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I am a bit of an avid photog, and just visited back to the family homestead. Northern Kansas has deep roots for my family, and the Eller, Sears and Crons are a common name in the area. In editing these pictures, I am inspired to do a series of saisons/farmhouse ales and align with the stories (one real and one imagined). These are raw files processed with Lightroom and DXO to get the artistic effects.
This is the Carman house. It was built in the 1870's (homesteaded in the 1850's) making it one of the earliest homesteads in the Kansas/Nebraska area. It predates the US Army outpost Fort Bissell, which was a prominent base in the wars against the Indians. Built on the highest point for about 12 miles - it was a welcome light to Jayhawkers and Huskers traveling. Behind it is a turf house (the original home) that was converted into a root cellar. There are stories from Fort Bissell about how various tribes would ride up to the house and be freely given pies and bread cooling from the kitchen. The limestone was cut by hand over the hill from a natural break. It was abandoned in 1920's when the dust bowl rendered the area worthless for cattle and farming.
I graduated high school in 1986 and visited this house several times to paint it - and just nose around. Since the windmill has fallen, but it still pumped fresh water into the fields around back then. The wooden structure, which became the kitchen, has rotted away and fallen in. We called it the candy shack back then, as the limestone construction looked like sugar cubes until the weathering finally yellowed the limestone. Last time I was in there - there were still signs that the property was quickly abandoned. A few oil lamps were still hanging on the wall.
A scary story is told of wounded Indian women and children seeking refuge here after several raids of the US Army from Fort Bissell. During blood moons, folks claim to hear cries and wailing from around the building.
So - I am planning 3 beers based on this, largely to test out Yeast Coast saison yeasts against my standard Belle Saison based recipe. Thinking dusky, spicy but clean. (Sorry Brett/Lacto fans) I want to capture some of the yellow and rusty colors - and express a very earthy but bright hop character - think tall yellow corn and golden spring wheat that are harvested here.
Then the second series... (next post)
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by mchrispen
Where the Carman house is somewhat stark, I found a house nearer to the old family homestead. Turns out that my grandmother dated the son of the family that lived here in the 1930's... and later taught their other children in a one room schoolhouse several miles away. At that time, the Sears owned most of a town named Cedar, Kansas. My grandfather's land was the final little bit of the homestead that was sold when he passed away in 1988.
This is one creepy place. The icing on the cake was the group of turkey vultures that took up residence. It's old, built in the 1910's, probably used to store old farming equipment more recently, but all wood and just barely holding together. The land around is farmed with summer sweet corn and sorghum. Soybeans to the north. This was taken on a bright hot summer day, after a rain. The smell of decay was intense, but not off putting. I tried to get closer, but the rains had turned the road and field into ankle deep mud. No legends here (that I know about) - but the birds and the overgrowth added a particularly sinister character.
This series will be custom saison recipes to characterize this house in dusk, midnight and dawn.
So - the question for y'all, suggestions?
Thinking some maize in the recipes, and swapping out some specialty malts in here to get the different colors, deep red for dusk, dark inky black for midnight and something deep golden for the dawn. Will open up to a variety of hops (not just nobles) and sugar sources, maybe some fruit. Plan to match a yeast repitch from the first series to match as well.
I think the final beer (#7) will be something really funky. Perhaps 100% Brett ferment, with a kettle sour step.
Thoughts?
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by mchrispen
Tldr. I'm drunk sorry.
Posted 34 days ago.
I think you should definitely use some maize in the one for dusk, maybe some carared to bring in the color. I like the black saison option for midnight, add in some roasty flavors. For the dawn, maybe some peaches or apricots to bring out the brightness of the morning?
You say the final beer #7...are you doing 7 beers or just the three?
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by madcowbrewing
Total of 7 for a flight:
- Baseline Rye Saison / Belle Saison
- Baseline Rye Saison / Yeast Bay Wallonian Farmhouse
- Baseline Rye Saison / Yeast Bay Saison Blend
- Dusk
- Midnight
- Dawn
- Something funky
The last doesn't have to be a saison - but something farmhouse-ish.
Will use variations on these photos for labels, bottles with cork/cage. Would like to bring a full flight to NHC next year to share if the beers hold up.
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by mchrispen
With the funky, maybe some oak age....kind of bring out the old wood around the homesteads?
If you had a barrel you could drop it in to age it there and get all yummy goodness from the funky and the barrel until a month or so out from NHC....
Posted 34 days ago.
Go catch some yeast here,
Posted 34 days ago.
That would be cool, but the next time I am there (and possibly the last) will be for my grandmother’s funeral. Will have to see. It’s a 650 mile drive.
Posted 34 days ago.
Use sorghum syrup to help dry out the beers and maybe even as a primer
Posted 34 days ago.
That makes sense. I also have 120# of honey that is local to Smith county... plan to use some of that as a sugar source as well.
Posted 34 days ago.
I'd also keep the malt bill simple. Farm people are simple and and beer reflecting this shouldn't have a ton of different malts in it or anything too weird.
I'd also use earthy hops for at least the dusk one. Something that mimics the smell in the air after a dust storm.
It might not be a bad idea to go back and rewatch Ken Burn's The Dust Bowl.
Posted 34 days ago.
I really dig this idea btw. It's totally my jam and what I'm aiming for with some of my beers.
Posted 34 days ago.
Agreed. This is a fantastic idea!
Posted 34 days ago.
I'm really loving that last picture, great work man!
Posted 34 days ago.
@uberg33k Totally agreed on the grain bill. I am looking to source a half bushel of spring white wheat from the area, but I know I can get some from just west of there (actually through Black Lands Malts down here / ironic). So initially, the rye saisons will be just yeast trials, but essentially 2-row, flaked rye and some honey. Just watched "The Dust Bowl" a few weeks ago - incredible.
Thinking something along these terms for the creepy farmhouse: 75% 2-row, 15% wheat/maize, 10% adjunct/sugar.
So for example, the dusk might be 2-row, maize and bochet honey + Simpson med crystal, where the midnight might be 2-row, wheat and sorghum + some roast late, and Dawn something really light like 2-row, maize and raw honey (perhaps some light spices like lime zest and cracked pepper). Might sour mash some of the wheat to blend into the wort for some snap. Also the plan is to pressure cook the wheat additions with whole corns, and then blend in some 2-row as it cools to mash temps for liquefaction (and some conversion) - which means doing this on the big system.
I need to compile some US centric rustic and earthy hops, will work on that today.
For the last beer, my only consideration is that I want to call it Cedar (name of the homestead hometown), and perhaps age some on toasted spruce. I have some spanish cedar logs in my yard that have been curing for tap handles... thinking a short rest on some (boiled and toasted to get out some of the resin) might be an interesting wood age project. JK did a cedar aged beer on cedar chips that had a nice pungent cedar aroma, but that seemed to strong. Some smoke might also be nice in this last one. In fact, I wonder if I used my smoker (say at 250-300F) to kiln the cedar, would it bring just enough smoke into the wood. Time for a trial run I guess.
The community was named Cedar for the large number of spruce trees that were planted like an orchard around the entire town; used for wind and snow breaks. It is still quite a tradition for farms to windbreak with spruce. I should find one of the old family photos - in 1925 the town was booming, nearly 8,000 people coming to farm, work harvest. My great grandfather was a blacksmith and mechanic, as well as a farmer. Now the population is 8.
Posted 34 days ago.
