Loco Moco

Food recipe today! Loco Moco is a breakfast comfort dish that originated in Hawaii. It's surprisingly easy to make, filling but not nearly as heavy as I was expecting, and it's super tasty. 

Makes four servings. 

Start by cooking 2 cups of white rice

Gravy

2T Butter

1 Medium yellow onion, sliced

8oz Mushrooms, sliced

2 Garlic cloves, minced

2T All purpose flour

2C Beef stock

1T Worcestershire sauce

1t Soy sauce

1/2t Black pepper 

1. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and cook to deep brown (about 10-12 minutes).
2. Add garlic and cook for one minute.  
3. Sprinkle flour in and stir constantly for one minute. 
4. Gradually add beef stock, Worcestershire, and soy sauce. Combine well then simmer for about 10 minutes.  

Burger Patties

1# Ground beef 

1t Kosher salt

1/2t Ground black pepper

1t Garlic powder

1t Onion powder

1. Mix ingredients well and form into four 4 ounce patties.
2. Cook over medium heat, 4 minutes per side. 

Eggs

1. Fry four eggs until whites are set but yolks are still runny. 
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Assembly

1. Spoon rice into a bowl.
2. Add burger patty.
3. Cover patty in a generous amount of gravy.
4. Finish with a fried egg on top and serve.

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NZ Pils 2026

Today I'm brewing one of my favorite lagers, a New Zealand Pilsner. I've only ever tried American interpretations of the style, never one actually brewed in NZ. However, this recipe is based on a one (since deleted) from a NZ homebrew shop that is allegedly a clone for Panhead's Port Road Pils, one of the style examples cited in the BJCP guidelines. Variations of this recipe have done well for me in competitions and I think it's a great hop-forward easy drinking lager. 

I tend to tweak this recipe a little bit every time I brew it. Tweaks are usually grain-related based on what's available and/or what I have on hand. Today I'm using up the last of my Rahr North Star Pils that I brought from Utah. I'm dialing back the Hopshot slightly from 3ml to 2ml because I've noticed I seem to get better hop utilization here in Florida at roughly 100 feet above sea level. Finally, I'm moving my normal whirlpool additions to flameout, and I'm moving the dry hop additions to the whirlpool. My primary driver for this is I'm trying to eliminate any risk of oxidation with dry hopping, and honestly it's probably not very common for this style to be dry-hopped to begin with. Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today.

Target OG 1.048

Target FG: 1.011

IBU: 54

ABV: 4.7

7# 9oz - Rahr North Star Pils (93.7%)

6oz - Weyermann Carahell Malt (4.7%)

1g BrewTan B (Mash) 

2ml Hopshot (60 min) 

10g - NZ Motueka (10 min)

20g - NZ Nelson Sauvin (10 min)

30g - NZ Riwaka (10 min)

20g - NZ Motueka (Flameout)

30g - NZ Nelson Sauvin (Flameout)

30g - NZ Riwaka (Flameout)

3g - Loral Cryohops (Flameout)

40g - NZ Riwaka (whirlpool, 30-45 min @165F)

7g - Loral Cryohops (whirlpool, 30-45 min @165F)

Whirlfloc

Wyeast Nutrient

4.66g BCAA (Dissolved in water or wort, 5 min)

Zinc Buddy

Saflager W-34/70

Single infusion mash at 151F, 90 min boil, acidify mash to a pH of ~ 5.1-5.2. Start fermentation at 48F, ramp up to 52F over 6 days, diacetyl rest when gravity ~1.016.

Water Profile

This is a fairly soft water profile with slightly higher sulfate to chloride ration. To 11 gallons of distilled water, add:

• 6.0g Gypsum
• 2.3g Magnesium Chloride
• 2.4g Calcium Chloride

Water Profile

Target Water Profile
Ca	Mg	Na	SO4	Cl	HCO3
53.8	6.6	0.0	79.8	55.6	0.0

Brewing Notes

I hit my initial strike temp exactly at 151.1. The initial mash pH was a little high so I dosed with 1.5ml of phosphoric acid to bring the pH from 5.67 down to 5.36. I had one minor issue, I forgot to install the temp probe into my boil kettle, so it leaked out some wort before I caught it. If I had to guess, I'd say it was around 6-8 ounces, so not a huge deal but I definitely lost some gravity points. I wasn't able to get the temp down to 48F (that will probably have to wait for winter time). I did get it down to ~55F whirlpooling, and I set the ferm chamber to 50F.  

