Saison Sunday — Cellar Aged Series

Artisan ales finished with BLKMAN starter cultures. Bottle conditioned for long-term keeping available for purchase exclusively at the brewery. Stay tuned for scheduled events, listening sessions, and style talks curated by BlackMan Brewing.

Host Brewery:

Oak Cliff Brewing

What happened to domestic arts? The common work of people moving with dignity. The mundane peace found in crafting. The shear excellence of practicing. Making handmade goods and bespoke well-crafted wares. Great things made for exclusive markets.

I find solace in fermentation. The craft beer industry is faded. Lost its shine. I find myself dreaming. Standing still to wonder. Disoriented.

I've asked myself these questions: why beer, why yeast, why fermentation? I've not lost the humble art of small batch brewing. I learned the craft at home in my garage. Becoming familiar with yeast handling, bottle conditioning, and beers styled with rustic flavors. I found simple wild fermentations given time transform beers into creative expressions. Affirming dryness. Clarifying crispness. Beers that shimmer with nuance are not overwhelmingly single-ended. Wild ferments in moderate portions often lean toward high acidity. These days I prefer rustic ales with useful characteristics. Wild yeast tamed like a sourdough loaf. Artisanal reflection crafted by baker’s hands. The slow rise of craftsmanship maintained by continual effort. Mundane labor honed into great skill. Mastery is affirmation.

The Saison Sunday series is curated from exceptionally well-cellared bottles, carried forward yeast lees, or returning beers brewed in collaboration. Saison Sundays remind me to be intentional. I understand my reach is limited. I am making rustic ales for an esoteric crowd to enjoy. They like me are into exploration. We are seekers surprised by discovery.

The collaboration project is personal. Not focused on excess, but simply a way forward. The work holds space for creative expression. To create. To continue. To practice. To Excell in the mundane is self-mastery. Spiritual affirmation.

Curating beer for sipping on Saison Sunday offers a healing disconnect. A time for self-care and inner personal story. Saison Sundays remind me that excellence of your own choosing reflects who you are. Mastery as a skill and not a destination. All life is rested peacefully in soil tombs our set of skills will expire. I owe a debt of gratitude to each person holding space for this art. The instructors who have shaped me and those who have moved on. I am learning to let go. Allow others to have the same nomadic freedom to walk you and so traverse this life and the next.

I've cellared beers in curated spaces in the galleries of production breweries and in spaces that coexist. I consider this my community. The full person. The dreamer. The stranger. The wanderlust. I've made yeast my business starting with a collection of wild yeast and so learning to be with nature. I think about fermentation often. A few cultures have been with me over a decade. We have changed. Slowly forming. Maturing overtime. Bottle conditioning finished beer brings new life. The project is renewed. I am currently blending fermented beer at the brewery with my collection of yeast and microflora. The project is about continuance. Taking the time to focus on simple things. Domestic arts. The work is very labor-intensive. Rustic ales require an abundance of time, great hygiene, care and attention. Cellarmanship is the slow advancement of an intention. A good cellar must be maintained, things need to move, transfer on time, racked, tasted, or discarded. The work requires an honest approach with intentional navigation of the flavors.

I've recorded change. Like a diary of personal encounters, the notes are surprising. Things do not go as planned. Often risk increases. Esoteric flavors are welcomed bio-transformations layer the beer as it matures. Not because it's bad but because those flavors in the moment, need to gas off. Release. Further time is needed to reach a simpler form. Rustic beer changes bringing about its simple character. A young beer stripped down for renewed strength. Once forward. Now mature. Working to pull down the hop characteristics. Gravity works to tame bitterness. More oxygen to soothe a stubborn soul. More acidity. More time for off gassing. The fusel alcohols of warm fermentation breathing from barrel. Even the cellular structure of the barrel softens when crystalized precursors of tannins and enzymes are at work. Some yeast goes full cycle of life and death releasing their character into solution.

The road to bottling is different, each beer has its own signature. Its own persona. A history. New life begins and so the cellar holds a mystery unknown. Things retire sometimes before expectation like growing old with bad knees. They function but they also ache. Pain is in the body. Strength is lost. Intensity no longer remains. Wisdom is gained. I've gained personal perspective through cellarmanship alone.

