I had Jolly Pumpkin’s Bam Bier a bit ago, and I loved it. It’s a great low-alcohol beer with tons of flavor, and a nice subtle sourness. I highly recommend buying this if you ever see it. So, I was inspired to try something similar. The style is along the lines of a low gravity saison, but with wild yeast and bacteria in the fermentation. I listened to the “Can You Brew It?” podcast for details on the Bam Bier recipe. Here was my plan: brew a 1.045 saison-ish beer. Ferment 5 gallons with a saison yeast, and then throw some Bam Bier dregs into a half gallon to ferment separately. Then when fermentation is complete, the two would be blended and allow to ferment of a bit longer. Here’s the recipe:
Wildbriar Ale – Brewed July 24, 2010
2-Row Pale Malt 4 lbs
Pilsner Malt 3 lbs
Wheat Malt 1 lbs
Flaked Barley 0.5 lbs
Crystal 80 0.25 lbs
1 oz Spalt (5% AA) – 60 min
0.2 oz Cluster (7% AA) – 45 min
0.5 Hallertauer (3.2% AA) – 15 min
Starting Gravity: 1.045
Efficiency: 77%
Calculated SRM: 3.5
Calculated IBU: 26.85
Mashed at 148F for 1.5 hour with 1.5 qt water per lb grain. Collected 3.2 gal wort, batch sparged with 3 gal water at 168F. Boiled for a total of 1.5 h.
Chilled wort, transferred equal volumes to plastic food-grade buckets, and aerated by shaking for 5 min.
Transferred 0.5 gallon of wort to a 1 gall on jar. Pitched 1 ml of a glycerol stock of dregs from a Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bier.