Session Readings
Equipment used	10g MT
Strike water volume	3 gal
Strike water temp	167.3 °F
Mash thickness	1.512 qt/lbs
Beginning mash pH	5.67 - Before acid 5.36 After acid
Ending mash pH	5.40
1st running gravity	16.2 (1.065)
Volume into BK	6.75 gal
Pre-Boil gravity	9.1 (1.035)
Pre-Boil pH	5.48
Post-Boil gravity	12.9 (1.051) 1.047 per Tilt
Post-Boil pH	5.42
Aeration	0.5l/min for 2 min
Post ferm gravity	X (1.0)
Post ferm pH	X (1.0)

Update 7/19/2026 11PM

Fermentation is underway and temps are holding at 52F. Per the Tilt, gravity is down just under 1.043 this evening. 

Update 7/21/2026 9AM

Things are rolling along.  Temps are holding steady ~52F. Tilt is putting the gravity in the neighborhood of 1.024.

Update 7/22/2026 9AM

Tilt is reading ~1.012 this morning so I'm going to change the ferm chamber set temp to 62F and let the temp free-rise for a diacetyl rest.

Update 7/24/2026 9AM

Tilt is still reading 1.012 this morning. Looking at the gravity readings since 7/22, it's read as low as 1.009 to as high as 1.019, so just like an ale fermentation, there's a little bit of wobbling happening. I'll probably leave this beer in the fermenter until 7/29 or 7/30 then transfer to a keg to start cold crashing.  

Update 7/27/2026

Tilt is reading 1.011 this morning.

Update 8/9/2026

Some things came up this week and I wasn’t able to keg this beer yet. Tilt is reading 1.010, meaning ABV is right on target at 4.7%. I’m hoping to get this beer kegged over the next week.

Update 8/15/2026

I finally got this beer kegged today. It was a bit of a pain after an eventful week. On Thursday we woke up to an electrical issue in our house, with all kinds of popping, arcing, hissing noises, and the power out in half the house. Turns out we had a bad leg and a bad neutral somewhere between our meter and the transformer in our yard. We spent over half the day without power, but on the bright side, the house didn’t burn down.  Fast forward to today, hop debris kept limiting flow, so this transfer took forever…seriously around 2 hours. In hindsight, I probably should have used one of my three hop spiders in the boil kettle, but I totally forgot to. This beer smelled amazing and I’ll be putting it on tap within a week. 

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Sahti 2026

Today I'm finally brewing one of the more unusual historical beer styles, at least compared to styles I typically brew: Sahti, a traditional farmhouse ale of Finland. Here’s how the 2021 BJCP guidelines describe this historical style:

A sweet, heavy, strong traditional Finnish beer with a rye, juniper, and juniper berry flavor and a strong banana-clove yeast character.

The use of rye doesn’t mean that it should taste like caraway (a common flavor in rye bread). The juniper acts a bit like hops in the balance and flavor, providing a flavor and bitterness counterpoint to the sweet malt. Piney, woody juniper character more common than gin-like berries.

An indigenous traditional style from Finland; a farmhouse tradition for at least 500 years, often brewed for festive occasions like summer weddings, and consumed within a week or two of brewing.

I love that the guidelines specifically say that the use of rye doesn't mean it should taste like caraway. Believe it or not, I've had numerous discussions with other judges and homebrewers that mistakenly associated "spicy" rye character with what's actually caraway in most rye bread.  

A friend of mine from my old homebrew club in Utah, Mike Johnson, made a Sahti that won gold on

multiple occasions. I reached out to Mike for tips on replicating this style. I also found a good write up on Craft Beer & Brewing, and tons of great information on Brewing Nordic. I highly recommend Brewing Nordic. It contains an incredible amount of information on traditional Sahti and was invaluable while researching this batch. For my attempt today, I'm kind of mashing all this great info together and hoping it yields a nice drinkable beer and a decent example of the style.

