Fibonacci Saison, All-Grain

(6 gallons/23 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.087  FG = 1.008 
IBU = 23  SRM = 6 ABV = 10.4%  

A year ago, the Maltose Falcons lost one of our most important members – Bruce Brode. He was an incredibly talented brewer and confoundedly deep thinker about a wide range of self-learned subjects. He’s responsible, in part, for the broad scope of the Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines, worked tirelessly to promote judging and the Southern California Homebrewers Fest and was, importantly to the club, the keyboardist and chief arranger of the Maltose Falcons Brews Band. 

He was very much a mentor to me. In his memory, I reached back to a party where he played a friend’s experimental musical composition designed around the Fibonacci sequence (aka 1,1,2,3,5 . . .). In that spirit, I created a recipe where everything (minus a mash temperature) was a Fibonacci number. I used both spelt, chit malt and fonio to provide additional earthy and rustic characters for a real Farmhouse feel. Sit back, this one is a bit crazy.

Ingredients

8 lbs. (3.6 kg) Weyermann Pilsner malt
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) Weyermann pale wheat malt
3 lbs. (1.4 kg) Weyermann Munich malt
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) fonio, pre-hulled, par cooked
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Crisp chit malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Weyermann spelt malt
5.4 AAU Magnum hops (89 min.) (0.45 oz./13 g at 12% alpha acids)
4.1 AAU Willamette hops (55 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (34 g) Willamette hops (0 min.)
1 Campden tablet
Wyeast 3726 (Farmhouse Ale)
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by step

I used a step mash, beginning with mashing all grains at 144 °F (62 °C) for 13 minutes and then raising the mash to 150 °F (66 °C) for 55 minutes. Mash out and vorlauf until runnings are clear. Collect 7 gallons (26.5 L) of wort and boil for 90 minutes, adding at times indicated. 

When the boil is complete, cool and oxygenate wort, then pitch yeast and ferment at 63 °F (17 °C) for 7 days. Ramp to 70 °F (21 °C) and hold for 10 days. Keg and force carbonate or add priming sugar and bottle condition as usual.