Saison/Gueuze Brewday

Today’s brewing was intended to put some of the yeast that is laying around to work; the saison was to grow up the yeast to use in subsequent experiments, and the ECY was to continue building up the gueuze varieties available for blending. Plus, when I roll this beer off the yeast in about a year, it will be ready for a five gallon batch. For those of you wondering how the picture relates: it doesn’t. But it is still awesome. 

181. Saison/Gueuze

Mash:

8 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Breiss White Wheat

½ lb. rolled oats

Mash @ 150° F for 90 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons RO water & 5 g. gypsum + 3 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.076

Batch sparge @ 165° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 ¼ gallons @ 1.028

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (90 minutes) & added:

w/60 to go: 1 ¼ oz. Comet leaf 10.9% AA

w/15 to go: 8 oz. table sugar

w/10 to go: 1 oz. Styrian Golding pellet 2% AA

3 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: 1 oz. Styrian Golding pellet 2% AA

Chilled, split into two 3 gallon carboys & pitched

181a. White Labs 585 Belgian Saison III

Brewed: 9/5/2014

Secondary: 11/26/2014 @ 1.002; topped off w/186a. & .65 oz. dried lemongrass

Bottled: 1/6/2015 w/ 1.75 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054

FG: 1.002

181b. ECY01 Bug Farm

Brewed: 9/5/2014

Secondary: 1/14/2016 @ .98; topped off w/ 203. One Last Lambic Hurrah

Bottled: 

OG: 1.054

FG:

Tasting Notes (5/1/2014): Lemongrass Saison pours a hazy but bright straw yellow; there is a white rocky head that has decent retention and leaves some lacing behind on the glass. In the nose, there is clove along with lower levels of pepper, lemongrass, slight amounts of bubblegum and some lingering banana cream pie; then first two months this was in the bottle, the banana cream pie was the dominant aroma, but it has mellowed out at this point. There are also hints of wheat malt underneath everything else, but not much else in the way of grain aromatics. The Pils and wheat do come through in the flavor—as does the oatmeal—there is a soft, doughy malt character that balances well with the bright carbonation, and some creaminess that seems to be a mix of yeast/glycerol and oatmeal. The lemongrass comes through clearest in the final third of the beer; the front is pepper/clove and banana along with the soft malt that runs into the middle; the carbonation bite in the final third cleans the palate and leaves lemongrass and citronella lingering pleasantly. This is a much better beer than it was three months ago; the flavors are better balanced, and the profile as a whole is cleaner with more nuance. This means I need to definitely push the botanical action with my run of summer saisons!  

563. The Bruery Rueuze

Another beer from the Bruery, the place that continues to taunt me with membership opportunities not available to those living outside of California. And yes, that makes the Bruery a tease. A dirty, dirty tease. Although if you wanted to sign me up in secret, I promise never to tell. Hint hint. Any-whoo, this is another to add to the list of Bruery beers that I compromised my morals to obtain, which includes: 5 Golden Rings, Marrón Acidifié (a collabo with Cigar City), Autumn Maple, Humulus Session, 3 French Hens, Saison de Lente, Rugbrød, Hottenroth, Orchard White and Saison Rue.

Rueuze pours a crystal clear gold with a thin white head that disappears well-nigh instantly, although the small, consistent stream of small bubbles keep a thin ring on the glass—very thin. It is bright and luminescent, throwing plenty of golden highlights in the light refracted through the beer. The nose is musty earth, oak, tartness, and vinegar pretty much in that order. Flavors start with citric lemon-y tartness and a slight doughy softness from the malt, moving into oak mixed with an acetic tang in the middle—the two play off each other nicely on the tongue. The finish is tart and puckery with some residual sweetness returning after the initial bite. While the carbonation comes across as a bit low, the beer remains active in the glass, although the tartness provides more mouthfeel than the carbonation. In a similar manner, the dry body does have some residual sweetness lurking in the background. Thus, Rueuze is simultaneously soft and bright on the palate—soft from the light malt and body, but bright via the lactic and acetic tang, both of which are exacerbated by the gentle tannic oak bite. The dryness and tartness are in competition with the acetic flavors and softness: each is vying for the upper hand, but neither really takes control. While it could a bit more snap in the finish, it is nonetheless an interesting and enjoyable beer, one that is (or in this case, was) a good contender for further aging. The last pour was the best; the touch of yeast heightened the lemon-y tartness and rounded the whole of the beer. As it warmed, Rueuze hit that gueuze tang and bright bite that the first two-thirds of the bottle were missing—I was left with the small rosettes of bright flush on my cheeks that tell me I’ve found the tart sweet spot. Our final comments are summed up by the picture below: if the yeast culture produces anything even in the ballpark of this one, we’re all winners here.

From the bottle: “Our take on a gueuze-style ale, this intensely tart and funky beer combines three different vintages of our barrel aged sour blonde ale.”

From the Bruery website: “Rueuze is our take on the traditional Belgian-style blend of lambics of different ages. We carefully select a number of oak barrels from our warehouse that have been aging our sour blonde ale for various lengths of time and blend them to what we think is the ideal flavor. this is one complex beer.  Notes of hay, barnyard funk, apricots, and even olives play wonderfully with the balanced acidity.”

ABV: 5.9%

And here is my attempt to give this beer more life in order to add it to the various other concoctions existing in my domicile.