There are a few challenges to trying to brew this style in the U.S. that I wanted to mention: 

• First, one of the key ingredients is Tuoppi Kaljamallas, a dark roasted rye malt, isn’t available in the U.S. Fortunately it’s not too difficult to take rye malt and roast it in the oven for a very close substitute. 
• Another challenge is the traditional yeast, a bread yeast, is not readily available outside of Finland. I was thinking one of the Kveik farmhouse strains might be a good alternative, but Nordic Brewing says it’s really not. Banana esters are a huge part of the fermentation profile for this beer and a lot of the Kveik strains are fairly clean and/or give you citrus and tropical fruit (but not banana). I'm using WLP300 for banana flavor and aroma. I've only used this yeast once before and that was about 15 years ago so I don't really remember much from that batch. Clove phenolics are another important part but according to my research, should be more restrained than the banana character. I plan to use WLP565 and pitch it about 24 hours after WLP300. WLP565 is notorious for quitting early unless temps are raised quite high. I'm counting on this to ensure the beer doesn't dry out too much.
• Third, the correct varieties of juniper trees don’t grow anywhere near me in Florida. Nordic Brewing mentions that many modern interpretations skip juniper altogether, but I want to include it in my version. I ended up ordering a 4oz pack of juniper leaves from Spruce On Tap. These are still a different variety from what is found in Finland, but I've heard good things about Spruce On Tap's offerings. This recipe only calls for 10 grams, so I’ll have plenty leftover if I decide to brew this again or experiment with juniper in another beer.
• Traditional Sahti is typically raw, never boiled. This means it’s never gotten hot enough to form hot break so lots of proteins carryover to the finished beer. This contributes to body and usually cloudiness in the finished beer. Mike said he usually boils his, same as any other batch of beer. I decided I want to try the raw/no-boil approach, although I am planning on taking the beer up to 170°F to sanitize and hopefully drive off some SMM while maintaining the raw beer character.
• Fermentation is traditionally stopped early by dropping the temperature before fermentation is actually complete. The beer is then stored cold until ready to drink. For my attempt, I plan to enter this beer in one or more competitions so I need it to be stable. I will mash high to create lots of unfermentable sugars with the hopes of it finishing close to 1.034. I’m hoping this along with my yeast selection will eliminate the risk of bottle bombs due to residual sugars in the beer.
• Sahti is usually served still or with low carbonation. I think I’m going to prefer some carbonation, so I’ll probably shoot for something around 1 volume. 

Roasting Rye Malt

I’m using the instructions from Nordic Brewing. The quick Cliffs Notes version is you preheat your oven to 350F. If you have a convection option on your oven, use it. Spread the rye malt out into a thin layer on a foil lined cookie sheet. Target time is 45 minutes, but check it around 40 minutes and make sure the malt isn’t burning/charring. You won't see a huge color change to the outside of the rye malt, but inside you'll see a very noticeable change. After 45-ish minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool. I did this process a few days ahead of brew day. I do this with smoked grains and toasted oatmeal too; based on what I've read and heard from other brewers, this allows the malt to mellow a little bit and for flavors and aromas to round out. By the way, the roasting process smells amazing; I got major bread crust aroma from it. My wife came into the house a couple hours after I finished roasting the malt and said the house smelled like I'd been baking bread.

Enough talk, here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today:

 

Target OG: 1.097

Target FG: 1.034

IBU: 0

ABV: 8.3%

7.5# Solstice Pilsner

7.5# Weyermann Vienna

4.1# Weyermann Munich I

1.2# Home-roasted Mecca Grade Rimrock Rye malt

Rice hulls, 1-2 handfuls 

10g Juniper tips/leaves mixed into the mash

1g BrewTan B (Mash)

80% of one vial of WLP300 Hefeweizen and 20% of one vial of WLP565 Belgian Saison I

Mash at 159°F. Collect about 5.25 gallons in the boil kettle. Bring wort to 170°F and hold for 30 min to sanitize and hopefully drive off some SMM (DMS precursor). 

Chill to 68°F. Aerate for 2 min. Pitch WLP300 and wait 24 hours before pitching WLP565.

Allow ferm temp to rise to 74°F in that first 24 hours. After 24 hours, pitch WLP565 and allow temp to rise to 75°F over a day. Maintain 75°F for the duration of primary. 

Water Profile

Target Water Profile
Ca	Mg	Na	SO4	Cl	HCO3
55	8	15	40	80	90

To 10 gallons of RO/Distilled Water, add:

• 2.7g Gypsum
• 2.7g Calcium Chloride
• 2.3g Baking Soda
• 3.6g Magnesium Chloride
• 1.0g Pickling Lime

Brewing Notes

I went with a slightly thicker mash on this brew since I won't be boiling off any water. I also am using my 20 gallon mash tun so that the grain bed wasn't as deep which should help improve efficiency. This was a large grain bill and it just barely overfilled my grain bucket while milling. I probably spilled a couple grams worth of grain onto my garage floor. 

