Sour Blonde 1.4.1

It's been 3 months since brewing Sour Blonde 1.3.1 so it's time to brew another one to keep the yeast cake going.

I decided to go back to a normal mash schedule (160 F for 60 min) for this batch after the experiment sort of failed on the last batch.  I also scaled down on the hopping a little bit with a lower AA% hop.

Other than that, this is the same grain bill as the others.  I may try something different next time - maybe use unmalted wheat rather than flaked.

The yeast cake smells fantastic with a combination of fruit, funk, and maybe a bit of vinegar - I am going to keep using it until it starts to smell bad to me.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 9 lbs Pilsner Malt
• 4 lbs 8 oz Flaked Wheat
• 5 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 0.5 oz Tettnang (Pellet, 3.8% AA)
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend (Fourth Pitch)
• Water:
• 10 gal Spring Water
• 6 gal Tap Water
• 1 tsp Calcium Chloride

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 5.5 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 160 F for 60 min (Target 160 F for 60 min)
• Boil:
• 120 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temp:
• Ambient Basement Temps (60 F to 75 F)
• Primary Duration
• 3 months
• Secondary Duration:
• TBD (15 to 33 months)

Results:

• OG:
• 1.055 (Target 1.055)
• Efficiency:
• 62% (Target 68%)
• FG:
• 1.004 (Target 1.006)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 92% (Target 89%)
• ABV:
• 6.69% (Target 6.43%)

Brewing Notes:

• 8/8/15 - Brewday - 3:15 PM to 8:15 PM including setup and cleanup:
• Brought 10 gal of spring water up to 170 F.  Started cycling the water through the Mash Tun and RIMS once it hit 150 F.  Ended up taking about 45 min to get everything settled out to 170 F
• Added the grain with 6 gal above the false bottom (and about 8 in the system as a whole) - mash settled to about 165 F
• Added the CaCl to the mash tun
• Set the RIMS to 160 F
• Cycled for 60 min - stirred the grain a few times during the mash to help conversion
• Mash was down to 160 F after 30 min
• Brought 6 gal of tap water and remaining 2 gal of spring water up to 190 F for the sparge
• Measured gravity from the grant after 45 min as 10 brix which is 1.034
• Started the fly sparge after 60 min of mashing - gravity at the start was 10.4 brix which is 1.041
• After 15 min sparging the gravity was 8.6 brix which is 1.034
• Collected until gravity was 1.010 - sparged for 30 min
• Ended up collecting about 10 gal of 7.2 brix wort which is 1.027
• Brought to a boil
• Added the hops with roughly 60 min left in the boil
• Added the chiller to sanitize at flamout
• Chilled down to 70 F
• Collected 5.5 gal - measured gravity as 13.6 brix which is 1.055
• 8/30/15 - Checked the gravity which was down to 1.004.  The beer is very cloudy still.  It has a pretty strong alcohol burn at this point.  No sourness, fruitiness or funk has developed so far.
• 1/2/16 - Transferred to a glass carboy for long term aging and to free up the yeast cake for Sour Blonde 1.5.1.  A pellicle has formed and it, like the other batches, has a really nice fruity aroma.  The flavor is slightly fruity with a bit of alcohol still prevalent (although this doesn't taste like it's 7%).   No sourness and no real funk present.  It is a pale straw yellow and fairly cloudy.  Measured the gravity as 1.000.  Not giving the souring microbes much to work with here.  Should be interesting to see how this ages over time.  Took quite a bit of the yeast cake during the transfer so this could help it develop some funk.  Setup the glass carboy with a vented silicone bung to allow a bit more oxygen exposure which might help things along.

• 10/20/17 - Status Report:
• Cider Aroma with a bit of sulphur.  Also get a bit of spicy yeast ester
• Clear and light gold
• Strong funk with fruity yeast character.  No sourness.  Has a bit of alcohol burn.  A bit of bread in the finish with a sort of mineral character
• Strong flavor but not all together pleasant.  Pretty much one note
• 12/2/17 - Added 1.25 gal of lacto soured beer at 1.020 to add to the complexity and help the bugs along.
• 5/25/18 - Status Report:
• Cider and a bit of earthness in the aroma
• Light gold and a bit hazy
• Light sourness with a bit of sulfur.  Also has a mineral sort of flavor to it.  Also has a bit of a cider like character
• Light bodied and pretty dry.  Smooth drinking
• Mild flavors with not a whole lot of complexity
• 6/3/18 - Used 1 gal of this beer in a Raspberry Sour Blonde
• 8/24/19 - Status Report:
• Aroma:  Funky with a bit of fruit and an almost solvent like smell
• Appearance:  Straw colored and little murky
• Flavor:  Very slight sourness with a bit of fruit flavor.  Slight funk along with a bit of mineral
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied.  Has a slight bit of sweetness.  Prickles the back of the throat
• Overall:  Mild in flavor without all that much complexity.  Rough drinking with the astringency.

Lessons Learned:

1. Happy I hit my gravity but my efficiency still isn't very good.  I suspect that I'm just not getting the starches and sugars into suspension from the flaked wheat.  I'm going to try to mash the flaked wheat separately in some near boiling water next time I use it.