Farmhouse Ale



Van Gogh Farmhouse

Recently I was in the mood for a solid straight forward drinking beer, sort of a winter strength session beer. While my malty Biere de Garde sits in the fridge I thought of a bit lighter farmhouse style, lightly spiced with Belgian yeast character, but more quenching than winter beers tend to be. Farmhouse styles are probably my favorite beers. I like the diversity, the playfulness, creativity and rustic allowances that farmhouse beers encompass.

For the grainbill I wanted to use a blend of grain in the farmhouse tradition of brewing with what is available, so rye, maize, and wheat were utilized. The plan was to use pilsner as the base malt, but I only had 2 lbs. and finished out the rest with 2-row.



My Farmhouse



I stepped up the fermentation temperature over the first three days with a heating pad (low setting day 1 etc.) to amplify the Belgian yeast strain and it payed off with exceptional character and a really nice relationship with the spices. Unfortunately, I didn't record the amount of each spice in this recipe but I do remember that doses were limited. The entire reason I started this blog was to force myself into keeping better records of my brewing process, so this is a bit frustrating, but this isn't an exact sort of beer anyway.



The maize and sugar really lend a dry hand to the beer but it is extremely drinkable and at just over 6% ABV, I have a hard time not drinking a glass in 4 gulps and I don't see this one sticking around very long.

Farmhouse Ale Recipe:



My much more well done farmhouse



Specifics:

Batch Size: 5.25g

OG 1.052

TG 1.005

SRM: 5.4

IBU: 34.5

Grain:

4 lbs. 2-row
2 lbs. Pils
1 lbs. Wheat Malt
1 lbs. Munich 10L
1 lbs. Rye Malt

.5 lbs. Flaked Maize

.25 lbs. Carapils

Hops:

1 oz East Kent Golding at 60 minutes

.5 oz Tettnanger at 20 minutes

.5 oz East Kent Golding at 20 minutes

1 oz Czech Saaz at 3 minutes

Yeast:

Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes

Extras:
Star of Anise at FO
Sweet Gale at FO
Lemon Zest at FO
Corriander at FO
Chamomile at FO

Notes: Single infusion mash at 152F for 60 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes. Cooled to 70F and pitched yeast.