Belgian Pale Ale

I have long been fascinated by the stories of the old farmhouse ales made in the Flanders area of Belgium. The thought of fermenting these beers in open air vessels with a strain of yeast that could handle temperatures in the 90's and leaving them vulnerable to wild yeast and bacteria sounds crazy to many brewers, but  it is this out of bounds type of brewing that facinates me.

The idea for this beer came from a reference in a BYO Magazine a few years ago. It loosely based on the DeRanke XX Bitter, back when it was still fermented with the a strain from the Roeselare region.

Volume: 2 gallons
Anticipated SG: 1.045
Calculated IBU: 30

3 lbs Pilsner
.25 lbs Flaked Wheat
.25 lb table sugar
.25 oz Crystal hops 60 min
.25 oz Crystal hops 30 min
1 oz Crystal hops 10 min
Yeast: Wyeast French Saison

12/27/2013 Brewed

1/10/14 Racked to secondary. Added White Labs Belgian Sour Mix. Tasted really hoppy and green. Hopefully the hops die down and the souring mellows out the bitterness. Really dry.