First runnings were 1.094, so I definitely won't be hitting the 1.097 target OG. I tend to get right about 83-84% efficiency on most beers, but efficiency is always lower on bigger beers, so I can't say it's unexpected. The color on this beer is amazing; deep amber and clarity is looking good right now. This is likely due to the fact that I recirculate during the entire mash, so the grain bed tends to do a great job of filtering out small particles.  

No issues with the remainder of the brew session. OG is showing 1.091 on my refractometer and 1.090 on my Tilt. WLP300 was pitched at 1:30PM @67°F. I decided to pitch the whole vial; my rationale is even 1 vial is under pitching for a 1.091 beer, so I think it will work out fine. I'm planning on pitching WLP565 tomorrow at 1:30PM

 

Session Readings
Equipment used	20 gal MT
Strike water volume	6 gal
Strike water temp	176.4 °F
Mash thickness	1.18 qt/lbs
Beginning mash pH	5.38
Ending mash pH	5.37
1st running gravity	23 (1.094)
Volume into BK	5.25 gal
Pre-steep gravity	22.1 (1.090)
Pre--steep pH	5.40
Post-steep gravity	22.4 (1.091)
Post-steep pH	5.35
Aeration	0.5l/min for 2 min
Post ferm gravity	1.020 (9.6% ABV)
Post ferm pH	x

Update 6/7/2026 8:40AM

Gravity has started to drop and I'm seeing active signs of fermentation, so It seems that WLP300 has gotten off to a good start. I'll take the WLP565 out of the fridge in a couple hours and allow it to come up to room temp before pitching.  

Update 6/7/2026 3PM

WLP565 was pitched at 1:30PM. Gravity is currently reading 1.079 on the Tilt. 

Update 6/8/2026

Gravity this evening is down to 1.051 per the Tilt. That means there's about 20 points before it gets to where I "hope" it will stop.   

Update 6/11/2026

Fermentation seems to be winding down. Gravity is between 1.035 and 1.034 this afternoon. I pulled a small sample a couple days ago and again today. I'd say it's definitely more banana forward than clove, but there is a hint of clove. Also it's not too crazy on the banana that it seems artificial. There is noticeable sweetness and I'd say it reminded me of banana bread crust with a hint of chocolate and coffee. I don't feel like I picked up anything distinctly juniper. I'm considering making a juniper tincture and dosing it with a little bit to see if I can add a little more complexity.

Update 6/14/2026

Gravity is holding steady just shy of 1.035 per the Tilt. I'm going to leave it on the yeast cake for another week then keg it.

Update 6/15/2026

Gravity is reading 1.0316 per the Tilt this morning. 

Update 6/29/2026

I went ahead and kegged this beer tonight. Gravity had inched down to about 1.020, definitely lower than the 1.034 I was hoping for. Aroma and flavor are really nice and I'd say they reflect the style guidelines well. I'll likely be putting this into the next competition.

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Kellerbier 2026

Today I'm brewing my Kellerbier recipe. The 2021 BJCP Guidelines describe this style as follows:

An unfiltered, unpasteurized, fully-attenuated German lager traditionally served from lagering vessels. May be a little richer, more robust, and rustic than the base styles. A fresh beer without fermentation defects associated with young, green (unfinished) beer.

Since the BJCP Guidelines require the base style be declared, I'd describe this one as a German Pils Kellerbier. I originally started brewing this beer because I enjoyed Granary Kellerbier from TF Brewing so much. Granary Kellerbier has won a ton of medals over the years and I usually order at least one every time I go to TF (admittedly this is less often since moving to Florida). This version has a few changes compared to previous batches. First, I'm trying out LalBrew NovaLager™ for this round. Lallemand describe Nova Lager as follows:

LalBrew NovaLager™ is a true bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus hybrid from the novel Group III lineage that has been selected to produce clean lager beers with distinct flavor characteristics and superior fermentation performance. LalBrew NovaLager™ is a robust lager strain with ideal characteristics for lager beer production including fast fermentations and high attenuation. The distinct flavor profile is very clean, slight esters over a wide temperature range. LalBrew NovaLager™ was selected using classical and non-GMO breeding methods to obtain a novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae x Saccharomyces eubayanus hybrid strain that defines a novel Group III lager lineage that is distinct from any other traditional Saccharomyces pastorianus strains. This strain is a low VDK/diacetyl producer and utilizes patented technology from the University of California Davis (USA) that inhibits the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) off-flavors, therefore reducing the maturation time associated with lager beer production.

