Levain conditioned on Bosc Pear (2023)
Is/Was Brewing

Levain is a long time coming. The culmination of our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about the microorganisms that allow us to make beer. Mashed with raw spelt from Janie’s Mill, hopped with aged whole cone hops then fermented and ripened in used oak wine barrels with a blend of our house saison yeast, our favorite strains of brettanomyces, dregs from bottles that inspire us, and microorganisms sourced from my 6 year old sourdough starter.

Pear is a difficult, subtle fruit to work with in beer. Most of its aromatic an flavors are already present so finding a way to make the character of pear stand out can be a real challenge. To acheive that goal we took roughly 7 pounds of whole Bosc Pears, stems and all, from Mick Klug Farms and had them undergo carbonic maceration for 2 weeks before transferring Levain on top and allowing them to undergo secondary fermentation with the beer.

The result is a unique delicate beer with notes of ripe pear, light baking spices, freshly tilled soil, and a distinct, slightly oily mouthfeel. We only packaged 108 bottles of this beer and it will be almost exclusively available on our webstore.