Brew Date: July 14, 2019
Bottling Date: August 7, 2019
The inspiration for this batch was actually a homebrew competition prize, a bag of BC Select 2-row from Canada Malting Co. I never use Canadian 2-row, as I’m usually using either Bohemian Pilsner or Maris Otter as my base malt for the recipes I brew. The fact this is a somewhat locally grown malt is in keeping with the ethos of farmhouse brewing. I chose to use Willamette whole leaf hops for this batch as well, as they would be one of the best options for a quasi-local farmhouse ale.
For fermentation, I am using WYeast’s 3725 ‘Biere de Garde’, which is actually more of a saison strain by modern standards. While the BJCP interpretation of biere de garde has a more neutral yeast character, this will produce the esters and phenols associated with saison – and that’s more what I’m after, because otherwise it can be a bit of a plain beer. I do want to keep the yeast character moderate, so I won’t ferment this batch as hot as I would my saisons – and to add to the rusticity, I’ll just let it free rise at room temperature.
Recipe for 15.0L batch:
100% Canada Malting “BC Select” [4.00 kg]
30g Willamette whole leaf (5% AA) @ 60 min – 24 IBU
25g Willamette whole leaf (5% AA) @ 15 min – 7 IBU
2g Gypsum, 4g CaCl added to mash water
Mash: 55F for 15 min, 65F for 75 min, 75F for 15 min
Boil: 4 hours
Fermentation: WY3725PC, 2 month old pack w 1.75L starter
Pitch at 20C, let free rise in 22C ambient.
Tasting Notes:
The BC Select malt lends a strong candy-like sweetness to the beer despite the dry finish.