As consumers the cellar aged series is an invitation into curiosity. We are examining flavor development as signature expressions earmarked by time, place, and story.

Wild OCB Hefe

Hefeweizen base blended with additional hops then bottle conditioned with Mixed Saison starter cultures.

Saison Sunday - Cellar Aged Series
Bottled: March 6th, 2025

The team at Oak Cliff Brewing have built a collective within a collective. The Tyler Station building is a co-working space for small creative business. I was at the brewery discussing beer distribution models and potential markets. The craft beer industry has slowed in my opinion the dream is deferred. Instead of casting lots we decided to collaborate. We sampled beer from tanks looking for a beer to re-work for bottle conditioning. The day ended with a talk on hop products at the Texas Craft Brewers Guild. Crosby Hops was showcasing their CGX products. The estate grown Cascade and Comet hops were exceptional I decided to work them into the blend.

Blending and hand bottling wild ales with industry friends is an intentional rebellion. I prefer beers with yeast contact for long term aging. I continue to promote wild expression as well as beer in glass bottles. Working with the team at OCB is about continuing for the sake of learning about myself while holding space for the next leaders. I enjoy wild crafting with nature. The yeasts are collections from my travels. They have morphed and shifted as much as I. Their natural expressions continue with maturity. So has the craft beer culture we once knew. I am in the brewery inspired by the next change generation. My work will be to stay the course with this project to creat impact and form community.

The batch of Hefeweizen into the blend was a bit dryer on the palate. It was chosen for the wheat content and overall clove esters. The blend of wild yeast at bottling included bottled wild cultures from MVP Saison & War Flower. We added a sampling of Crosby Hop Farm CGX estate grown Comet and Cascade hops then conditioned.

The bottles scheduled for this release are young. The fresh beer still holding its character from primary fermentation. The wild yeast is working maturing actively in varying degrees for the next two years. From a brewer’s perspective we are trying them too early. Brewers usually access the stages alone. These moments offer intimacy with the product and insight into its development. The beer is not any greater, just different. We pray the bottles age well and so remain within context.

I'm suggesting a five-year cellar timeline. Best before date of 2030.03.06 the bottles should peak at 2.5 - 3 years in the saison family with bright acidity. I’m expecting the notes will shift to an oxidative touch at 3.5 years. Year five will showcase cellar temperature noting how well bottles are stored. Cool storage allows for an elongated timeline. However, ambient temperature encourages the mystic.

Notes: 2025.06.12
The beer is developing nicely it's a young wild ale. The release event allowed people to sample and so decide how it may develop. The base OCB Hefe is present with the added benefit of funk on a canvas of tropical fruit.

Notes: 2025.05.22
The beer was sampled on day 77 to determine if it is good for early release. They are holding up well. Tropical fruit notes with building character. Lucky followers will have the chance to taste this journey with me.

Notes: 2025.03.19
On day 13 for carbonation check I felt the Cascade hop blend was refreshingly hoppy not overdone. The Comet hop blend should yield more pleasantly to the wild esters.

Curated Playlist:

Sobieski Sunday #82 — Jazzy and gentle setting the stage for restorative reflection.

I lived on this street in the 1980s with my siblings and I would find adventure and mischief at every corner. Our neighborhood boarded a Polish community. We lived in passing, making the corner store and the church an anchor called home. We recycled cans and collected coins from phone booths. Making the rounds after school we afforded snacks or an occasional soda pop. Behind our house was a cemetery. Dog barks structured our dreams with haunted stories. These past lives shifted quickly empty streets would erupt with violence. Peace was overturned by the friction within the community. Times have changed. I return to this playlist like a homecoming. Memories from this street are cornerstones.

Saison Sundays are filled with conversation, music, and friends. I am a brewer working with yeast and wild fermentation. The tasting group has access to upcoming beer releases featuring rustic ales I've created or collected. The brewery hosted tasting events happen when beers are released.

The concept of gathering for critical music listening has evolved from Hi-Fi audio meetings. Our group of audiophile enthusiasts meet monthly to share new music, enjoy analog sound, and chat about all things vintage. Private gatherings are hosted by request.

Send a message to visit or request to join. - Barrett Tillman