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Saturday, September 30, 2023

Sour Blonde Status Report - 2023

This is a long overdue assessment of my 13 Sour Blonde beers - my last assessment was way back in 2019.  I have been brewing these Sour Blonde beers since 2014 and creating blends which I then age with fruit.  The project is inspired by the Belgian Lambic style of beer to some extent (many beers using raw wheat) but, for the most part, haven't involved spontaneous fermentation or a turbid mash which are traditional.  

Lambic is aged in oak barrels which allow for oxygen exposure which is a contributor to flavor formation.  A side effect of this is that the beers typically aren't good after a few years of aging.  My beers are aged in glass carboy and plastic bucket fermenters.  So far, it seems like their flavor is still pleasant.

These tasting notes (half of which were collected in July 2022) will help guide my next set of blends.  I intend to use a couple gallons from each fermenter this year and then add some fresh new beer to each one to hopefully sustain any of the nice microbes that remain viable after my long period of neglect

I plan on brewing these new beers and putting together my blends over the next couple months.  Should be fun.

Fermenter #1:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
    • Includes beer that has undergone a lacto fermentation
    • Mix of beers brewed with Pilsner Malt and Wheat
    • Very lightly hopped beers
    • Aged in a very full glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Earthy with a bit of overripe fruit (peach maybe) and a bit of a mineral character
    • Appearance:  Light gold and very clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a bit of fruity character.  Has some earthy character in there as well as mineral.  It also has a bit of bready character in the finish.  The finish is mostly acidity and this lingers.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and very dry.  There is a bit of prickling on the palate from the acidity but not at all unpleasant to drink
    • Overview:  The fruity character is nice and fairly bold.  It has pretty good complexity as well although the Brett is fairly restrained.  I think it has a pleasant level of acidity.

Fermenter #2:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #1 and a bit of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
    • Includes beer that has undergone a lacto fermentation
    • Grain bill of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
    • Very little hops in this batch
    • Aged in a mostly full glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  A bit fruity (overripe peach maybe) along with an earthy and leathery character.  Also get a faintly mineral character from it
    • Appearance:  Light gold in color and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour (very pleasant) mild brett flavors and a bit of overripe fruit.  The finish is a balance of acidity and mineral character.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and fairly dry.  It has only a slight bit of alcohol prickling.
    • Overview:  Flavors are fairly mild but are quite pleasant.  I think it has a fairly nice level of complexity.  Level of sourness is very nice

Fermenter #3:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
    • Includes beer that has undergone a lacto fermentation
    • Mix of Pilsner and Flaked wheat malt
    • Very lightly hopped
    • Aged in glass carboy with 1 gal of head space
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Has a lactic sour kind of small along with some earthy Brett character and a bit of fruit (something like a lemon character off this one)
    • Appearance:  Light gold in color and slightly hazy
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with something reminiscent of bready sweetness in the middle which is quite nice.  Has a bit of earthy flavor in there as well.  Has a little bit of fruit character.  The finish is a balance of acidity and that bready-like flavor
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium-light bodied and dry.  The acidity prickles the back of the throat a bit
    • Overview:  The flavors are slightly mild but it has some interesting flavors that give it a pretty good level of complexity.  I like the acidity in this one as well as that odd bready flavor in the middle.

Fermenter #4:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
    • Includes some beer that underwent a fermentation with lacto
    • Mix of Pilsner and Flaked wheat malt
    • Very lightly hopped
    • Aged in glass carboy with vented silicone bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit (peach maybe) and a bit of earthy brett character.  Kind of smells like cider
    • Appearance:  Light gold in color and pretty cloudy
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a fruity flavor.  There is a bit of brett character in there as well - earthy and maybe leathery along with a mineral like character.  The finish is acidity along with the fruity character - gives the slight impression of sweetness although there really isn't any.  Get a slight bit of bready malt character to this on as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  It has a prickling sort of acidity that hits in the back of the throat
    • Overview:  This is a fairly mildly flavored beer.  Has a fairly nice level of complexity - get quite a few flavors out of it even though they are all subtle.  A good level of acidity to this beer.

