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Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Sour Blonde 7.1.1 and 8.1.1

Today I'll be brewing up yet another Sour Blonde.  This will get me up to my goal of having 12 active batches of this beer.

I'll be doing a 10 gal batch which I'll split between two Bootleg Biology Brett Cultures (Funk Weapon #2 and Funk Weapon #3).  I ordered these 3 or 4 months ago so they may be a bit beyond their ideal age.  I expect them to be slow starters.

Same grainbill as the last few Sour Blond Beers which leverages Raw Wheat and a Cereal Mash.  The raw wheat gives the beer a really nice bready malt flavor that seems to stand up with time.  I'd like to think that it also give the beer more to chew on than a standard infusion mash (more starches making it through to the fermenter).

To try to give the microbes even more food I'll be pulling off about a gallon of the starchy liquid from the cereal mash during the first rest.  I'll boil this to halt any conversion and then add it to the kettle during the boil.  This seems sort of like a lazy man's turbid mash.  Probably wont make any difference by it makes things more interesting to mix things up a bit.


Recipe Details:

  • Grain:
    • 10 lb Pilsner
    • 2 lb Light Munich
    • 6 oz Acid Malt
    • Cereal Mash:
      • 7 lb Raw Wheat
      • 2 lb Pilsner
  • Hops:
    • None
  • Yeast:
    • 7.1.1:
      • Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #2
    • 8.1.1:
      • Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #3
  • Water:
    • 16.5 gal of RO Water
    • 1 tsp CaCl
    • 1 tsp Gypsum
  • Extras:
    • 2 oz of Chardonnay soaked oak


Process Details:

  • Batch Size:
    • 10 gal (I considered topping it up to 12 gal but opted not to mess with it)
  • Mash:
    • Standard Cereal Mash:
      • Rests at 125 F and 155 F and then boiled for 20 min
    • Main Mash:
      • 160 F for 60 min
  • Boil:
    • 60 min
  • Fermentation Temperature:
    • Mid 60s (ambient basement temps)
  • Primary Duration:
    • 4 Weeks
  • Secondary Duration:
    • 1-3 years

Results:
  • OG:
    • 1.058 (Target 1.054)
  • Efficiency:
    •  76% (Target 71%)
  • FG:
    • TBD (Target 1.012)
  • Apparent Attenuation:
    • TBD (Target 79%)
  • ABV:
    • TBD (Target 6.02)


Brewing Notes:

  • 6/24/18 - Brewday - 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM - Including Setup and Cleanup
    • Cereal Mash
      • Milled my grain.  Double milled the raw wheat after finding quite a few grain that hadn't been cracked on the first pass.  Reduced the gap in the mill to the minimum spacing between passes.  Will be interesting to see if this impacts efficiency
      • Added 3 gal of spring water to my small pot
      • Added the grain to the small pot and stirred well to avoid dry spots
      • Heated to 125 F on my turkey frier
      • Let this sit for 20 min
      • Decided to try some thing new to more closely match a turbid mash - I ladled out a little more than 3 quarts of the very starchy wort into a separate pot which I then boiled to denature the enzymes.  I'll add this back during the boil
      • Added an equivalent amount of spring water back to the cereal mash
      • Brought the cereal mash up to 150 F and let sit for 15 min
      • Brought the cereal mash to a boil and boiled for 20 min
      • Let this sit for a couple hours to cool down prior to proceeding with the main mash
    • Heated 5.5 gal of spring water to 180 F for dough in
    • Milled the remainder of my grain
    • Added CaCl and Gypsum to the milled grain
    • Added 2 gal of 180 F strike water to the mash tun
    • Added the Cereal Mash - temperature settled to 160 F.  There was some scorching in the cereal mash which slightly darkened the wort added from the cereal mash - we'll see how much impact this has on the overall batch color
    • Cycled the RIMS slowly to warm the system up - this settled to 165 F
    • Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls
    • This made a very thick mash so I added the remaining 3.5 gal of strike water
    • Temperature of this settled out in the mid 150s
    • Cycled the RIMs set to 165 F (had the beer up to 160 F within 10 min)
    • Mashed for 60 min
    • Heated up 10 gal of spring water to 180 F for the sparge
    • Fly sparged.  Drained down to the surface of the grain bed and then added water as I went.  Collected 12 gal of wort

    • Boiled for 60 min.  Ran out of gas part way through and switched to a new tank so the boil wasn't super-vigorous the whole time.  Got pretty close to a boil over a few times.  Added my starchy wort from the cereal mash about half way though the boil
    • Put the wort chiller in with about 5 min left to sterilize
    • Chilled to 80 F
    • Drained the beer into two bucket fermenter and pitched the yeast

