The majority of details for this double brew have been worked out, but a few things have changed since my last post
Bier De Garde
The recipe for this brew has not changed except for the yeast. The White Labs WLP072 French Ale Yeast is a platinum strain that is only released in Nov/Dec, so I won't be able to get that. I just happen to see an add in the new BYO for a Wyeast yeast that is being released July/August as part of their private collection. Wyeast has both the 3711 French Saison and 3725 Bier De Garde, both which would be great for a Bier De Garde. According to Mr. Malty, the 3711 yeast originates from Brasserie Thiriez and the 3725 yeast originates from Soy-Erezée, Belgium who's primary brewing inhabitant is Brasserie Fantôme. So I will try and acquire one of those yeasts but if that fails for some reason my intention is to use a nice European yeast in addition to re-constituting the yeast from a Jenlain Primtemps bottle, which is an excellent Bier De Garde.
Since this brew is bound to be the longest, I am will most likely be doing it first. I have not updated the recipe yet with the mash schedule, but when I do it will be posted to the website.
Berliner Weisse
I do not have a formalized recipe for this just yet, but its a fairly simple one. 50% Pilsner and 50% Wheat malt. The mash will be a bit more involved and will include a protein rest to help with the wheat, but other than that fairly straight forward. The only other aspect of the brew that is different than most is that it only uses a 15 min boil. Apparently the original reason for using a short boils was to allow some heat tolerant bacteria to live through to the fermenter. These days that doesn't really apply as much, but it does ensure that the color and IBU of the beer are kept to a minimum. My original concern with this length of boil was too much DMS, but from what I am hearing and reading this is not as much an issue with ales as it is with lagers because ales have a much more vigorous fermentation that helps eliminate it.
I have pretty much decided upon how I want to do the souring and yeast for this beer. I decided to go with a lactobacillus culture that will be pitched directly into the fermenter So for this brew I will make 2 starter, 1 for the lactobacillus about a week ahead of time, and a 2nd with regular sacharomyces yeast. The lactobacillus starter will be pitched immediately into the fermenter and approximately 2 days later I will pitch the regular yeast starter. This should give the lactobacillus enough of a head start so that it can start developing the sour character. I am also considering pitching a vial of brettanomyces later in the fermentation for finishing, because it is common for this style to have a little brett in it. I do know that Wyeast has a Berliner Weisse blend that has brett, but it is only released in Winter, so no go there.
Looked into the peaches and it appears there are several varieties that should be available. I know that there is a farmer market in Baltimore that should have a good select to choose from. My plan is to hit that the Friday before and grab some tart peaches to use. I would like to puree some and chop some up in large pieces, but both will be placed into the fermenter during primary.
System Modifications
I have made one minor modification that is worth mentioning. I have added a false bottom to the boil. My original idea was to use this in conjunction with a separate stainless steel weaved disc to filter at a fine level, but the discs I got are just a tad too small. If they don't work this time, then at least the false bottom will keep out most of the large particles from the beer. It will also allow me to use whole flower hops without hop sacks which will be a nice fist.
Beer
We have a nice Munich Helles on tap that is very tasty as well as the bottled Wild Levitation which is excellent.
Hope to see everyone there!
Experiences in Beer
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