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Recipe: La Ferme Sure Camerise
From founder-brewer Jonathan Thibault at La Ferme in Shefford, Quebec—a rural brewery about 60 miles east of Montreal and 35 miles north of Vermont—here’s the recipe for a tart wheat beer that features nearly two kilos of a beloved local produce: haskap berries, aka camerise.
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.044 (11°P)
FG: 1.012 (3°P)
IBUs: 0
ABV: 4.3%
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.044 (11°P)
FG: 1.012 (3°P)
IBUs: 0
ABV: 4.3%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
5 lb (2.3 kg) pilsner malt
3.3 lb (1.5 kg) unmalted wheat
ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
4.2 lb (1.9 kg) haskap berries at secondary
YEAST
Lactobacillus plantarum and Voss kveik
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash in at 108°F (42°C) for 10 minutes—this is a protein rest for the raw wheat—then raise the temperature to 153°F (67°C) and rest 60 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes. After the boil, cool to 95°F (35°C), add the Lactobacillus, and cover the kettle tightly, purging with CO2 if possible. Once the pH has dropped to 3.5—after about 24 hours—then heat to 176°F (80°C) and hold there 5 minutes to pasteurize. Cool again to 95°F (35°C) and pitch the kveik. Ferment at 95°F (35°C). (You can allow it to free-rise as high as 104°F/40°C if you lack temperature control.) When fermentation is almost complete—it should take only a day or two—add the haskap berries. Once fermentation is complete and the gravity has stabilized, crash, rack off the fruit, package, and carbonate to about 2.7 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Wheat: You can substitute malted wheat for the raw if your equipment doesn’t allow a step mash. We use raw wheat to reduce malty flavors and let the fruit shine.
Lactobacillus plantarum: This is usually available from yeast labs, but probiotic capsules or powders also work.
Kveik: You can use any fruity yeast of choice—but if you don’t use kveik, be sure to adjust the pitching and fermentation temperatures.
Haskap berries: If you can’t source them fresh in your area, haskap berries are available fresh-frozen online from suppliers such as Northwest Wild Foods ($68.99 for 6 lb/2.7 kg, nwwildfoods.com). If you are working with frozen berries, it’s best to let the berries thaw before adding them to the fermentor, to avoid excessive cooling of the beer.