    • Collected 10 gal and measured gravity as 1.058
  • 6/27/18 - Three days in and there is no airlock activity from the Funk Weapon #2 batch (7.1.1) and some very slight airlock activity in the Funk Weapon #3 batch (8.1.1).  Might have been a good idea to build a starter with these.  I'm not worried yet.
  • 8/24/19 - Status Report:
    • Sour Blonde 7.1.1:
      • Aroma:  Very interesting fruity aroma from this beer.  I get citrus, peach, and pineapple maybe.  Also get a bit of brett funk
      • Appearance:  Golden and slightly cloudy
      • Flavor:  Medium sourness with a very fruity flavor.  Also has a bit of funk going on.
      • Mouthfeel:  Light-medium bodied and dry.  Slight prickling
      • Overall:  This beer has a very bold fruit flavor which is unlike any of the other beers.  Very pleasant with good complexity.
    • Sour Blonde 8.1.1:
      • Aroma:  Musty and funky aroma along with a slight fruity character
      • Appearance:  Golden and slightly cloudy
      • Flavor:  Lightly sour with some fruity flavors and a bit of brett funk
      • Mouthfeel:  Light-medium bodied and slightly sweet.  Smooth drinking
      • Overall:  Fairly mild in flavor but it has some interesting and fairly unique elements compared with the other beers.

Lessons Learned:
  1. Got better efficiency than normal with the tightened grain mill.  Will be interesting to see if this continues into my next batch

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Sunday, June 3, 2018

Cherry Sour Blonde (2018)

This beer will be a blend of Sour Blonde Ale from my stockpile of mature beers (10 5-6 gal batches) aged on 11 lbs of Sour Cherries I picked last summer at a local orchard.  You can read the notes from a recent tasting here.  I will also be blending a Plain Sour Blonde and one with Raspberries which will be tracked in other posts.

I will be making 5 gal of this beer which will leave enough head space for the fruit (a lesson learned from my 2017 Cherry Flanders Red where I tried to fit 6 gal of beer in a bucket fermenter with 12 lbs of fruit).  My goal with this blend of beers will be to provide an interesting but somewhat mild base beer to allow the Cherries to really shine.  I think too much sourness could run the risk of becoming overwhelming as the cherries will lend quite a bit of acidity to the final beer.

With this in mind I will use the following beers:
  • 1/2 (2.5 gal) from Fermenter #1:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • First pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
      • 1 oz of hops
      • Topped off with 1.25 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Light earthy aroma along with a subtle fruity ester.
      • Light gold in color. Fairly clear.
      • A bit of fruit with some earthy flavor. Finishes with a slight tartness. Get a hint of bready malt on the finish.
      • Medium light bodied with a slight sweetness. Drinks very smoothly
      • Pretty mild in terms of flavor and aroma but has some complexity of flavor that is pleasant.

  • 1/5 (1 gal) from Fermenter #2:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • Second pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
      • 1 oz of hops
      • Topped off with 1 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Pungent earthy and cheesy aroma to the beer. Maybe a bit of overripe fruit. Quite musty as well.
      • Light gold and clear - a few pellicle chunks floating in it.
      • Fruity with a light tartness in the finish. Has some earthy brett notes. I detect a bit of sulfur. Also get a bit of bread flavor in the finish on this one.
      • Medium-light bodied a bit of sweetness to it. A bit of prickling acidity in the mouthfeel. Drinkable beer.
      • Some nice flavors and aromas with pretty good complexity. I quite like this one

  • 1/5 (1 gal) from Fermenter #3:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • Third pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
      • Cut hops back to 1/2 oz
      • Decided to only mash for 15 min to get a less converted wort. Ended up with abysmal 43% efficiency
      • Topped off with 0.5 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Funky/musty brett character dominates the aroma. Has a bit of cider character and some sulfur smell as well.
      • Straw yellow and a bit murky.
      • A bit of a musty flavor initially and finishes with a slight tartness. Get sort of a mineral flavor as well.
      • Light bodied and pretty dry. Smooth drinking
      • Very mild in flavor and not very complex

  • 1/10 (0.5 gal) from Fermenter #9:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • Second pitch of ECY 34 Dirty Dozen 
      • Brewed with a bit over 1/3 Raw Wheat which was cereal mashed. Used pilsner and a bit of munich for color
      • Primary was performed with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
      • Maltodextrine was added to give the microbes a bit more to work on
      • No hops were used
      • Beer has been aged in a bucket fermenter
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Cheesy and earthy funk. A bit of overripe fruit as well
      • Light gold and quite hazy
      • Moderately sour with a bit of cheesy brett character. Has a slight mineral flavor to it. I get a bit of bready malt in the finish as well.
      • Medium light in body and dry. Slight prickly feeling in the mouth
      • Some interesting flavors and aroma. Not terribly bold but has a pretty pleasant complexity

This will use up quite a bit of the Sour Blonde 1.1.1 which is a pretty boring beer that is unlikely to become interesting and then adds in three other beers which are not very sour but have quite a bit of complexity.  It think there will be enough beer flavor to cut through the cherries but not detract from this being a cherry beer primarily.

