Barrel Beer Dark Saison Brewday

It is about time to swap out the current barrel beer for another; this one is a dark saison that I will most likely get aged on fruit. While my version is fermented with the same LTC slurry that has been used in previous barrel beers, Jake is using a saison yeast (I believe he finally settled on Lallemand after the Belgian Ardennes failed to take off) in his 5 gallon batch. The thought behind the yeast combination is that the saison yeast will contribute to the mouthfeel via glycerol production; this is also the intention behind  the spelt and the flaked oats in the mash, as, after all, the Brettanomyces should produce a beer with a very low final gravity, and it will need some body to bring this all together. As per usual, we’ll keep you posted!

175. Barrel Beer Dark Saison
Mash:
5 lbs. MFB Vienna
3 lbs. Best Malz Spelt
1 lb. Weyermann Dark Munich
1 lb. flaked oats
1 lb. D180 candi syrup
½ lb. Special B
½ lb. Weyermann Acidulated

Mash @ 150° F for 70 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 5 g. gypsum; collected 2 ½ gallons @ 1.060
Batch sparge @ 170° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 4 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.020

Collected 6 ½ gallons; added ½ gallon and brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 ¼ oz. Willamette leaf 7.8% AA
¾ oz. Millenium leaf 16.6% AA

w/10 to go: 1 lb. D180 candi syrup
3 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

Chilled and pitched 2 mason jars of Lactobacillus, bruxellensis Trois, and custersianus slurry from 173. Barrel Beer

Brewed: 7/1/2014 @ 74° F
Barrel: 7/18/2014
Fruit: 11/15/2014 @ 1.000; split four ways in 3 gallon carboys; three on fruit and one aged as is
175a. straight  
175b. 6 ½ lbs. sour cherries

175c. 1 lb. 5 oz. elderberries
175d. 4 lbs. pureed paw paws
Bottled: 3/1/2015 w/ 1.75 oz. table sugar for each batch

OG: 1.048
FG: 175a. 1.000
175b. 1.002
175c. 1.000
175d. 1.002

Tasting Notes: