Abbaye de Saint bon-chien-- recipe ideas?

[JoePro]

So, I had this beer back in '08. It was the '06 vintage and I nearly wet myself. It may, in my opinion, be the best beer on the planet. I've had multiple iterations and vintages of this brew since then, sampling about 2-3 times a year.

And I want to homebrew it. I know next to nothing about formulating recipes, but I was wondering if anybody else has had it before, and how it might be possible to replicate it.

 

[JoePro]

Nobody? Am I the only one who's even had this beer?

 

[NoodleIsAShark]

Ahhh, my first Bon Chien was in 2013 it was a 2007-2009 vintage I think. This was the first beer I was ever able to actually taste layers in and pick up different "notes". I agree with you, in my opinion this may be the best beer on the planet. I too would love to try my hand at a clone!

 

[jrgtr42]

I know this is a 10 1/2 year old thread... but Abbaye de Bon Chien (Abbey of the Good Dog?) was what got me into sours. I was at a fest and a friend of mine was pouring at one table, he told the guy next to him to give me a taste of the under-the-table beer, which turned out to be that...OMG!!!!!!
I doubt the OP is still around to read this, but it's listed as a strong ale, barrel-aged and sour.
So I'd think that the base beer would be fairly simple - just brew up a Belgian Strong Dark, primary with Abbey yeast. THe big thing is to get the right blend of souring bugs. Maybe dregs from a bottle, possibly stepped up a bit would work out, then age with oak. It's wine barrel aged, so I'd say soak that oak in wine for a few weeks minimum before adding to the beer.
Taste periodically.

 

[NoodleIsAShark]

I figured there wouldn't be a response on this either considering its a 10 year old post too haha. Bon Chien was the beer that realllly turned me into a beer hound (no pun intended... chien...dog... I digress). I had had many local brewery beers, a big fan of La Fin Du Monde, Aventinus, etc. But this one blew my mind and flipped the beer world upside down for me.

I am totally new to brewing beer, working on my first batch next week actually. But am looking forward to learning and growing with a goal to recreate something similar to this beer!

 

[evolutionary]

The internet is devoid of any good bon chien recipes. Add me to the list of those who were blew away by this beer and want to try to make a clone even 1/4 as good.

 

[satph]

I would start with Mad Fermentationist's Big Funky. I made a beer based on that post in 2016 and botled it 9 months later. My notes say it had petulant carbonation, a touch of sourness, a touch of brett funk and residual sweetness. 1.100 OG, 1.005 FG.

I opened one up tonight at cellar temp. At five years old, this beer is better than it's ever been. So be prepared to wait. Mine is more carbonated than Mike’s, but still lightly carbed. It smells rich and estery with Brett in the nose. The mouth feel and taste are rich and port like. Although thick, mine is boozy, so I wouldn't describe it as sticky. I have deep rich malty flavors, I would say molasses and plums and some fruity esters that are probably brett. It finishes with alcohol and a little acid. I would say an old ale or even a barley wine, not an oud bruin. I fermented mine with ECY-01 Bug Farm. I had 25 IBU’s.

If I were to brew it again, I would either eliminate the hops entirely, or brew half with no hops to let the acid bacteria work unimpeded and brew the other half with hops and blend.

 

[evolutionary]

Going to try the Big Funky recipe a week from today and have some Bon chien as well as Sapwood Cellars dregs available to go in it as well, but if anyone has any good work they've done to try to recreate this beer, please post. I like the comments about dropping IBUs and will plan on that for sure. I've spent hours trying to get more info on Bon Chien but here's about the most helpful so far:

Boldly treading the boundary between port, wine and beer, Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien is a unique ale aged in wooden casks which have been used for several years before to age Merlot, Merlot Cabernet, Whisky and then Grappa. It manages to merge into Abbaye all the complex aromas of a vintage red wine along with the delicate harmony and flavors of the wood and its former contents. This process requires close monitoring of the beer's evolution. The final version is blended from different casks, to ensure optimal balance, complexity and enjoyment! Every year, the blend will be slightly different.

Here's a link to an old sales sheet with info about the 2004-2007 editions, including what barrels were used: http://www.bunitedint.com/media/resources/sales_sheets/Brasserie_des_Franches_Montagnes.pdf

 

[Olijaun]

I don‘t have source anymore but I read somewhere that they use a wine yeast (among other things of course). Jérôme Rebetez has a bachelor in enology.

 

[mashpaddled]

The best thing about this beer is how well it holds up to aging. I've had ten year old bottles that were stunning.

I've never seen a supposed clone recipe I thought trustworthy for it. If I wanted to work up a recipe I would start with a basic Flemish red recipe and crank it up to target 9% knowing it's going to go higher as it dries out and with whatever alcohol it would pick up from the barrel. I'd ferment it with a sour mix (wyeast lambic is my go to but most will be fine) supplementing with dregs out of a bottle or two of Bon Chien. I'd steam a small amount of oak cubes to get out some of the fresh oak taste and add it along with a small amount of red wine of your choice either at primary or shortly after primary winds down. Let it age in bulk for 12-18 months at minimum. If it needs some help in the wine flavor you can add more wine at bottling if desired.

From drinking a fair amount of this beer I don't get the feeling the recipe is much more complex than that. I would start simple like this and see how much of the complexity in the beer comes from mixed fermentation, oak, red wine and age, before I starting dumping in specialty malts.