Flanders Red 1.5.2

This Flanders Red is the partner batch to 1.5.1 where this one is pitched directly onto yeast cake of Roeselare for primary while the first beer underwent a primary fermentation with ale yeast and lactobacillus.

I will use the same grain bill and mashing schedule for this batch that I used for 1.5.1 except that I will swap out the 2 row for Maris Otter as I have a sack of that on hand now.  I don't anticipate that this will have all that much impact.

I decided to try to tighten up the gap in the grain mill rather than waiting another batch.  Ended up getting a close enough gap where I could barely get my credit card between the rollers.  Hopefully I don't get a stuck sparge as a result.

I will be pulling aside 1 gal of wort for batch to sour with Lacto as I have with the last couple batches to hopefully get a bit more sourness.

It is starting to get cold here.  The basement is down in the low 60s to high 50s.  Prior to starting this batch I've transferred 1.4.2 over to a glass carboy to age and to free the yeast cake.  It has gotten quite sour in it's 3 months of aging.  I think that must be due to the heat down in the basement.  The question I have now is whether the mature yeast cakes I've built up will get a beer very sour or if the heat is mostly responsible.  If not, this could give me some good blending options if I'll have beers of varying levels of sourness based on when they were fermented.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 4 lbs Maris Otter
• 3 lbs Dark Munich
• 12 oz CaraMunich III
• 12 oz Aromatic Malt
• 12 oz Special B
• 12 oz Maltodextrine (not factored into efficiency calculations - 5 gravity points)
• Cereal Mash (not factored into efficiency calculations)
• 1 lb 8 oz Corn Grits
• 6 oz Maris Otter
• Hops:
• None
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Ale Blend (Fifth Pitch)
• WLP 672 Lactobacillus Brevis (Third Pitch)
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 8 gal tap water
• 1 oz Calcium Chloride (Forgot to add)
• 1 oz Gypsum (Forgot to add)
• Extras:
• 1 oz of oak cubes from previous batch
• 1 oz of port soaked oak cubes
• 8 oz of Rice Hulls

Batch Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6.5 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• Step 1:  165 F for 45 min (160 F for 45 min)
• Step 2:  Ramp up to 175 F in 25 min (Ramp up to 175 in 25 min)
• Boil:
• 60 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 60 F to 70 F (Ambient Basement Temps)
• Primary Duration:
• 3 months (1 gal will sour with lacto for 2 weeks)
• Secondary Duration:
• TBD (15 to 33 months)

Results:

• OG:
• 1.042 (Target 1.045 - with 5 points from Maltodextrine)
• Efficiency:
• 71% (Target 71%)
• FG:
• TBD (Target 1.004)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• TBD (Target 91%)
• ABV:
• TBD (Target 5.38%)

Brewing Notes:

• 10/18/15 - Brewday - 8:15 AM to 12:45 PM including setup and cleanup
• Measured out and crushed the Maris otter grain

• Heated 10 gal of spring water and cycled through the Mash tun and RIMS until the system was at 165 F - took 45 min
• Ended up with 4 gal above the false bottom (forgot to add my brewing salts)
• Added the grain and 5 handfuls of rice hulls which I figured was about half a pound.  Stirred well to eliminate dough balls
• Set the RIMS for 165 F and cycled at about 2 qt per minute
• Added cereal mash grain to a small pot on my turkey fryer and mixed in 2 gal of 190 F spring water from the HLT

• Checked the main mash temp after 10 min - was at 160 F.  Stirred well to ensure even heating
• After 10 min rest I heated the cereal mash up to a boil.  Stirred frequently and let boil for 45 min
• Checked the main mash temp after 30 min - was 165.  Gave it another stir
• Brought 8 gal of sparge water up to 200 F
• After mashing for 45 min I brought the RIMS up to 185 F to get the mash up to 175 F
• Once the main mash was up to 175 F I added the cereal mash to the main mash and stirred in.  Cycled for 5 min.  I actually got a stuck mash which surprised me  Ended up having to stir the mash to free it up.  The cereal mash had burned to the bottom of my pot which wasn't good.  Didn't seem to have any flavor impact though
• Transferred the grant volume to the mash tun
• Fly sparged at about 5 min per gal - ended up taking 25 min
• Stirred the mash a few time during the sparge
• Started heating the kettle after collecting about a gal
• Gravity at the grant was 4 brix after collecting 8 gal
• Added the maltodextrine with 30 min left in the boil
• Ended the boil after the targeted 60 min
• Added the chiller at flameout to sanitize
• I had a couple qts of DME based worth I'd been using to keep my lacto culture going.  Added 3/4th of that to the fermentor
• Once the worth was chilled to about 90 F I added a gal to the lacto dregs.  Set this down in the basement wrapped in a towel to sour up
• Transferred the wort to the fermentor once it had chilled to 70 F.  Let it fall a foot or so to aerate.  The oak cubes from th previous batch had sunk to the bottom.  Swirled the cake with a bit of left over wort part way through draining

• Added the port soaked oak to the beer
• Moved down to the basement to ferment
• 10/20/15 - The beer is bubbling
• 10/22/15 - The bubbling has either slowed down significantly or stopped.  It is 62 F in the basement
• 11/6/15 - Added the lacto portion to the main batch.  Left behind the dregs and about a cup of beer to pass on to the next beer.

• 2/20/16 - Transferred the batch into a glass carboy with a vented silicon stopper for long term aging.  Took a bit of the yeast cake with the beer during the transfer.  There was a very slight pellicle on top of the beer.  Measured the gravity as 1.003.  The beer is brownish red and pretty cloudy.  The aroma is mostly brett funk.  It, like Flanders Red 1.5.1, is missing the fruity character that the previous batches had.  I wish I knew whether this was going to arrive in time or if something has changed about the yeast cake which will stop those flavors from developing.  The beer is very sour with a bit of earthy brett character.  It seems like the lacto may be dominant contributor to the beers flavor.  It may be that the acidity that the lacto is quickly creating is somehow stifling the other microbes.  I may try some other experiments to keep it a bit more in check (start using some hops again maybe).  With this yeast cake free I will be taking 5 oak cubes for the "B" portion of Flanders 3.1.1 and I'll be adding Flanders 1.6.1 portion "B" to the fermenter for long term aging.
• 7/23/17 - Status Report:
• Earthy and fruity aroma.  Pretty rich.  Get a bit of leather as well.
• Orange/red and clear
• Light sourness.  Bold fruity character.  A bit of Brett funk in the finish that is earthy and leathery.  Some malt comes through on the finish
• Good bold flavors with nice complexity
• 9/4/17 - Used 3 gal of this beer in Flanders Red Blend #2.  Transferred the remaining portion of this beer into the fermenter with it's blending partner, Flanders Red 2.2.1.

Lessons Learned:

1. The wort generated with this grainbill is more brown than red.  The original grainbill was a really nice red.  I'm going to see if I can make any minor tweaks in the next batch to try to get more of a red color.