Saison.

I recently started a batch of Saison. My goal with this one was not to clone Dupont or something else commercially available (though they are delicious!), but to make something that might be historically accurate as to what this beer once tasted like.
From Yvan De Baets/Farmhouse Ales:
-amber color
-dominate sourness (primarily lactic) or bitterness with a sour side
-wine like character
-marked by brettanomyces, notes of 'old barrel' present
-well attenuated
-subtle spicy nuances, citrusy hop aroma
-subtle fruity aspect
-dry and astringent mouthfeel
-well rounded character
-4.5 to 6.5% abv
-fermented at least partially by wild yeasts as well as cultured
With this in mind, I wrote the following recipe:
9 lb 1 oz Belgian pale malt
15 oz white wheat malt
6 oz German vienna
1.25 oz East Kent Goldings pellet @ 60 min
.25 oz Challenger pellet @ 60 min
.75 oz Hersbrucker pellet @ 60 min
.5 oz East Kent Goldings pellet @ 15 min
1 oz Willamette pellet @ 1 min
.25 tsp Irish moss @ 15 min
3711 French Saison
5526 Brettanomyces Lambicus
3763 Roeselare Blend
Estimated og - 1.057 (broke my hydro, so no actual reading)
Estimated fg - 1.010
Currently at - 1.008
The varied hops are based on what I had as well as what was available at my local homebrew supply store. They seemed a bit low on many things that day.
3/17/10- Used a decoction mash for this one. In this method, a part of the main mash is brought out and boiled and then added back to the main mash to create the temperature gains. In the formula used to determine how much to pull out, I used 212 as boiling, which is not what water boils at here! Well, I learned a lesson.
Mash in at 124 for 30 min, 144 for 30 min, 154 for 15 min, 165 mash off. Sparged with around 6 gal of 170 deg water. Boiled with hops, cooled, and added to yeast cake from my Grisette. Vigorous fermentation by morning. One day at room temp (65 or so) then into a water bath at 82 degrees for a week.
3/25/10- Gravity at 1.008. Racked into secondary onto yeast from my wild ale (b. lambicus). Added Roeselare blend yeast plus 1 oz heavy toast French oak cubes boiled in 5 changes of water and soaked in port for several days.

Saison on right, Grisette on left.
4/1/10- I was going to let this go a bit longer before having a taste, but after sampling my Grisette, decided to head in tonight. Brett character is already apparent, no sourness as of yet though. Still tastes fine as far as oak level is concerned. Quite an active fermentation is still going on. I can see tons of bubbles streaming up near the top of the carboy.
4/11/10- Had a little taste today. The Brett character seems to have lessened, but is still there. Definitely developing some sourness at this point. Still very actively fermenting, with streaming bubbles visible inside the carboy. Definitely going to be something special when it is done.
5/7/10- Tasted a few days ago. It is interesting to see the character of this beer change as it ages. It is now at nearly two months in the fermenter. The brett is lessening, there is a nice bitterness, and it is developing an aged flavor. The only negative I see at this point is a definite alcohol taste on the end, though that will change between now and whenever it goes in a bottle. And when will that be? I was planning on the end of this month, but at this point it could still be several months. This may be a beer for next summer.
5/18/10- I have been adding the dregs of some commercial sours/wild beers to help create a more diverse fermentation environment. Here is what it looks like today. You can't see it in this, but it looks like there is a small pellicle starting to form.
6/4/10- Fermentation seems to have slowed down, but there are still many bubbles coming up through the beer. I mentioned I have added the dregs of several commercial beers. Those would be Petrus Aged Pale, Etienne Dupont Cider, New Belgium la Folie (though I have read it is filtered, there was a sediment in the bottle), and Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze. By my count there are around 20+ different organisms now fermenting this beer. A definite pellicle has formed and it has a sour aroma. May be able to bottle in another month or two?
4/16/11- Finally bottled with 3 oz corn sugar. According to my initial estimate and end measurement, this beer is 7.6% abv (or so). Tastes good, amber color, light sourness, bitterness, apply aroma. We'll see how it tastes when it has carbonated!