• Attenuation: 78-84%
• Fermentation Temp Range: 10 - 20°C (50 - 68°F)

I think this will be a great style to try out this yeast and it'll be interesting to see how different the results are compared to some of the other yeast I've used like Imperial L17 Harvest and Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager. I'm targeting 50F for my fermentation temp, but it is getting warmer here in Florida and I may have a hard time holding 50F...time will tell. I should be able to get wort temps to the low 50s relatively easily. I usually let trub settle for at least 15 minutes after shutting off my whirlpool. I may need to skip that to prevent the wort from warming back up.  

Another change, I don't have Root Shoot malt on hand any longer, so I'll be using Rahr North Star Pils for this batch. I've used this malt before and have had great results, so I'm not too concerned. 

Lastly, I'm also going to skip doing a decoction mash and instead try a step mash with a little bit of Melanoidin malt. Previously I've employed a single decoction mash, but with my 220v RIMS system I'm able to increase temps rather quickly and I wasn't positive that I was picking up a ton of complexity employing a single decoction anyway. This will make for a much less complex brew day.

Target OG: 1.051
Target FG: 1.010
IBU: 30
ABV: 5.1%

8.00# Rahr North Star Pils
0.25# Weyermann Munich I
0.25# Weyermann Melanoidin malt
20g Hallertauer Mittelfruh 3.2%AA (FWH)
14g Aramis 7.4%AA (60 min)
24g Aramis 7.4%AA (0 min)

1g BrewTan B (Mash)
Whirlfloc (Flameout)
Wyeast Nutrient (10 min)
4.66g BCAA (10 min)
Zinc Buddy
LalBrew NovaLager™

Step Mash
Mash in at 145°F and hold for 30 minutes.
Increase Mash temp to 159°F, hold for 20 minutes.
Mashout at 168F.
90 minute boil, ferment at 50°F

Water Profile

Target Water Profile
Ca	Mg	Na	SO4	Cl	HCO3
22	8	0	31	39	0

To 11 gallons of RO/Distilled water, add:

• 3.3g Epsom Salts
• 3.3g Calcium Chloride

Session Readings
Equipment used	10 gal MT
Strike water volume	4.25 gal
Strike water temp	156.4 °F
Mash thickness	2 qt/lbs
Beginning mash pH	5.27
Ending mash pH	4.98
1st running gravity	13.9 (1.055)
Volume into BK	7 gal
Pre-Boil gravity	9.4 (1.036)
Pre-Boil pH	5.34
Post-Boil gravity	13.3 (1.052)
Post-Boil pH	5.39
Aeration	0.5 l/min for 2 min
Post ferm gravity	6.3 (1.008)
Post ferm pH	4.56

Brewing Notes

Initial mash pH measured 5.59. I added 2ml of phosphoric acid, waited about 5 min, then re-measured and the pH had settled at 5.27. I programmed a new "German Step" profile into my BCS-460 and it worked awesome. I didn't set a stopwatch, but rise time was pretty short; I've said it before and I'll say it again, brewing on a 240v RIMS is pretty awesome. 

No major issues with this batch. I was able to chill down to about 52.5F, so hopefully my ferm fridge will be able to take it down to 50F. If not, I'll start fermentation at 52F. Even though this yeast is supposed to produce low diacetyl, I still plan to bump up the temps a bit when gravity is around 1.018 as measured on the Tilt. That's my standard approach for lagers and I believe it helps ensure any fermentation byproducts get cleaned up.

Update 5/4/2026

As I suspected, I had a hard time getting temps down to 50F, so I'm fermenting at 52F. It did get down to about 51.2F at one point but I figured I'd give my fermentation fridge compressor a break and go with 52F. Temps are holding steady and it looks like the yeast are coming out of the lag phase this morning as I'm seeing a slight dip in gravity.

Update 5/5/2026

I was seeing slight gravity drop throughout the day yesterday, but nothing too crazy and also very little positive pressure on the fermenter. I am seeing more activity today, including positive pressure, and what appears to be some wobbling on my Tilt. Current gravity reading is 1.035 on the Tilt.

Update 5/6/2026

I bumped the temp up to 53F before I went to bed last night. This morning the gravity is reading ~1.026. If it continues at that rate, I'll probably be raising temps to about 63F before the weekend.

