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Saturday, December 15, 2018

Flanders Red Status Report - 2018

Brewing a Flanders Red of the quality of the Belgian brewers of the style has been an obsession of mine for the last 4 years.  I have been aging 12-15 fermenters worth of this beer over that time in order to accumulate enough interesting blending ingredients to hopefully accomplish that goal.

This post will detail my current assessment of the quality of my Flanders Red stockpile (12 fermenters currently) which will aid in my latest blending session (you can read about my 2017 status report here).


I plan to make 4 blends of beer this year:  Plain, Cherry, Raspberry, and Spiced (I made Plain, Cherry, and Raspberry blends last year)

Many of my beers have used the Wyeast Roeselare Blend which was an attempt to replicate the microbes used to make the Famous Rodenbach Flanders Red beer.  I've used it to ferment 7 beers so far.  It produces some very good beer.  This culture hadn't shown any signs of producing bad flavors as of the last time I checked.

Additionally, I have batches going with Yeast Bay Mélange, a culture I built up from Rodenbach's unpasteurized and unfiltered Foederbier, a culture built from dregs of Russian River, Lost Abbey, and Jolly Pumpkin Sour beers, and East Coast Yeast's Flemish Ale Blend.  I'm hoping these beers provide some pleasant flavors and will give me some additional bio-diversity.


Fermenter #1

      • Aroma:  Earthy and overripe fruit aroma
      • Appearance:  Dark orange and very clear
      • Flavor:  Medium sourness with a light fruity flavor.  Also get a bit of mineral flavor in the finish.  Maybe a bit of earthy brett character in there too.  
      • Mouthfeel:  The acidity has a fairly strong prickliness that hits the back of the throat.
      • Overall:  Mild flavors with fair bit of complexity.

Fermenter #2

  • Beers:
  • Overview
    • Glass Carboy
    • Brewed with a Third Pitch of Roeselare Blend
    • Grain bills was a blend of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt
    • This batch was an experiment with Flanders Red 1.3.2 to determine if what kind of difference doing a primary with a Belgian Abby yeast would have on the flavor.  The brewers yeast took the beer down to 1.006.  Still managed to get pretty sour (seemed more sour than 1.3.2 at my 2017 tasting)
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Rich earthy aroma with a bit of fruit
    • Appearance:  Brownish red with quite a bit of particulate in suspension
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness with a pretty strong earthy brett flavor comes through in the finish.  Not much fruit in the flavor.
    • Mouthfeel:  This one is fairly smooth - only a slight bit of prickliness
    • Overall:  Has a bold brett character but not much else going on which would lend complexity.

Fermenter #3

    • Aroma:  Sweet dark fruit and a bit of earthy funk
    • Appearance:  Dark red and pretty clear.  A bit of floating pellicle chunk
    • Flavor:  Light sourness followed by a light overripe fruit flavor.  The finish has a bit of earthy brett character which balances things nicely.  The finish also may have a hint of a chocolate like flavor mixed in.
    • Mouthfeel:  Fairly smooth drinking
    • Overall:  Flavors are pronounced and there is a great deal of complexity to this beer.

Fermenter #4:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Glass Carboy
    • Batch brewed with Yeast Bay's Mélange blend - this was the first pitch
    • I did a cereal Mash with Corn Grits for this one
    • Swapped out my typical base malts for 2 row and added Victory in addition to there base malts in an attempt to compensate for this
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with a bit of earthy brett character.  Also has a mineral aroma
    • Appearance:  Brownish red and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Very light sourness.  Has a yogurt like lacto character.  The finish has an interesting funky, fruity and earthy flavor
    • Mouthfeel:  More substantial than I'd expect from one of these beers - Medium bodied.
    • Overall:  Medium level of flavor but has a nice variety of things going on that give it a good amount of complexity

Fermenter #5:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Glass Carboy
    • Batch brewed with fifth pitch of Roeselare Blend.  I primary fermented it with a Belgian Abby yeast and Lacto (a blend I'm still using). 
    • Cereal mashed with Corn Grits
    • Changed base malt to 2 row plus some Dark Munich to try to adjust color
    • Used Maltodextrine on this beer
    • Started to reduce the OG on the beers at around this time to lower the ABV
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Earthy and leathery brett character most prominent.  A bit of fruit
    • Appearance:  Orangish red and very clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a citrus quality.  Very mild brett character as well.  Maybe a bit of mineral flavor in the finish.
    • Mouthfeel:  Has a bit of a sharp twang that hits the back of the throat
    • Overall:  Mild flavored and not very complex

Fermenter #6:

    • Aroma:  Earthy funk and overripe fruit.  Fairly pungent
    • Appearance:  Red and very clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with fruit and earthy and leathery brett character.  Fruit lingers into the finish nicely
    • Mouthfeel:  Pretty smooth drinking - only a slight prickle
    • Overall:  Pretty boldly flavored with a nice complexity