The cherries have been frozen for the last year which should allow the juice to be released more freely.  They have the pits in them still which should have a slight flavor impact as well.  Sour cherries have a nice flavor but, based on my previous beers using them, I've found that they benefit from a bit of help in the form of black cherry juice to increase the cherry flavor somewhat - I'll add 1 quart of this.


I'll give this batch 2 months for secondary fermentation to take place prior to bottling.  I may back sweeten this beer slightly with some golden invert syrup if I feel it's become a too dry.

Blending Notes:
  • 6/3/18 - Blending Day:
    • Blended the 4 beers
    • Added the sour cherries and black cherry juice
  • 12/9/18 - Bottled today with 6.5 oz of priming sugar and a rehydrated packet of Red Star Priemer Cuvee wine yeast.  Got about 6 gal of beer off the fruit which netted me 56 12 oz bottles.  The beer is a light red or dark pink in color.  I measured the gravity as 1.004.  The beer has a nice tart cherry flavor which, together with the beer, produces a product with a medium level of sourness.  It is a dry beer but I think tastes nicely balanced - I've opted not to backsweeten based on this.


  • 6/23/19 - Tasting Notes - A really nice cherry beer that puts the fruit front and center.  The based beer comes through enough to add a bit of complexity with brett flavors to keep things more interesting.  Really refreshing beer as well.
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Raspberry Sour Blonde (2018)

Last year I started a new raspberry bed with 60 plants. These were surprisingly productive and I got 22 lbs of fruit. This has given me the opportunity to make one of my favorite styles of beer - a Framboise.

I'll be using 12 lbs of fruit with a blend of 5 gal of the Sour Blonde Ale I've been brewing over the last 3+ years.  I used Raspberries to good effect in a Raspberry Flanders Red using the other 10 lbs of fruit.  10 lbs of fruit produced a really lovely and profound Raspberry flavor for me in that beer.

For the blend I'll be shooting for a complex but somewhat mild flavored beer in order to really let the raspberries shine.  I have 10 mature batches of beer to choose from.  I did a tasting last week to help determine which beers to use.  During this blending session I'll also be making a Plain Blend and a Cherry Blend which I'll track in separate posts.

I have decided to use the following beers in this blend:
  • 1/2 (2.5 gal) from Fermenter #1:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • First pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
      • 1 oz of hops
      • Topped off with 1.25 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:
  • Light earthy aroma along with a subtle fruity ester.
  • Light gold in color. Fairly clear.
  • A bit of fruit with some earthy flavor. Finishes with a slight tartness. Get a hint of bready malt on the finish.
  • Medium light bodied with a slight sweetness. Drinks very smoothly
  • Pretty mild in terms of flavor and aroma but has some complexity of flavor that is pleasant.

  • 1/5 (1 gal) from Fermenter #2:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • Second pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
      • 1 oz of hops
      • Topped off with 1 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Pungent earthy and cheesy aroma to the beer. Maybe a bit of overripe fruit. Quite musty as well.
      • Light gold and clear - a few pellicle chunks floating in it.
      • Fruity with a light tartness in the finish. Has some earthy brett notes. I detect a bit of sulfur. Also get a bit of bread flavor in the finish on this one.
      • Medium-light bodied a bit of sweetness to it. A bit of prickling acidity in the mouthfeel. Drinkable beer.
      • Some nice flavors and aromas with pretty good complexity. I quite like this one

  • 1/5 (1 gal) from Fermenter #4:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • Fourth pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
      • Moved to a lower AA hop
      • Did a normal mash this time
      • Topped off with 0.5 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:
      • 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

  • 1/10 (0.5 gal) from Fermenter #7:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • Primaried with Belgian yeast
      • Fifth pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
      • Added 1 gal of wort soured with lacto
      • Changed the malt bill to 2/3 pilsner 1/3 raw wheat
      • Used a sort of cereal mash on the raw wheat. Added this right before sparging to get a starchy worth
      • Used Maltodextrine to increase food for bacteria
      • No hops in this batch
      • Aged on 1 oz of oak
      • Beer has aged in a bucket fermenter
      • Added 1 gal of 1.020 beer fermented with lacto and Belgian yeast to hopefully give the microbes a bit more to chew on
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Strong funky and earthy aroma. Quite musty actually. Has kind of an overripe fruit smell. Get a bit of malt coming through faintly.
      • Orange and quite cloudy
      • Fruity with a pretty pronounced sourness. Fruit is overripe peach maybe. Finishes with quite a bit of bready malt. There is a bit of funk mixed in
      • Medium-light bodied and pretty dry. The acidity in the beer is prickling
      • Bold flavor and a pretty satisfying sourness. The malt in the finish is interesting but the beer isn't all that complex really.

