lacto + bret + raspberry + saison

[brewinhard]

If your saison stalls, then rack it to secondary on top of the fruit with a fresh rolling active starter of Cal ale yeast to finish things up. This should help to finish fermenting the fruit and original sugars left behind from the saison strain.

That seems like a pretty good way of going at it. I can give the saison yeast a chance to do the job before assuming I will have an issue, and if I do I can make a ripping starter/berry batch to rack on to. I could even start the starter combo with a lactic fermentation if I was feeling adventurous. Too many options and too many chances to screw this one up. I like it.

Brews like this one are always interesting and fun to tackle as there are many ways to "skin a cat". If you nail the final product in the long run, it is even more enjoyable. Try not to worry about a timeline with this one as those saison yeasts can be a bit stubborn. Think of it more like an art project where you will be doing a little bit at a time along the way towards your end goal. Be sure to keep us posted with your process and results.

[Willys]

Thanks and will do. I threw nates spare change in before going out on vacation so as soon as I get that out I am going to give this a go. I will post the recipe soon in case anyone has comments on that.

[Willys]

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 3.83 gal
Post Boil Volume: 2.70 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 2.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 2.40 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 5.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 77.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.1 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2.50 gal Balanced Water Water 1 -
1.46 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 -
0.95 g Baking Soda (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 -
0.87 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 4 -
0.69 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 5 -
0.43 g Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 6 -
1.81 kg Belgian Malt (3.9 SRM) Grain 7 75.0 %
0.26 kg Spelt Malt (2.3 SRM) Grain 8 11.0 %
0.12 kg Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM) Grain 9 5.0 %
6.12 g Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 10 24.5 IBUs
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 11 -
2.55 g Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 12 1.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Farmhouse Blend (White Labs #WL Yeast 13 -
0.22 kg Fruit - Raspberry (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 14 9.0 %


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 2.41 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Beta Rest Add 2.06 gal of water at 160.8 F 147.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 2.60gal) of 168.0 F water



I plan to add raspberry after primary slows down as a sugar addition to keep the fermentation rolling. Start ferment at 68, hold for 48 hours then ramp up 1* every 12 hours up to 80 and then hold. I want to give the Bret in the farmhouse blend a chance so I will keep it rolling for 3 weeks.

Questions

1) I am a little concerned about the time and temp.. Will I need to go to a secondary fermenter at some point?

2) Water: I am having trouble trying to figure out my salt additions to RO. Do I treat the water to get a ppm after boiling and cooling or do I treat the total volume of water. In this v=case I will run a total of 4.66 gal through the grain, but my batch size, going in to the fermenter, is 2.5 gal.

3) When adding a grain to beersmith, such as the belgian malt in this recipe that I got from Colorado Malting, do you adjust the Lovibond # from the malt analysis to SRM via SRM=(1.35 x *L) -.06?

I know that is a lot of questions to ask and I suspect I wont get an answer for each, but feel free to critique the recipe all you want and answer what you will.
Thanks!

[brewinhard]

You will need to rack to a secondary carboy on top of the raspberries when your fermentation has slowed or stopped depending on how the saison strain performs. Let the beer sit on the fruit for about a month. This will give the fruit some time to meld with the beer and allow for maximum flavor/aroma. It will also allow the brett character to come forward a bit.