Brother Levonian Saison - AHA Beer

Jamil Z. talked my buddy Harold and me into coordinating the commemorative beers for the AHA National Convention in Oakland this year. Did I say talked us into? I guess he drank me into it. It didn’t come up in conversation until he had four or five beers in me!

One of the beers is “Sippin on the Doc of the Bay IPA.” This beer is the brainstorm of Pat McIllhenney, Alpine Beer Company. It’s a “Welcome to California IPA.” The other is “Brother Levonian Saison,” brewed by “Mighty Mike” of Lost Abbey – www.lostabbey.com

Dave Levonian was a homebrewer, QUAFF member, and a very approachable guy. Just one of the nicest guys you’ve ever met. He passed away in 2008 at way too young an age. Dave loved Saisons…LOVED them. In his memory, a couple of the brewers in San Diego - Colby Chandler and Dean Rouleau - have brewed “Brother Levonian” commemorative beers with proceeds going to Dave’s daughter’s college fund.

When I approached Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey with the idea of doing this beer for the AHA, he didn’t hesitate; he jumped on the idea with enthusiasm. Actually all the contributors for this project have been incredibly forthcoming – White Labs, North Country Malt, Hop Union, More Beer, Brewcraft, MPS Digital, Alpine Beer Company – all have been wonderful to work with.

Dave and I brewed one Saison together; that recipe will follow in a separate “beer recipes” post. The recipe we came up with for the Lost Abbey rendition was essentially the same, just bigger…I mean BIGGER!

Malt from North Country Malt:

1265 lbs. Franco Belge Pils
440 lbs. Franco Belge Vienna
200 lbs. 2 Row
150 lbs. Wheat Malt
100 lbs. Honey

149f mash.

Hops from Hop Union:

6 lbs. Saaz 90 min.
4.6 lbs. Glacier 45 min.
4 lbs. Amarillo KO
4 lbs. Saaz WP

Pepper KO
Turmeric KO
And one humongous bag of Tangerine peels steeped at KO.

The yeast was provided by White Labs. It was a culture I had provided them a few years ago and is now WLP 566 Saison II.

Now for the really cool part: half the batch is going to the AHA National Convention in Oakland. Attendees will enjoy the beer on draft and take home a 750ml. bottle dosed with brett! The other half of the batch is going to the Michael Jackson rare beer club!! Proceeds go to Dave’s daughters college fund. How cool is that!?!

More later,

Chad