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Recipe: Is/Was Bourgeois Daydreams
Checking in at just 3.2 percent ABV, Bourgeois Daydreams is the delicate, aromatic table beer at Chicago’s saison-focused Is/Was Brewing. Cofounder and brewer Mike Schallau describes it as “a balance of rustic grains, fresh-hop character, yeast esters, and a sprinkle of Brett funk.”
Photo: Matt Graves/mgravesphoto.com
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For more on the ethereal nature of this style, on on how different brewers approach it, see The Incredible Lightness of Table Beer.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.025 (6.4°P)
FG: 1.001 (0.1°P)
IBUs: 24
ABV: 3.2%
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For more on the ethereal nature of this style, on on how different brewers approach it, see The Incredible Lightness of Table Beer.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.025 (6.4°P)
FG: 1.001 (0.1°P)
IBUs: 24
ABV: 3.2%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
3 lb (1.4 kg) Sugar Creek Pilsner
1 lb (454 g) Sugar Creek Organic Spelt Malt
8 oz (227 g) Sugar Creek Triticale Malt
4 oz (113 g) Sugar Creek Chit Malt
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.6 oz (17 g) Saphir at 60 minutes [8 IBUs]
0.75 oz (21 g) each Grüngeist and Saphir at 20 minutes [11.5 IBUs]
1.5 oz (43 g) each Grüngeist and Saphir at whirlpool [4.5 IBUs]
0.75 oz (21 g) each Grüngeist and Saphir at dry hop
YEAST
Omega OYL-042 Belgian Saison II and your preferred Brettanomyces strain or mixed-culture bottle dregs
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 149°F (65°C) for 60 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. While sparging, maintain the mash temperature at 149°F (65°C), and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, add the hops, and allow 5 minutes to steep. Chill to about 84°F (29°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. During fermentation, allow the temperature to free-rise as high as it wants to go, and avoid head pressure on the yeast—for example, instead of an airlock, loosely cover the top of the fermentor with a sanitized piece of foil or cheesecloth. Watch the kräusen; when it starts to fall, you can add the airlock. Once the gravity has dropped to about 1.004 (1°P), pitch the Brett. Once the beer is bone-dry, add the dry hops for 3–5 days, then crash and remove the hops (or rack). Carbonate to about 2.75 volumes of CO2 if kegging, or 3.2 volumes if bottle-conditioning—and we also add more Brett at bottling. Wait 2 weeks for a fresh, hoppy version of Bourgeois—or let it ride. We recently opened one that was 4.5 years old, and it tastes great.
BREWER’S NOTES
Water & pH: We shoot for a 2:1 chloride-sulfate ratio, and we adjust the pH in our kettle with lactic acid to knock out about 5.1.
Fermentation: Back pressure is the enemy of ester production. Our Brett culture started as a modified version of Omega OYL-218 All the Bretts, and now we re-pitch it from the dregs of bottles from our previous batch of Brett-conditioned beer we made. We think of the Brett as a seasoning, not as the main attraction of this beer. But these are all just guidelines—make it your own!
Mike Schallau is cofounder and brewer at Is/Was Brewing in Chicago.
