This recipe was kindly shared with us by Burning Sky, it is their benchmark mixed fermentation saison.

This tavern strength farmhouse beer is first fermented with saison yeast and then with a blend of Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces whilst ageing in oak foudres. The result is tart, crisp, slightly sour and incredibly refreshing.

We want everyone who has thought about stepping into the world of mixed fermentation to be inspired to give it a go but we would please ask that before ordering please ensure you have watched the YouTube videos about this beer and fully understand the use of temperature control, the time this will take to then condition on wood with a mixed culture and clean yeast and that this recipe is purely a guide based on the knowledge shared in the videos with Burning Sky and will rely on you to make choices and decision about how you are going to make this at home.

NOTE: No Yeast or Mixed Culture is included with this kit to allow you to choose your preference. We have listed some options that Mark from Burning Sky hinted might be a good choice to match their house cultures.

 

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Ingredients Included

Weyermann Acidulated Malt
Crisp CaraGold Malt
Crisp Pale Wheat Malt
Weyermann Spelt Malt
Crisp Lager Malt (Europils)

7550g Total Grain Bill For 30 Ltrs

East Kent Goldings T90 Pellet (36 grams)
Sorachi Ace – BarthHaas® Pure Hop Pellet (30 grams)
Celeia – BarthHaas® Pure Hop Pellet (30 grams)
Saazer – BarthHaas® Pure Hop Pellet (30 grams)

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Method

Beer Style (main): Belgian/French Ales
Beer Style (sub): Specialty Saison
Batch Size: 30
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.000
ABV %: 6.5
IBU: 26.5
Mash efficiency: 72
Brewing equipment: G40

THE MASH
Temperature °C (Step 1): 65
Length (mins) (Step 1): 60
Temperature °C (Step 2): 75
Length (mins) (Step 2): 10

THE BOIL
Boil time (mins): 60

Hop / kettle additions and timing:

FW – 20g EKG

16g EKG 50mins

Whirlpool / hop stand:

30g Saaz
30g Celeia
30g Sorachi Ace

Yeast: French Saison, and Mixed Ferm Culture – NOT INCLUDED
Fermentation temperature/steps: Pitchout 18c, allow to rise but not exceed 24c

Secondary additions:

There are no secondary additions in Saison Provision, however there have been fruited versions over the years that you may wish to attempt at home.

Comments:

This recipe was kindly shared with us by Burning Sky, it is their benchmark mixed fermentation saison, typically it starts off life being fermented with their house saison strain, then at 1.010 it gets transferred to oak barrel and aged for six months in oak to develop it’s distinctive flavour profile. Whilst in oak it completes its fermentation with their house culture of bugs and take on a small part of the flavours present in their ex-white wine barrels.

As time has progressed Burning Sky changed their processes and will add their house yeast strain along with their house mixed ferm culture in the same tank, then as fermentation progresses they would then move to oak and leave it for 3-6 months, or until it ready.

To brew this at home is the easy part, the fun really starts when it comes to trying to replicate the house culture to get the same delicate funkiness that is present in their beers that comes from the time in barrel. This can be done in a couple of ways, either by using an oak barrel, or by using wood that you add to a fermenter. In both cases it should also be considered how you are going to get that lovely wine flavour also, you could do this by soaking the wood in white wine, or even by making a white wine kit and putting that into a barrel, thats the where the real fun begins. Then finding a culture that you like and can add the funk to the beer in the final stage of fermentation.

Be sure to check out our YouTube Channel to see the real story and detail behind this beer and then subscribe so that you can see how we tackle brewing this ourselves.

In addition to the awesome information Mark shared with us in the video we also asked him to share a bit more about how they treat their brewing water and this was what he shared with us:

We use our base water which is hard, with a Carbon filter to strip out Chlorine. We then reduce our alkalinity with a mix of Phosphoric and Lactic acid(s). We think using both (at various points) is a good way of adjusting the PH throughout the process without risking flavour development that might come with using one of the two. This may not be relevant if you’re blessed with soft water/ using a de-mineraliser but it’s an important part of our process. We monitor and adjust the PH throughout the wort production and cellaring using these two acids.

With our saisons the finished beer ionics tend to be:

Calcium (ppm) – 70

Chloride (ppm) – 240

Magnesium (ppm) – 70
Sulphate (ppm) – 200

Sodium (ppm) – 25

In terms of how we achieve this mineral profile, most of our Chloride and the Sodium is derived from our malt selection and base water. We then use Calcium Sulphate, Magnesium Sulphate and Calcium Chloride as mash salts to achieve the rest.

Be sure to check out our YouTube channel where you will be able to find the 2 films about Burning Sky and be sure to subscribe so you can see our attempt at brewing this recipe in the coming weeks.

You can also find beers from Burning Sky in our online beer shop Indie Beer Fridge for your enjoyment at home.