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It's summer time and I've been craving something flavorful, but not sweet. I love a good, dry saison. And, if you haven't had a Fantôme Saison, then go out and find one. It's one of the best beers I've ever enjoyed. It's dry, crisp, and it has a great tangy citrus, lemon quality to it that I've never had in another beer. With that as my inspiration, I set out to brew another saison. While I was mulling this over, I happened to be house sitting for a friend of mine who has a kumquat tree on her front porch. So, picked them all off her tree, put them through a food processor and dumped it into the beer. Mmmm, tangy!

Julian and I brewed this beer before. It never dried out as much as we wanted, but the basic flavors were good. So, I used it as a starting point. Here it is again:

Grain:
76% Belgian pils
11.5% Wheat malt
4% Caravienne
8.5% dextrose.

Single Infusion Mash:
148 degrees for 1 hour
Sparge at 165 degrees.

Boil:
90 min. boil

Hops:
E.K. Goldings hops totaling about 30 IBUs.

Yeast:
A 3 day starter of White Labs WLP565 saison yeast.

Predicted Original Specific Gravity:
1.064

Notes:
Ferment at 80-90 degrees!

UPDATE 6/29 - After fermentation completed I pitched in a packet of Wyeast Rosilaire blend and about 2 cups of processed kumquats, skin and all. That should dry it out and tart it up a bit.

UPDATE 7/20 - Tastes fantastic. It has a wonderful kumquat nose. The rind comes through more in the beer than it does even just eating a kumquat, but it's very nice. It smells slightly of orange, but much more interesting. I love the kumquat. The sour bugs don't really come through, but it's a little earthy and bretty. And, wow is it dry. It finished out at 1.011 you can't ask for much more than that.

I was so overwhelmed by the bourbon aged Angel's Share from Lost Abbey, that I had to brew something in that spirit. It's a very malty barleywine that's heavy on the roasted malt and has a huge vanilla and caramel nose. After brewing this, I think the only thing I'd change is the oak I used. I used medium toast American oak chips on the advice from the folks at Beer, Beer, and More Beer. I think I'll use only heavy toast from now on. To my understanding, that's what gives that vanilla aroma associated with bourbons and that's why those barrels are used. At any rate, this beer tastes great. Caramel heaven. The carbonation is still a little low, as you can see in the pic, and it was tough to show the ruby highlights. I did my best with my cell phone, but it's really a beautiful beer... I'll try to update it later.

Grain:
90% English Pale Malt
5% Corn Sugar
2% Crystal 75
2% Special B
1% Chocolate

Step Infusion Mash:
140 degrees for 15 minutes.
150 degrees for 45 minutes.
Sparge at 165 degrees.

Boil:
5.5 hour boil

Hops:
Magnum hops totaling 100-ish IBUs added at 60 minutes.
1.5 oz Centennial added at knockout.

Yeast:
I pitched this onto the 2 week-old cake of WLP-001 from a pale I made previously.

Predicted Original Specific Gravity:
1.120
I hit 1.123

Notes:
Ferment at 67 degrees for 2-3 weeks and bump it up to 70 when fermentation starts to slow down. When it's pretty much finished out, pitch in some medium toast American oak chips. I let the oak sit for 3 days before kegging. Mine finished out at 1.037, which is higher than I had hoped, but I didn't use O2. I'll have to invest in some oxygen for the next beer I do this large to try to get it down to 1.025 hopefully.

I'm back from a short hiatus after moving from So California up to the East Bay Area. The brewery is back in business and this time my dad helped out. We brewed up 5 gal of a hoppy pale ale.

Grain:
85% Pale American Malt
3% Carapils
4% Crystal 15
4% Crystal 35
4% Munich Malt

Single Infusion Mash:
Saccharification rest at 155 degrees for 45 minutes.
Sparge at 165 degrees.