Update 5/7/2026

This morning the current reading on the Tilt is 1.013. Fermentation has been super active with lots of wobbling on the Tilt with gravity measurements ranging between 1.015 and 1.010 just within the last couple of hours, so I suspect the actual gravity is closer to 1.015. I bumped the temps up to 62F this morning and I'm allowing it to free-rise.

Update 5/25/2026

This beer was kegged today. Honestly, I think it could have been kegged a week ago but I didn't have time.

Update 7/27/2026

I entered this beer in First Coast Cup 2026 and just got the scoresheets back. Sad to say, it didn't score great. This recipe is inspired by Granary Kellerbier from TF Brewing, and STS Pils from Russian River. It used to do really well in comps before the BJCP guidelines required you to declare the base style (e.g. German Pils, Munich Helles) and I've struggled to figure out how I should enter it. However, I think the bigger problem with this batch was that I was getting a distinct red apple peel character from this beer. One of the judges mentioned the same thing (the other referenced fruity esters but not red apple peel). I'm 99.9% sure this is actually a yeast-derived ester and not acetaldehyde. I've seen posts from other brewers where they've also mentioned a red apple peel character from Nova Lager, so I'm thinking that must be the source. It's not overpowering, in fact I kept thinking I might be imagining it because it seemed like one minute I'd detect it, but then the next minute I wouldn't. The fact that one of the judges was able to pick it up confirms my suspicions. I may use Nova Lager again, but probably not for a style like Kellerbier where that kind of character can really stand out.

 

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Mixed Ferm Rye Saison

Today I’m brewing a Rye Saison, and the part I’m most excited about is the yeast; I’m using the Mad Fermentationist Saison Blend from Bootleg Biology. While Bootleg Biology appears to have scaled back their homebrew offerings in favor of commercial pitches, I was able to get some of this blend a while back.

This culture is a mix of Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, and lactic acid bacteria, and it has a strong reputation. I propagated the blend to bank some for future use, so the ratios are likely different from the original pouch.

The BJCP describes Saison as:

A family of refreshing, highly attenuated, hoppy, and fairly bitter Belgian ales with a very dry finish and high carbonation. Characterized by a fruity, spicy, sometimes phenolic fermentation profile, and the use of cereal grains and sometimes spices for complexity. Several variations in strength and color exist.

As that suggests, there’s quite a bit of stylistic flexibility. This version will be lighter in color and moderate in strength, with some noticeable spice and peppery phenolics from the mixed culture. I’m not expecting much Brett character when the beer is young, but it should develop more classic Brett complexity with age.

The recipe itself is intentionally simple: Pilsner, Vienna, and Rye Malts, with straightforward hop additions. Most of the complexity should come from the fermentation character rather than the grist or hopping. I'm also using rice hulls since rye is a huskless malt and like wheat, has a tendency to gum the mash.

Even though this is a mixed culture, I’m not expecting significant sourness. The hop additions should suppress the lactic acid bacteria, keeping acidity in check. I’m also mashing slightly higher than typical for a Saison. While the style is usually very dry, my propagation starter finished below 1.000, so this is a hedge against the beer ending up too thin.

I’m considering adding a grapefruit tincture to half the batch, but I’ll make that call after tasting.

Like some recent brews, I’m also using ingredients I already have on hand as part of an effort to reduce my grain inventory.

Here’s the beer as I’m brewing it today:

Target OG: 1.060

Target FG: 1.005

IBU: 29.2

ABV: 7.3

6.5# Solstice Pilsner Malt

0.8125# Weyermann Barke Vienna Malt

2.4375# Mecca Grade Rimrock Rye Malt

Rice Hulls (a few handfuls)

56g Styrian Goldings 2.5 AA (60 min)

2ml Hopshot (60 min)

28g Styrian Goldings 2.5 AA (10 min)

1g BrewTan B (Mash)
Whirlfloc (Flameout)
Wyeast Nutrient (10 min)
4.66g BCAA (10 min)
Zinc Buddy

Bootleg Biology The Mad Fermentationist Saison Blend

Mash at 151F, 90 minute boil, chill to 65F, aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 65F ramping up to 70F over a few days.