These were all fairly mild beers that had some nice Brett complexity but not a lot of sourness.  I think a beer that is too strongly sour would clash a bit with the Raspberries.



I'll let this beer age on the Raspberries for about 2 months before bottling.  Depending on how dry it seems I may decide to back sweeten the beer slightly with some light Invert Syrup and then pasteurize.

Blending Notes:
  • 6/3/18 - Blending Day:
    • Blended the four beer
    • Added 12.2 lbs of raspberries

  • 12/28/18 - Bottled today with 6 oz of priming sugar and Red Star White Wine Yeast (Cote des Blanc).  Collected about 6 gal of beer off the fruit which netted me 57 12 oz bottles.  It has an intense raspberry aroma and a really nice flavor.

  • 6/30/19 - Tasting Notes - This is very intensely flavored beer with a lot going on to bring complexity.  It is very dry and very tart which hurts the drinkability quite a bit.  I think a bit more residual sweetness would have helped the balance of the beer a lot.  I'll plan on back sweetening the batch next year.
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Sour Blonde Blend (2018)

I'm finally ready to start using the Sour Blonde Ale I've been brewing and aging for the last 3.5 years.  In this post I'll be focusing on my plain blend (plan to also do cherry and raspberry portions in later posts).

I'll be blending 6 gal of beer to make this Plain Sour Blonde.  My goal  will be to create the most interesting blend of beers I can based on the tasting of my 10 mature beers last week (see notes here).

I have chosen the following beers to use in the blend:
  • 2/3 (4 gal) from Fermenter #2:
    • Beers: 
    • Overview: 
      • Second pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend 
      • Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast 
      • Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat 
      • 1 oz of hops 
      • Topped off with 1 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
    • Tasting Notes:

      • Pungent earthy and cheesy aroma to the beer. Maybe a bit of overripe fruit. Quite musty as well. 
      • Light gold and clear - a few pellicle chunks floating in it. 
      • Fruity with a light tartness in the finish. Has some earthy brett notes. I detect a bit of sulfur. Also get a bit of bread flavor in the finish on this one. 
      • Medium-light bodied a bit of sweetness to it. A bit of prickling acidity in the mouthfeel. Drinkable beer. 
      • Some nice flavors and aromas with pretty good complexity. I quite like this one

  • 1/6 (1 gal) from Fermenter #5:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • First pitch of ECY01 Bug Farm
      • Changed malt bill to include 1 lb of Munich replacing 1 lb of pilsner. Also did a proper cereal mash with raw wheat.
      • Added Maltodextrine to give the bacteria and brett a bit more food
      • Used 1/2 oz of hops
    • Tasting Notes:
      • Very cider like aroma. Smells slightly musty 
      • Light gold and very clear 
      • Has a funky bandaid like flavor. Also get some wine/cider like fruit notes. Slight tartness in the finish. I also note a faint bit of malty flavor in the finish 
      • Light bodied and very dry. 
      • This is a pretty interesting beer. Flavors aren't exactly bold but they are different from the others. Not terribly complex on its own but I think it could be useful for blending.

  • 1/6 (1 gal) from Fermenter #6:
    • Beers:
    • Overview:
      • First pitch of ECY 34 Dirty Dozen
      • Went with a malt bill of Pilsner and Malted and Flaked wheat
      • Added Maltodextrine to give the bugs more food
      • No hops in this batch
    • Tasting Notes:

      • 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.

Fermenter #2 was the best beer this year so it will make up a majority of my blend.  Fermenters #5 and #6 have some interesting Brett character which I think will add some extra depth.  


On a whim I've decided to also throw 1 oz of oak that I toasted in the oven at 400 F and soaked in Chardonnay for the last 6 months or so.  I will let these beers age together in a bucket fermenter, and with the oak, for about a month prior to bottling.

Blending Notes:
  • 6/3/18 - Blending Day:
    • Blended the beers
    • Added oak to the fermenter
  • 10/13/18 - Bottled with 6.5 oz of priming sugar and a rehydrated pack of Red Start Premier Cuvee yeast.  Got 6 gal of beer which netted me 60 12 oz bottles.  The beer is fruity and has a rich earthy brett character.  Very little sourness still.  I think it's quite nice.  Moved the oak to Fermenter #3 containing Sour Blonde 1.3.1.

  • 3/31/19 - Tasting Notes - The beer has some interesting flavors and aromas which give it complexity.  It is fairly mild in terms of flavor intensity which is okay.  I brings enough to the table to be interesting (although certainly not as interesting as many of the Belgian Lambic I've tried).  The sourness level in the beer is very pleasing - firm enough to make it's presence felt but never overwhelming.  It makes for a very refreshing beer.

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