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:
- Sour Blonde 1.2.1
- Portion:
- 5/6th
- Brewed:
- 2/7/15
- Top up Batch
- Portion:
- 1/6th
- Brewed:
- 11/19/17
- 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:
- Sour Blonde 2.1.1
- Portion:
- 100%
- Brewed:
- 4/10/16
- 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:
- Sour Blonde 3.1.1
- Portion:
- 100%
- Brewed:
- 5/8/16
- 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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