Lambicus 'pie cherry-like' aroma dominating. (Mmm, yummy!) Since I have made these beers, I've learned more about how to make them produce an appropriate sourness. The Yard City Sour that I made in July is already well into tart and heading into sourness. Bon Voyage!

> Cast of Characters <

1. 1007 German Ale & Brett Lambicus (or 'Brett Lamb' as he was known on the '69 Stealers.) May '06 - 4 gallons
2. B. Anomalus & Pediococcus Apr '07 - 5 gallons
3. 1007 German Ale & Pediococcus Apr '07 - 4 gallons
4. 3726 Farmhouse, B. Clausenii, & L. Delbruekii '06 - 3 quarts (Most desirable of all.)
5. 'B5' Belgian Quad from the barrel '07/'08 - 1.5 gallons

So, about 15 gallons of wierdbier that wasn't too interesting on it's own. Blend it up, and... Viola! Still not that good. I sat on it a couple of days, carbonating some with the carbonator cap. Multiple tastings, hemming, hawing... Then, I finally decided to keep three gallons to 'fix' and dump the rest. Yippee! Dump!! After having some of this beer all over the house for a good while, it was liberating to downsize a couple o' carboys. Between all the gravities involved, there was still ample terminal for the bugs to eat. That's why I toyed with the idea of bottling some up unprimed. But, I didn't. At least it got done.

The 'fixer'? It was 3 gallons of the afore mentioned mess, about 1/2 gallon of a 3278 Lambic Mix starter (with lotsa starchy wheat), and a 1.5 gallon feeder of DME and maltodextrin to equal about a 1.040 starter. My guess is that this will turn tart, but not sour and be somewhat complex. I may bequeath it to Brad.... when he grows up.

'Lil Jib is the 'Infamous Saison' made on December 7, 2007.

13.25# Castle Pils
4.5# Wheat
1# 9 oz Dextrose
2 oz US Northern Brewer 7% aa
2 oz German Spalt 4% aa
2 oz German Spalt 2.6% aa
Wyeast 3711 VSS 'French Saison'

Mash regime: 126F, 150F, 169F

10.5 gallons of 1.052 OG wort.


I thought this bier was finished at 1.006. That would've been 88.5% AA, the most I'd have had from a yeast ever. It was still turbid and I thought since it was a low floculator it was done. BUT, after it sat it finished at... 1.002! 96% AA! and 6.6% abv. Wow.

Well, I was more prolific this year. Still, slightly disappointed that I didn't squeak out at least one more batch of beer than I did. In the recent past I had made 12 or 13 batches per year. And last year included in those were one batch each of mead and cider. And also in the past these were 5 gallon batches. This year I made 17 batches of beer at about 10 gallons each. I got to make multiple batches with big original gravities. So, I learned a lot about maximizing my own outfit. How much grain, how much liquor, etc. Set up, tear down, organization. Taking kids to and from school and making a kick ass dinner... brewing all the while! I also just learned a lot about making beer by doing it and by talking to other club dingbats.

The number would have been more gratifying if John hadn't pushed out 21 (or more) batches of beer. Oh, well there's always next.... I mean this year. (D'oh! I need to get off my lazy ass and make some beer this year.)

Since my notebook was lost (why can't they make ones that stick to the top of your car while driving!?) I don't have all my batches written out for this year. I'm missing info for the first three.

1. Yard City Gold A golden ale. I used all Amarillo hops. (?)
2. 1.076 Starter Stout for Imperial Stout yeast (?)
3. Bourbon Barrel Imp Stout: Boo, hiss, etc. (?)
4. Pedio Beers: 1007 & Pedio, B. Anomalus & Pedio T Apr 3
5. Saisons: 3724, 3724 & B. Anomalus (in my glass right now) W Apr 4
6. "Bobby" Saison: 3726 'Farmhouse' (1 bottle left) Th Apr 5
7. "Dicky" Saison: 3726, second pitch (Also 1 bottle left) Sat May 5th, Big Brew
8. Bourbon Barrel BarleyWine I: 1084, 1098 pitch from Silver City T May 22
9. Uptown B town Blonde Gets Her Ass Handed to Her in Yard City F June 8
10. BBBW II: Sat June 16 w/ Jack
11. Super Saison: 3726, third pitch. 1.103 OG (see below... somewhere) Th Jul 19
12. Yard City Sour: Red Beer w/ 3278 Lambic Blend F July 20
13. Summit Ave Presbyterian Pale Ale: APA w/ Summit Hops Sat July 21
14. B5 Belgian Quad for the silly barrel: Sept 20
15. WGV Bitter: 1968, 1056 Oct 5
16. AngleBrown: 1028, spot on (below)
17. Infamous Saison: VSS strain 3711 "French Saison" F Dec 7, 07

Oh, Yeah.... I didn't make the Dubbel that I've wanted to make. I'll do it soon. And I only made 50 gallons of Saison.....

An update from "Corking & Capping" below.

I redubbed this beer 'WeirdBierre' recently after I tried the first bottle. The first try was a capper, and then we uncorked the first corkable the other night. The corking seemed to work well. It had a nice 'pop' and I like having to take the wine key out for it. Anyway, back to the beer.

It's weird... Complex, almost 'multiple personality', in character. One minute I think one thing about it, and the next it has changed so much that I wonder what I was thinking the first time. At the very least I think that it will change favorably and greatly over a period of time. Uncorks with pop and visual 'smoke'. (I know it's not smoke, stupid!) Pours with plenty of head. It is dense and ever present with constant beads of CO2 to help keep it up. In fact the first one was so manic and constant with carbonation I thought that it was actually fermenting before my eyes. (Maybe it was!) Color is light gold with white head. The aroma is massively fruity. Maybe acetaldehyde, but definite cider character. Tutti Fruity. Some grainy malt. As it warms, the Brett funk becomes more obvious. At times it seemed more malty and other times more fruity. It's crazyweird. I'll try to elaborate on this bierre later when I have one in front of me. The labels are comin' soon, also. More on that later...

Saturday, Jan 26th & Sunday, Jan 27th

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

The bottling of the first half of my Bourbon Barrel Barleywine:

Did it today with the help of Keely, Shamus, Moira, and my brother in law Casey. Kids at one point got a bit drenched in StarSan. {hope that's okay charlie t.!?}

2 cases of 12 oz. bottles and 2 22 oz. bottles. I primed it at 3 3/4 ounces of dextrose supposing to equal 2.3 volumes for 5 gallons. Well. It was 4.75 gallons and the beer had retained more CO2 than I had supposed.... so it'll be be closer to 'normal' 2.5 volumes. I used Wyeast 1007 German Ale. At least it's done. Now all I have is about 14 more gallonsof beers to bottle before the end of the month.... d'oh..