Originally brewed using a yeast cake from a beer inspired by Fantôme Saison—which itself had been fermented using cultured-up bottle dregs of that beer—this recipe is worth brewing in its own right. The fun is in getting to use this idiosyncratic little yeast strain. Culture up some dregs, if you want, or look for a commercially available variety grown from the source, such as East Coast Yeast ECY03-B.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5.5 gallons (21 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.008
IBUs: 33
ABV: 6.1%.
MALT/GRAIN BILL
7 lb (3.2 kg) Belgian pilsner
1 lb (454 g) flaked oats
8 oz (227 g) Carapils
4 oz (113 g) aromatic malt
HOPS AND ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
1.5 lb (680 g) light brown sugar at 90 minutes
1.5 oz (43 g) Hallertauer Tradition [AA 6%] at 60 minutes
1 oz (28 g) Styrian Goldings [2.6% AA] at 20 minutes
YEAST
East Coast Yeast Farmhouse Blend Isolate ECY03-B, or a yeast starter made from Fantôme bottle dregs.
DIRECTIONS Mill the grains and mash at 150°F (66°C) for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge the grains and top up as necessary to obtain 7.3 gallons (28 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes following the hops and additions schedule. After the boil, chill the wort to about 63°F (17°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Hold at 63–64°F (17–18°C) for 2–3 days, then allow the temperature to rise to 70–80°F (21–27°C) as tempered by a water bath. Allow to ferment completely before packaging.