Boil:
90 min. boil

Hops:
0.6 oz Columbus added at 60 minutes.
0.5 oz Centennial added at 30 minutes.
0.5 oz Amarillo added at knockout.
2 oz Amarillo dry added after primary fermentation.

Yeast:
2 vials of White Labs (WLP001) Cal Ale Yeast.

Predicted Original Specific Gravity:
1.054


Notes:
Thanks for the recipe Julez.

HUGE Amarillo nose. It smells and tastes a bit like an IPA. I think I'll dial back the hops a bit for next go around, but it tastes great.

Each year, the Toronado in San Francisco hosts a battle of barleywines. 55 beers were served this year. According to the judges, Lagunitas took home a gold, Stone with a silver and Firestone had the bronze. I'm not going to go into as much detail as I did 2 years ago. I'll just hit a few highlights.

There were a lot of good beers there this year. There was only one bad in the whole lot from "Devil Mountain." The brewery is defunct and the keg was too. It was soured, fungal and somewhat fecal according to some. It was a total dumper. The rest were good on their own, but most seemed a little lack luster compared to just a few.

My personal favorite beer of the day was the Lost Abbey Angel Share 2006. Wow, what an oakey caramel, chocolate delight. I doubt I'll have another chance to taste that one again, though I do have 2 bottles of the 07 in storage thanks to Julian. The only possible complaint in this beer may be that it could be slightly off style according to BJCP. Oh well... it's damn near perfect the way it is. Next to that, I really enjoyed the Schooner's Barleywine. Also very oakey, vanilla and caramel and a little winey. Also possibly off style, but again, who cares?

I also enjoyed one from Lagunitas. It was very hoppy for a barleywine, but fantastic. And, back to the oakey, the Firestone Walker was top notch. Very clean and somewhat less complex than the Lost Abbey or Schooner's, but it certainly stood out.

There were a few others I really liked, but who wants to read about beer? Grab a glass if you can, or just check out the pictures if you're at work or something.

By the way, Julian Shrago brought a couple homebrews to share at the fest (see the last pic). He had a bourbon barleywine and an oaked Imperial Stout. Both of which easily stood up to the best of the beers at the fest. Watch out for that guy. He'll be opening a brewery sometime in the next few years. He's calling it "Bellwether." Good stuff.

My dissertation is done, I've defended my work and UCI just deemed me a Dr. So, it's time to brew up a big and bold beer. I've been thinking of something along these lines for a while. I took my Russian Imperial Stout recipe, and cut back on the roasted malts, added a little oatmeal, and then I'm going to sour it. You can think of it as an imperial Oud Brun, or a sour Belgian Stout. I call it "thesis."

Grain:
71% Pale English Malt
7.5% Special B
5% Crystal 120
5% Rolled Oats
5% Corn Sugar
4% Cara Munich
1.5% Chocolate Malt
1% Roasted Barley

Step Infusion Mash:
Protein rest at 120 degrees for 20 minutes.
Saccharification rest at 147 degrees for 45 minutes.
Sparge at 165 degrees.

Boil:
180 min. boil

Hops:
Hallertauer hops totaling 36 IBUs added at 60 minutes.

Yeast:
A 2 day starter of White Labs (WLP001) Cal Ale Yeast. I propped up 2 vials in 3 liters on a stir plate for 2 days before cooling in the fridge overnight, decanting and pitching into the remaining wort. I'll let this finish out before adding some Brett. and Lacto in the secondary.

Predicted Original Specific Gravity:
1.095

Notes:
Ferment for 2-3 weeks before transfering onto the Brett cake left over from my Lambic I brewed last month. And then I'll let it sit for another few weeks before kegging it up and letting it sit for a year or two.

EDIT 12.30.2007: I transfered the beer onto a cake of brett left over from my lambic. I also added a little of the dregs from the lacto I added to the lambic. I hope this thing sours up a little over time. It was tasting a little hot and fuselly. Time may fix that. I'll keg it up in a little while and then let it sit for a few years.