Michael Tonsmeire’s Saison ‘Merican has been on my “recipes to try” list for a while. The combination of saison yeast, moderate funkiness, and IPA-like hopping sounds enticing.

I’ll be following the recipe/process pretty much as written for my first attempt at this beer.

Recipe

Batch size:      5.5 gallons
Target OG:       1.049
Target FG:       1.010
Calculated IBU:  47
Calculated SRM:  4.5

Grain bill:
8.0 lb  US 2-Row           (74.4%)
2.0 lb  Rye Malt           (18.6%)
0.5 lb  Golden Naked Oats  (4.7%)
0.25 lb Acid Malt          (2.7%)

Mash (Batch Sparge): 148 °F @ 1.4 qts/lb

Hops:
0.7 oz Columbus             @ 60 minutes (32.3 IBU)
2.0 oz Mosaic               @ Hopstand
1.0 oz Nelson Sauvin        @ Hopstand
1.0 oz Hallertau Blanc      @ Hopstand

2.0 oz Mosaic               @ Dry Hop
1.0 oz Nelson Sauvin        @ Dry Hop
1.0 oz Hallertau Blanc      @ Dry Hop

Yeast:
Bootleg Mad Fermentationist Saison Blend

Notes

2021-04-25 - Brew day. Final volume ~6 gallons @ 1.053. Chilled to 69, pitched yeast, fermented in spare bathroom downstairs. Low 70’s ambient temp.

I had knee surgery a couple weeks after this. Wasn’t good with notes. I think primary was 2-3 weeks, then I transferred to a keg with dry hops in a bag for about a week, then removed the hops and let the beer condition about two more weeks before chilling and carbonating.

2021-06-27 - Sitting down for a tasting. I’ve been enjoying this on tap for a couple weeks now. Hops are front and center and tasting nice. The saison yeast is a bit peppery, and I taste just enough of the Brett to know it’s there. I’d definitely make something like this again.