Trillium Brewing's Bees American Wild Ale Recipe

This recipe from Boston-based Trillium Brewing’s Cofounder and Brewmaster, Jean-Claude Tetreault, uses New England malt and honey. To give your version its own terroir, source your malt and honey locally.

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 65%
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.002
IBUs: 7
ABV: 5.6%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

5.5 lb (2.5 kg) Valley Malt Pale Malt
2.5 lb (1.13 kg) Valley Malted Wheat
8 oz (227 g) Valley Crystal Wheat

HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE

0.25 oz (7 g) U.S. Goldings hops at 60 minutes
1 lb (454 g) local raw New England wildflower honey in the fermentor at 4 weeks
8 oz (227 g) local raw New England honey for bottle priming

YEAST

Cultured up bottle dregs of Trillium New England Native Microbe Culture. If Trillium doesn’t distribute in your area, try a commercial mixed culture, or culture your own blend of backyard mystery microbes. The results won’t be the same, but it’s the best you can do without the actual Trillium strains.

Suggested commercial options include East Coast Yeast ECY01 BugFarm, ECY03 Farmhouse Blend, or ECY20 BugCounty; The Yeast Bay Amalgamation, Mélange, or Funktown; White Labs WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix I; Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend or 3763 Roeselare Ale Blend.

DIRECTIONS

Single-infusion mash the pale malt, malted wheat, and crystal malt in 2.75 gallons (10.4 liters) of water to arrive at 154°F (68°C). Sparge with 170–175°F (77–79°C) water to collect 5.5–6 gallons (20.8–22.7 liters) of wort. Bring to a boil and boil for 60 minutes following the hops schedule. Cool to 68°F (20°C) and rack into a sanitized fermentor. Add the cultured microbes and aerate. Ferment at 68°F (20°C) for two days, then let the temperature rise to 75°F (24°C) for four weeks. At four weeks, add the 1 pound (454 g) of honey. Ferment for an additional 4–8 weeks at ambient temperature. When the gravity is stable at 1.000–1.0002, blend the 8 ounces (227 g) of honey with 8 ounces (227 g) 100°F (38°C) water to ensure good mixing in the bottling bucket. Bottle condition in heavy glass for 6–12 months.

BREWER’S NOTES

To achieve a water chemistry of about 150 ppm Ca+ and a balanced sulfate/chloride ratio, Tetreault adds 5g calcium chloride and 5g calcium sulfate to the mash water. Add brewing salts as needed to adjust your water chemistry.

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