Sour Blonde 3.1.1

I decided to brew up another Sour Blonde based on the recent availability of East Coast Yeast Dirty Dozen Brett Blend.  This blend has 12 different strains of Brettanomyces, many of which you can't buy from any other vendors.  Really neat product.

I'll be pitching in primary (first time doing a Brett primary) and should get some interesting fruit flavors.  I plan on giving this beer three months in primary and then moving it to a glass carboy to age for 1-3 years.  I will pitch another beer onto the cake to start a new series of beers.

I am out of raw wheat so I'll be using a modified grain bill with a mix of malted and flaked wheat which will make up 40% of the grainbill.  I will also be adding 12 oz of Maltodextrine to give the Brett a bit more to snack on over the long hall.

If all goes well, I will plan on blending this with some of my other sour.  The blend is reported to produce a slight sourness but I'll look to enhance that with the other beers in my collection.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 5 lb Pilsner
• 2 lb White Wheat
• 2 lb Flaked Wheat
• 1 lb Light Munich
• 4 oz Acid Malt
• 12 oz Maltodextrine
• Hops:
• None
• Yeast:
• ECY 34 Dirty Dozen
• Water:
• 10 gal Spring Water
• 5.5 gal Tap Water
• 1 tsp Calcium Chloride

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6.25 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• Step 1: 160 F for 60 min (Target 160 F for 60 min)
• Step 2:  Ramped up to 175 F in 20 min (Target ramped up to 175 in 25 min)
• Boil:
• 60 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temps:
• Ambient Basement Temps (60 F to 70 F)
• Primary Duration:
• 3 Months
• Secondary Duration:
• 12 - 36 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.049 (Target 1.045)
• Efficiency:
• 72% (Target 66%)
• FG:
• TBD (Target 1.004)
• Apparent Attenuation: 
• TBD (Target 91%)
• ABV:
• TBD (Target 5.38%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/8/16 - Brewday - 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Heated spring water in HLT.  Cycled throught the system until it was at 165 F.
• Milled grain (not including flaked wheat).  Added CaCl to the milled grain
• Ended up with 3 gal above the false bottom and 7 gal in the system total
• Added grain to the mash and stirred well to eliminate doughballs
• Cycled the RIMS at ~2 qt per minute at 163 F
• Checked on the mash after 10 min.  It was a bit too thick which was preventing good circulation of the water and preventing even heating.  Added 2 more qt of strike water which covered all the grain and improved the circulation
• At the end of the 60 min mash I ramped up the RIMS to 185 F
• Heated 8 gal of sparge water to 200 F
• After 20 min the mash was at 175 F and the sparge water was a bit over 200 F
• Added a gal to the mash tun to form an inch layer of water over the grain bed and fly sparged

• Started heating the mash tun after collecting 4 gal
• Collected 8 gal.  Gravity at the grant at the end of the sparge was 2 brix
• Had the wort to a boil soon after the end of the sparge
• Added the Maltodextrine as soon as the hot break cleared
• Boiled for 60 min
• At the end of the boil added the wort chiller to sanitize
• Chilled to 80 F
• Transferred to the fermentor
• Pitched the yeast

• Moved down to the basement at ambient temps to ferment
• 5/11/16 - The yeast took off immediately.  The beer was bubbling vigorously the evening after brewing.  Bubbled over the next few days.
• 10/20/17 - Status Report:
• Earthy and leather funk dominates.  Get a bit of spicy and fruity ester character as well
• Golden and clear
• Lightly sour.  Has a bit of leathery funk flavor in the background along with some wheat and bready malt
• Fairly complex with some strong flavors
• 10/22/17 - Transferred this beer to a better bottle to make room on the yeast cake for Sour Blonde 3.2.1.  Set it up with a vented silicon bung.  Measured the gravity of this beer at 1.004.
• 5/25/18 - Status Report:
• Fruity with an aroma almost like oak (had to check if there was oak in the batch - there is not).  Smells a lot like a white wine.  Has a bit of mustyness and a bit of earthy funk
• Light gold and very clear
• Fairly sour with interesting fruity ester character.  Has some earthy and cheesy brett character as well along with a bit of a bandaid like flavor.
• Mouthfeel is light and it is really dry.  Some prickly acidity on the finish.
• Overall this is a pretty interesting beer with nice bold flavors.  Flavors are unique and quite pleasant.
• 6/3/18 - Used 1 gal of this beer in my Sour Blonde Blend
• 8/24/19 - Status Report:
• Aroma: Slightly earthy aroma along with a bit of mineral.  Very mild smelling
• Appearance:  Light gold and very clear
• Flavor:  Medium level of sourness.  Bready malt with some brett funk (bandaid like) 
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and very dry.  Slight prickling
• Overall:  Fairly bold flavors but not very complex

Lessons Learned:

1. This was a very smooth brewday.  I sparged quickly, got reasonable efficiency, and hit my target pre-boil volume.  A 4 hr brewday is very nice.
2. I like my mash tun but it is a bit difficult to clean properly.  The bottom drain prevents me from easily removing it from the stand to spray it out.  The flat bottom makes it difficult to completely clean out all the spent grain particles.  The mash tun has served me well for the last year but I'm thinking it may be time to upgrate to something fancier.