Water Profile

Target Water Profile
Ca	Mg	Na	SO4	Cl	HCO3
124	6.6	3.6	198.3	97.7	0

We're shooting for a 2:1 sulfate to chloride ratio to help accentuate bitterness while ensuring a crisp finish. To 11 gallons of RO/Distilled water, add:

• 12.9g Gypsum
• 0.4g Pickling salt
• 2.8g Epsom salt
• 7.9g Calcium chloride

Brewing Notes

I hit strike temp only a couple of degrees low (~149) which is what I prefer; it's easier to raise the MT a couple degrees than try to lower the temp. The RIMS quickly got it up to 151 after I started recirculating. I added 1ml of 85% Phosphoric Acid to the mash after taking the initial pH reading. I also added 2ml of Phosphoric Acid to the HLT for the sparge water. Everything else went well until it was time to aerate and my O2 cylinder was empty. I used my old aquarium pump, but it definitely doesn't work as well as pure O2. I'd be a little more worried if this was a pure sacc pitch, but brett tends to do ok with lower aeration levels. Also, the propagated starter got quite a bit of O2. I also boiled a little bit of DME this morning and added it to my starter after decanting, so I'm hoping the yeast already had enough O2 to be healthy, but time will tell. Gravity came in 2 points under target, but not a big deal at all.  

Session Readings
Equipment used	10 gal MT
Strike water volume	5 gal
Strike water temp	166 °F
Mash thickness	2.05 qt/lbs
Beginning mash pH	5.34
Ending mash pH	5.21
1st running gravity	15.8 (1.063)
Volume into BK	6.75 gal
Pre-Boil gravity	12 (1.047)
Pre-Boil pH	5.19
Post-Boil gravity	14.6 (1.058)
Post-Boil pH	5.24
Aeration	N/A
Post ferm gravity	6.3 (1.005)
Post ferm pH	4.07

Update 4/12/2026

I’m not using a Tilt on this batch because they’re plastic and I can’t sanitize them with heat. Instead, I’ve been checking for signs of fermentation, primarily a bubbling airlock. I hadn’t seen any bubbling yet so I peaked into the Brew Bucket (BB) and it has a bunch of krausen. I’ve occasionally experienced poor sealing on the built-in PRV on the BB domed lids and that appears to be the issue again. To remedy this I applied a little keg lube and hit it with some StarSan and instantly started getting bubbles in the airlock.

Update 4/14/2026

I'm still seeing quite a bit of bubbling through the airlock, so fermentation hasn't wrapped up. I decided to pull a small sample and the flavor profile is exactly how I wanted it. There's some of that classic "Belgian" character, but it's not so over the top that you can't taste anything else. I was also surprised to see there was some noticeable acidity. I haven't taken a pH measurement yet, but I'd speculate it's somewhere around 3.5 ± 0.05. I'll take a reading once fermentation activity wraps up. 

Update 4/16/2026

Fermentation activity has dropped quite a bit. I won't have time to transfer out of the fermenter this coming weekend, so it'll probably hang out there for another week or so.

Update 4/21/2026

Poured a small sample today to test gravity and pH. Gravity may still drop a bit more since we're talking brettanomyces, but it's currently reading ~6.3 on my refractor which yields a corrected gravity of 1.005. pH is a little higher than I perceived at 4.07. I'm really liking the yeast blend's fermentation profile and can understand why it's so popular. You definitely get some classic "Belgian" esters and phenols, but it doesn't dominate. I do get some Brett character even though it's young and I'm excited to see how it evolves over time. I'm really glad I used a simple grain bill with this so as not to muddy the finished beer. I think this is a really good candidate for treating a portion with grapefruit, so I'm going to start on that.

Update 4/24/2026

I started my grapefruit tincture today. It's pretty straightforward, I use a Swiss style vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the fruit. It does a great job of just removing the outer zest but leaves the pith behind. I then place the peels in a small airtight jar and cover with a decent vodka. Everclear also works but I like to dilute it down to Vodka strength (~40% ABV/80 proof) because I find it can extract unwanted compounds at higher ABV/proof. I like to shake it about once per day and keep it stored in a cool dark place. 5-7 days tends to be the sweet spot for extraction.  After that, strain out the solids and store in a cool dark place until ready to use.

Update 4/30/2026

I kegged this beer this evening. I used two of my smaller kegs (2.6 gallon and 3-ish gallon) as part will be dosed with my grapefruit tincture and the other won't. Speaking of, the peels were removed from the tincture last night. I'll carb up the kegs then figure out the appropriate dosage of tincture to use. I'm guessing it'll end up being somewhere between .5-1ml/l of beer.

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