I will be using the same grain bill for this batch (as with my previous batch - and all others) but may want to start playing around with that to really determine the impacts the grain used has on the product - I suspect it may not be a huge impact. This grain bill is pretty expensive with the pils/munich/vienna base - I might want to try a cheaper base malt for this one.
As with 1.4.1, I will be skipping the hops with this batch. I have another vial of Lacto Brevis to use for this batch so I have decided to hold off a gal of wort at the start to sour for a week prior to pitching back with the other beer. This will add a bit of fresh lacto to the mix and help the beer along a bit in it's souring.
I will be skipping the 15 min high temp mash for this batch - it seemed like it was messing with my efficiency too much. Once I get a way to measure and correct my pH I may come back to this method.
I will also be oaking this batch - hopefully that will add another interesting dimension.
Recipe Details:
- Grain:
- 4 lbs Pilsner
- 4 lbs Munich
- 3 lbs 8 oz Vienna
- 1 lb 8 oz Flaked Wheat
- 12 oz Caramunich II
- 12 oz Aeromatic
- 12 oz Special B
- Hops:
- None
- Yeast:
- Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Ale Blend (Fourth Pitch)
- WLP 672 Lactobacillus Brevis
- Water:
- 13.5 gal spring water
- 3 gal tap water
- 1 tsp Calcium Chloride
- 1 tsp Gypsum
- 1 tsp Irish Moss at 20 min
- Extras:
- 1 oz Medium Toast Hungarian Oak cubes
Batch Details:
- Batch Size:
- 6.5 (Target 6 gal)
- Mash:
- 155 F for 90 min (160 F for 60 min)
- Boil:
- 90 min (60 min)
- Fermentation Temp:
- 60 F to 75 F (Ambient basement temps)
- Primary Duration:
- 3 months (1 gal will get 1 week with lacto)
- Secondary Duration:
- TBD (15 to 33 months)
Results:
- OG:
- 1.063 (Target 1.062)
- Efficiency:
- 76% (Target 70%)
- FG:
- 1.003 (Target 1.012)
- Apparent Attenuation:
- 95% (Target 80%)
- ABV:
- 7.88% (Target 6.83%)
Brewing Notes:
- 7/12/15 - Brew day - 9:00 AM to ~3:00 PM - Including setup and cleanup (Did yard work while brewing which extended the brewday)
- Heated 13.5 gal - cycled water through the mash tun until it was raised up to 165 F. I balanced out to 5 gal in the tun above the false bottom
- Added the grain - temp settled to 160 F after 10 min. I forgot my BIAB so cleanup is going to be a pain. Kicking myself
- Cycled the wort through the system. Ran without the RIMS as we've been having the breaker flip on us. I'll need to figure out how to resolve this issue. Cycled for about 10 min and then let it go.
- Mashed for 90 min - by the end the mash was about 155 F
- Brought an 8 gal sparge up to 190 F
- Fly sparged for about 35 min. After 15 min I had collected 3.5 to 4 gal and had a gravity (at the grant) of 13.4 brix which is 1.053. After collecting 8 gal the runnings were at 6 brix and after collecting 9 gal it was down to 4 brix. I stopped collecting at 3 brix which is about 1.011.
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| Valentine Arm and Grant |
- Collected about 10 gal
- Brought it to a boil which took about 20 min
- Boiled for about 90 min
- Added irish moss with about 10 min to go
- Added the wort chiller at flameout to sanitize
- Chilled down to 80 F
- Measured the final gravity as 15.4 brix which is 1.063 - First time I've hit my target
- Pulled off 1 gal to ferment with lacto
- Drained the remaining wort onto the old yeast cake. Collected a total of about 6.5 gal
- Added oak to the fermentor without boiling as I'd like all the tannins in this beer
- Moved the fermentor down to the basement and the lacto part upstairs to ferment in the warm bedrooms
- 7/14/15 - The beer didn't start bubbling until this afternoon. It seems like the lag time has been increasing after every re-pitch.
- 7/21/15 - Sampled the gallon that has been souring with lacto. It has developed a pretty good level of sourness in the last week. There is still quite a bit of sweetness to the wort - may be sugars the lacto can't eat. I am going to give it until the end of the week before adding to the main batch.
- 7/24/15 - Measured the gravity of the gallon of souring beer as 1.050. Added the remaining beer to the main batch. Put the sample into a jar of DME based wort and put it into the fridge for re-use on a future batch.
- 10/19/15 - Transferred to a glass carboy to free the yeast cake up for Flanders Red 1.5.2. Measured the gravity as 1.000. The beer has a nice fruity and slightly funky aroma. It has developed a pretty strong sourness in the last 3 months. It is as sour as 1.3.2 was. I think this must be from the warmer basement. It's really good. Set it up with a vented silicone bung rather than the 3 piece airlock that I've used for the other batches to allow a bit more oxygen exposure.
- 7/23/16 - Decided to use this beer in my first attempt at blending Flanders Red. This will be the young component with Flanders Red 1.2.1 being the old. I am going to use half of each batch in the blend and then let it age on 10 lbs of sour cherries for a few months prior to bottling. Hopefully I'll get something like Rodenbach Alexander. I took a sample and measured the gravity as 1.003. The beer has a firm sourness with a nice malt backbone. It's pretty potent at near 8%. It think this will be a good blending component as it's got a really nice level of complexity and the blend will cut down the alcohol levels a bit. Both of the blending components are very nice. I'm feeling pretty confident about using these cherries with these batches.
- 7/28/16 - Blended half the batch with half of 1.2.1 onto the sour cherries
- 7/30/16 - Topped up the batch with half of Flanders Red 1.4.1 (half of which I'd blended with the other half of 1.2.1)
- 7/23/17 - Status Report:
- Rich fruity and funky aroma
- Orange/red and clear
- Medium level of sourness with a good level of fruitiness. Nice earthy flavor in the finish. This one also has a leathery flavor.
- Bold flavor profile and nicely complex
- 12/16/18 - See 2018 Status
Lessons Learned:
- Fly sparging does work for me. I finally did a good one - it made the process much less labor intensive and got me good efficiency as well.
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