Recipe Ideas for Bière de Mars?

[jtwilliams31]

I've got some slurry from a saison I recently finished (Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale), and I'm looking to use it in a beer for spring. I've already got a Maibock lagering for May, but now I'm looking at brewing a Bière de Mars for March and using my 3726. Since it seems like a lesser known beer, I was curious if anyone has any experience brewing one and would have a recipe to share? I tend to do smaller brews so I'm not afraid to experiment/get a little weird with this one.

I did some digging and looked at a few different recipes to come up with one of my own. The most interesting/singular part is probably the hopping of 3/4 of an ounce of Columbus (CTZ) at 20 minutes instead of a standard bittering + flavor/aroma additions that came from Craft Beer & Brewing. The end result is an OG of about 1.050 on my system (a bit low I know for a Bière de Garde (but possibly not Bière de Mars?) but this yeast is a monster attenuator), ibu of around 25-30, and SRM of 11. Everything but the OG is in-style for Bière de Garde:

40% Pilsner

26.5% White Wheat

26.5% Munich (9l)

3% Crystal 20

3% Crystal 40

1% Black Patent

3/4 oz Columbus (CTZ) @ 20 min

Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale

Thoughts?

 

[brownni5]

Funny, I was just designing a Bier de Mars today. I'm not a CTZ fan, but I think the malt bill looks solid.

Saison yeast isn't traditional for a BdM (that I see), but it's your beer, ferment it as you please.

 

[jtwilliams31]

Funny, I was just designing a Bier de Mars today. I'm not a CTZ fan, but I think the malt bill looks solid.

Saison yeast isn't traditional for a BdM (that I see), but it's your beer, ferment it as you please.

Yeah, I think hops are the one area that I'm not quite sure which direction to take. Do you have any ideas where you'll end up going with your?

 

[brownni5]

I'm designing mine based on the Bier de Mars recipe in Farmhouse Ales, but as of now am planning to bitter with a little Nugget (since I have it) and adding Sterling and Strisselspalt as flavor and aroma additions. I love Continental hops and their offspring, and Strisselspalt is definitely one of my favorites.