Fermenter #7

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Bucket Fermenter
    • Fermented with sixth pitch of Roeselare blend
    • Malt bill included Maris Otter and a cereal mash with Corn grits
    • Included maltodextrine
    • This was a split batch with Flanders Red 1.6.1b to experiment with aging on the yeast cake where part "a" got 3 months on the yeast cake and part "b" was aged on it the whole time.  The two beers ended up fairly different at the 2017 tasting
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with some earthy and leathery funk
    • Appearance: Dark orange and clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness with a really lovely fruity flavor (tropical fruit kind of flavor).  Earthy brett and some malt come through in the finish
    • Mouthfeel:  Pretty smooth - slight pickling of acidity
    • Overall:  Has a bold and very pleasant flavor along with some nice complexity.  This is one of the best.

Fermenter #8

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Bucket Fermenter
    • Fermenter is a mix of Wyeast Roeselare and culture made from Rodenbach Foederbier
    • I used these two beers in my 2017 Raspberry Flanders Red and then blend the remainder of each together in this fermenter
    • Beers were made using very similar malt bills:  marris otter at the primary base malt, Maltodextrine for added carbohydrates for the long aging, and a cereal mash with corn grits
    • Beers have been aging with 1 oz of oak which I'd soaked in Cabernet Sauvignon for about a year
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Earthy brett along with a vanilla oak aroma
    • Appearance:  Dark red with a bit of a haze
    • Flavor:  Slightly sour with a bit of earthy funk.  Malt comes through on the finish nicely.
    • Mouthfeel:  Slightly prickly acidity.  Silky feel that gives the impression of being medium bodied.
    • Overall:  Pretty boldly flavored with a nice complexity

Fermenter #9

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Bucket Fermenter
    • Fermented using Rodenbach Foederbier I propagated
    • Grainbill with Maris Otter as the base and Corn Grit cereal mash to increase the starch
    • Also included Maltodextrine to give the Brett more to chew on during the long aging
    • At the 2017 tasting I did not get much of the Rodenbach Character from the beer.  Who knows what I've actually cultured here.  Will be interesting to see what has developed in the last year and a half.
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Rich fruit aroma with a bit of earthy and leathery brett character.  A bit of a mineral aroma
    • Appearance:  Dark orange with a slight haze
    • Flavor:  Very lightly sour.  Has a bit of a band aid like brett character
    • Mouthfeel:  Slight prickling in the palate
    • Overall:  Pretty mild flavor and not very complex

Fermenter #10

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Bucket Fermenter
    • Brewed with a mix of Jolly Pumpkin, Lost Abby, and Russian River dregs.  
    • Primary fermented with my blend of Belgian yeast and Lacto
    • Grainbill with Maris Otter as the base and Corn Grit cereal mash to increase the starch
    • Also included Maltodextrine to give the Brett more to chew on during the long aging
    • Beer was interesting in last years tasting but opted to give it another year to develop
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with some leathery funk
    • Appearance:  Orange and slightly hazy
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a lot of brett character - this is earthy and leathery with a slight band aid flavor
    • Mouthfeel:  Slight prickling
    • Overall:  Bold flavors with a lot going on.  Wouldn't want to drink a whole glass of this but could add some nice complexity to one of the blander beers.

Fermenter #11:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Bucket Fermenter
    • Brewed with East Coast Yeast's Flemish Ale Blend
    • Standard Malt bill with corn grit cereal mash and maltodextrine
    • This beer was actually very boring at the 2017 tasting (after a year of aging).
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with a slight earthy brett character.  Also get a wine like aroma
    • Appearance:  Dark Orange and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  No sourness has developed.  Has a bit of a bitter flavor in the finish which I think is Brett - kind of like the bitterness from a grapefruit or pineapple.  Has a fairly pungent overripe fruit flavor as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied and pretty smooth
    • Overall:  Pretty bold flavors and pretty complex.  Has come interesting things going on that none of the other beers do.  I think this will make an interesting blending component

Fermenter #12:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Bucket Fermenter
    • Seventh (and most recent) Pitch of Roeselare blend
    • Primary fermented the beer with my Belgian Yeast and Lacto blend
    • Standard Malt bill with corn grit cereal mash and maltodextrine
  • Status Notes:
    • 1/1/19 - Used 2 gal of this beer on my Spiced Flanders Red
    • 2/10/19 - Transferred 1 gal into Fermenter #4 and 1 gal into Fermenter #6.  This left 1.5 gal of beer and yeast cake in Fermenter #12.  Topped this off with Flanders Red 1.8.1
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Earthy and leathery brett character along with some fruit.  May get a bit of acetic acid from it as well
    • Appearance:  Dark Orange/Red and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Slightly sour and very fruity.  Has a slight funk in the finish along with some bready malt.  Maybe a slight vinegar in the flavor as well.
    • Mouthfeel:  Slight prickling 
    • Overall:  Really bold flavor in this one with really nice complexity.  This one is really lovely - best of the bunch this time.
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