(5/5/2013)

459. St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition

St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition is from the Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck in Inglemunster, Belgium. I wish I had more to offer than that, but I don’t, except for this brief aside: this beer is brought to you by Darren Link. I was wandering around in Belmont Party Supply, aimlessly trying to determine the flavor of the evening. You’ve all been there, and know what I mean—you’re looking for that tasty that you’re craving, but you don’t quite know what it is. I ran into Darren, who works next door at Brewtensils—I had stopped there to grind the grain for my Gose. Our discussion led him next door to find a treat of his own (he wanted an 1809 Berliner Weisse), and as we wandered the aisles, he pointed this out to me. You’re a good man, Mr. Link.

St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition pours a hazy burnished but simultaneously iridescent gold; it has wonderful orange highlights that dance on the table after each sip. The head is a thin white covering that quickly reduces to a ring, but there are lots of tiny white bubbles constantly running along in miniscule lines inside the glass. Aromas start with citric sourness followed by lower levels of earthy and barnyard funkiness; as well, there is a slight mineral component that, along with the sourness, brightens the beer in my nose. Flavors start tart, sweet, and dry—there is that citric sourness that makes my mouth pucker and my cheeks flush—before giving way to the earthy and musty funkiness of the middle. The finish has a return of the citric bite mixed with a mineral dryness—both provide the final tart punch, and both linger pleasantly on the tongue and the sides of the mouth. Gueuze Fond Tradition mixes effervescent carbonation with a dry, puckering mouthfeel—the lightness of the body balances the brightness of the carbonation. With warmth, a bit more of the earthy funkiness emerges, both in the nose and in the body, but it is still second fiddle to the bright puckering tartness. Coupled with the reasonable price—$6.99 for a 12.7 oz. bottle—this is something we’ll be hitting up again soon. Puckery goodness aplenty!

ABV: 5.0%
Bottled on: June 20, 2008

(2/24/2011)

345. Hanssens Artisanaal Oude Gueuze

Belgium’s in the house tonight—this is our first beer from Hanssens Artisanaal in Dworp, Belgium. Oude Gueuze pours a clear reddish honey color with a minimal white head that quickly rings the glass, although there is a fair amount of active small, tight bubbles; the nose has a big citric tartness accompanied by some barnyard and earthy aromas—it has just a bit of the funk hiding in the background. Opening with a citric earthy tartness—think crushed vitamin C tablet rubbed in a fresh loam—the tartness slightly fades in the middle, leaving a more rounded vinegar/acetic acid flavor with a slight sweetness. The finish is dry with both a chalky and mineral flavor and feel in the back of the mouth from the return of the citric bite from the front. Oude Gueuze has a light-body, which is further lightened by the bright and sharp carbonation. There is a good deal of tongue curling from the super tart and tangy elements of the beer—it is a puckery, savory masterpiece. While this may a bit too tart for the beginner, it is certainly a beer that we’ll be looking for again—I loved the tang and the curl of my tongue from this beer, and Elli was initially shocked by the tartness, but quickly got behind the flavor. Most certainly a challenging but rewarding beer, and one of the better gueuzes we can recall having—we’re making it a Top 10 Best contender.

From the Hanssens website: “A regulation of the European Community, dating ninety-seven, defines a difference between geuze and old geuze. The name old refers to the way of making a geuze and is synonym for traditional. It has nothing to do with age. The blending of old and young pure lambic is the traditional way of making Geuze. Old geuze is made of one hundred percent lambic beer, which undergoes an additional fermentation in the bottle resulting in the natural formation of foam and carbon dioxide.”

ABV: 6.0%

(6/10/10)

42. Cantillon Classic Gueuze

Cantillon Classic Gueuze is from Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij in Brussels, Belgium. Gueuze is a spontaneously fermented sour ale aged in oak barrels and blended for bottling—part older and part younger—to make gueuze. As Cantillon’s website observes: “In the 18th century, a Benedictine monk, dom Pérignon, discovers the champaign method by blending different non sparkling white wines. One century later, a Brabant brewer blends different lambics and brings about a spontaneous fermentation in the bottle. The Gueuze is born...Gueuze became the icon of the Brussels beers.”

Cantillon Classic Gueuze has a tart sour nose and a deep golden tan color. The head is pretty limited on this one; what was there was light and white and quickly faded. Beginning tart and citrusy with candy notes and fruity esters, Cantillon Classic Gueuze’s middle merges with the front and back to close with a citric tartness that lingers on the palate. The tart and sharp mouthfeel puckers the tongue nicely—it is bright and citrusy on the tongue—and the low level of carbonation still has some bite in the body. With some warmth, the candy notes in the nose become more tangy, and the sourness becomes more prevalent in the flavor and mouthfeel with less acidity and tartness and more sour puckering flavors. A bright, sharp, and citrusy beer overall, similar to but also discernable from other sour beers we’ve had—it’s no dirty bandaid.

From Cantillon’s website: “Every blending will produce a different Gueuze. Since we work according to a natural process, it is impossible to make a standard beer. This beer is not only unique because of its brewing process, but also because it can be conserved for a long time. When kept in a good cellar, a Cantillon Gueuze will still have an exceptional taste and flavour after 20 years.”

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, Cantillon will be holding a public brewing: “the Master brewer, his family and friends invite you to the great brewing fair and propose you to experience the various steps in the really traditional production of the Lambic and Gueuze.” As if I really needed an excuse to cut out and head to Belgium...

(8/11/2009)