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The Voice of the Wind, a Mixed-Culture Dark Saison

Two beers inspired this one: Suarez Cocalis and Plan Bee Ash. The former is a "black country beer" aged in oak. 5.7% ABV, 750mL format, pure dynamite. The latter is a 5.5% "dark barn beer" featuring roasted malts. 5.5% ABV in a 375 mL bottle that makes ya want it in a 750. So I harvested the bottle dregs from each and pitched them alongside one sacc and one brett strain. They were too good to go to waste.

I love the approach both breweries take to the beer making. Plan Bee may be the most "local" brewery in the US. They're floor malting barley, keeping bees and using the honey to ferment and carbonate, hand bottling,  this list could go on for days. They use what they have available in each season - anti-industrial brewing as we know it today. Suarez makes thoughtful beers in a similar vein; seasonal and local with intentional philosophy.

Unable to replicate these approaches, I channeled some of their sentiment. I used what I had on hand to make something fit for the climate and for my technology, that would be worth contemplation and chugging. Such an approach beckons to consider the ever-changing nature of existence, as Basho did when he listened to The Voice of the Wind.

Here's the recipe:

Recipe
Grain
8 lbs. Weyermann Pale malt
1 lbs. Weyermann Dark Wheat malt
1.25 lbs. Gambrinus Rye malt
8 oz. Weyermann Barke Munich
6 oz. British Chocolate malt (450L)
6 oz. Briess Chocolate malt (350L)
3.5 oz. Dehusked Carafa 1
1.25 lbs. Flaked Oats

Water
7.5 gallons of water: 4 spring, 3.5 Buffalo filtered water
114 ppm Calcium, 7 ppm Na, 94 ppm sulfates, 53 ppm chlorides, 61 ppm bicarbonates

Mash
Strike at 158
Beta-amylase at 142 for 40 minutes
Alpha and Mash Out at 158 for 20

Boil
0.6 oz. Magnum (9.2% AA) at 90 minutes
0.5 oz. Willamette (5.8% AA) at 60 minutes
0.5 oz. German Tettnang (3.8% AA) at 15 minutes

Fermentation
Cooled in a cold shower
Racked directly onto a previous culture of 1 pack Wyeast Farmhouse 3726 and 1/2 pack of White Labs Brett C, and added Cocalis and Ash dregs @ 75 degrees
Let temperatures free rise to 78 for 2 days before cranking to 80 for day 3, 81, for day 4, 82 for day 5, and 83 until day 13
Transferred to purged secondary on day 13 - fully matured for 6 weeks in secondary
Forced carbonated to taste
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.004
6% ABV

Taste
Tart cherry, rustic earth, bittersweet cocoa, fresh picked blueberries
Formidable, round mouthfeel coming from the oats and rye
Gentle drying lift off the palate
Head retention is stellar, lacing left on each sip.

Next Batch
I love the yeast pitch ratios in this. The gentle acid provides complex flavors but the healthy sacc addition keeps acidity from running rampant. I wish I saved the culture :(

Water profile worked really well.

I might exclude the wheat as the grain list is extensive. This was one of those kitchen sink ideas that worked really really well. Ever so slightly, I might raise the chocolate malts and the carafa additions. Furthermore, I'd swap the pale malt with local pilsner. 

Mash was unorthodox but proved useful.
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Location: 55 E Huron St, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA

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