CO Funk Barrel Ferment #1 - Caison3

After a lot to trip to Crooked Stave to drop a bottle of CO Funk 1, I was inspired by a label I was given and whiskey barrels I saw.  Going for a dark brew, with a big balance of malt, light roast character, cherry notes, alcohol, yeast, and fruit.   The model - The Dark Origins series.

But before I go there let us take one more baby step and crank a nice dose of C120 in there.  Just got done reading a nice article by the godfather of Brett and he speaks to Brett bringing out the aging properties of C120's cherry character and Id like to see that in this beer....or should I say beers!  Going to do a 10G split batch and send one to the barrel for primary fermentation with CO Funk, the other with my house Brett-Saison yeast.  I like the grist for both and love the idea of making to epically different beers from the same wort.  It'll be fun I think!

Pils - 16
Dark Munich - 2
Flaked Wheat - 2
C120 - 1.5

Rice Hulls

Stats

OG - 1051
FG - 1010
ABV - 5 AND change
Srm - 20

The highly attenuation Brett will chew all the backdrop of the malt leaving roasted character highly accentuated.  The dehusked carafa will give color, and a smooth roastiness without astringent character.   The key here, as long  as we use it wisely.  

Mash for mouthfeel at 152
Boil 0.
Pitch 5G at 80 and ferment in the Pico1 barrel.  It is time.
Split batch after 2 months and bottle some.  Add I can blackberry puree to one and I can raspberry puree to the other.  That is all. 

Brew Day - Mid February.

4/17/16: Sooooo...I guess I didn't record any Brew Day info.  I've been having some trouble with what goes into the phone migrating to the main blog...user error IM sure, so I'll pull from beer stone infested memory.

The grist went as planned, but the OG was 1045.  I built up the CO Funk in the starter and it was rippin when it went int the barrel...I believe I did pitch this at 80.  Fermentation kicked off very quickly and was solid based on past performance.

The Saison III slurry was warmed up and active when pitched.  I also pitched several sources of lacto including Kerrys probiotic, L. Acidophilus and Marcelle's baby probiotic.  I also added a full vial of Gen 1 French Saison slurry that was off the starter for my Chocolate Saison last summer.  Not sure of the temp.  It also fermented nicely and was kept in the "warm room" in the mid 70s for its 3 week fermentation before being sent to the basement.

The CO Funk was tasted and found to be surprisingly thin and lacking in that beautiful lactic character.  I'm going to let this go for a few more months but will add a couple pounds of wheat DME to get the ABV up a touch and add somebody.

4/25 - added 1lb Bavarian wheat DME boiled.  Pulled a sample and lactic is starting to take.  Hopefully, this bumps up the mouthfeel.

9/28/2016 - Racked out.  Added .5G 1075 riesling must at cellar temp (60sih) - kicked off after a week and rolled steadily for over 2 weeks after.

11/5/2016 - airlock activity still on-going (1/5) - plenty of activity on the fermenter. 

12/12/16 - I kept a bottle of no hopped C3.  It's epic.  Pours a beautiful straw, quickly dissipating head.  Light citrus on nose from lactic and mellow funk character.  Not much Saison, pretty restained.  

Light sour.  Light funk.  Light Saison. Ultra dry and refreshing.  Not complex - linear for sure.  But delicious.

Caison 4

Standard grist of pils,  flaked oats, wheat and munich. 

152 mash'ish'
No boil for sure.

The brett-Saison III slurry was warmed up and active when pitched.  I also pitched several sources of lacto including Kerrys probiotic, L. Acidophilus and Marcelle's baby probiotic.  I also added a full vial of Gen 1 French Saison slurry that was off the starter for my Chocolate Saison last summer. It also fermented nicely and was kept in the "warm room" in the mid 70s for its 3 week fermentation before being sent to the basement.

Added 2oz Nelson and 2oz summer hops to 4 gallons.  The other gallon went to blend.  10 days for the summer and 1oz nelson.  Added an extra ounce of Nelson day 5-10.  

All these beers turned out epic and awesome all at once.  

The 1G was blended with some brett-Saison gen 3 plus 12oz dried apricot and some additional CO Funk slurry. The apricot worked beautifully and complimented the blend in a huge way.  Its time to start making or buying legit purees though.

The CO Funk blended its acidity with the rustic saison character of the Caison IV and was one of the better beers Ive ever made.  It actually pucnhed up on the funk significantly versus the Caison IV as it aged.