Fermenter #5:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with ECY01 Bug Farm
    • Includes beer fermented with lacto
    • Mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat malt bill
    • Lightly hopped
    • Aged in glass carboy with silicone bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Strong overripe fruit and a bit of almost medicine smelling brett character
    • Appearance:  Light gold and very clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a fruity character.  Get a bit of earthy and mineral like flavors as well.  The finish is a balance of acidity and fruit flavors.  I also get a bit of bready character in there.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and very dry.  Had a mild bit of prickliness on the back of the throat as well
    • Overview:  This a boldly flavored beer with a pretty nice level of complexity.  The acidity is at a nice balanced level in this one as well

Fermenter #6:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with  ECY 34 Dirty Dozen
    • Includes beer that underwent lacto fermentation
    • Pilsner and Flaked Wheat Malt bill
    • No hops in this batch
    • Aged in a glass carboy with vented silicone bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and some earthy and leathery brett character pretty strong.  Also get a mineral character
    • Appearance:  Gold in color and very clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a strong fruit character up front.  This is followed by an earthy brett character as well as a bandaid like flavor.  The finish is a balance of acid and brett.  Has a bit of a bready character as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Very slight prickling of acidity on the back of the throat.
    • Overview:  This is a boldly flavored beer with a pretty good level of complexity.  Got a fairly subdued level of sourness to it

Fermenter #7:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Beer has been aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
    • Prior to this it spent a few months on my Belgian Yeast and Lacto house culture
    • Made with a mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
    • No hops
    • Kept in a Bucket Fermenter with a solid stopper
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Some fruit along with some earthy and slightly leathery character.  I may be getting a bit of oak out of it as well
    • Appearance:  Light gold and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Medium-light sourness with a bit of fruitiness (reminiscent of peach).  I also get a bit of earthy flavor.  The finish is acidity and fruit.
    • Mouthfeel:  Dry and very light bodied.  This beer makes me salivate a bit which is maybe a new one for me.  Pretty smooth drinking
    • Overview:  This one has some nice bold flavors.  Fairly fruit forward with a a pretty assertive acidity.  Not the most complex beer.

Fermenter #8:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with ECY01 Bug Farm.  This is the second pitch
    • Includes beer fermented with lacto
    • Grainbill is a mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
    • No hops in this batch
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with a solid stopper
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Very fruity aroma - peach maybe.  Has a bit of leathery brett character as well.
    • Appearance:  Golden in color and a little cloudy
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour up front followed by a bold candy like fruitiness.  After that I get a bit of earthy, musty, leathery brett.  The finish is a mild acidity and the fruit.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  There is a firm prickly acidity that hits the back of the throat.
    • Overview:  This is a bold and very nicely flavored beer.  It is mostly about the fruit with a bit of complexity brought by the other flavors.  Up front the acidity is pretty mild but it does have a bit of an acetic acid edge that hits in the finish.


Fermenter #9:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with ECY 34 Dirty Dozen.  This is the second pitch
    • Includes beer that has been lacto fermented
    • Grainbill is a mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
    • No hops in this batch
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with a vented silicone bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Musty and earthy along with a bit of fruit
    • Appearance:  Light gold and a little bit cloudy
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour up front.  Has a fruity flavor (citrus like) and a bit of a musty character.  Also get a bready like character and some mineral flavor. 
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Has a fairly sharp acid bite on the back of the throat on the swallow
    • Overview:  Pretty bold with a nice fruity character.  Not the most complex beer but it has enough other things going on to make for an interesting beer to drink

Fermenter #10:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged with Omega Yeast OYL-212 Brett Blend #3:  Bring on Da Funk
    • Soured a portion of the batch with Omega Yeast OYL-605 Lactobacillus Blend (L. Plantarum and L. Brevis)
    • Mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
    • No hops
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with a vented silicone bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Musty with a fruity and slightly spicy character
    • Appearance:  Straw colored and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness and some bready flavor.  Slight mineral character with some bready flavor
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied with only a slight prickliness
    • Overview:  Fairly mild in flavor and not all that complex

Fermenter #11:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Brewed with Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #2
    • Grainbill was a mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat.  To attempt to better simulate a cereal mash I drew off a quart of very starchy wort from the cereal mash and added this to the boil
    • Includes beer fermented with lacto
    • No hops in this batch
    • Aged in a bucket with a solid bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Bold fruity aroma with a candy-like sweetness
    • Appearance:  Light gold and clear
    • Flavor:  Light sourness with a sweet fruity flavor.  Has a bit of a honey-like flavor to it.  Maybe a bit of earthy brett character in there as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Gives the impression of a medium body and has a smoothness unusual for these beers.
    • Overview:  This has a really rich and bold character.  It also has a decent amount of complexity.

Fermenter #12:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Brewed with Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #3
    • Grainbill was a mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat.  To attempt to better simulate a cereal mash I drew off a quart of very starchy wort from the cereal mash and added this to the boil
    • Includes beer which fermented with lacto
    • No hops in this batch
    • Aged in a bucket with a solid bung
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity and slightly musty smelling
    • Appearance:  Golden and quite cloudy
    • Flavor:  Very lightly sour with a citrus like character and a bit of mineral flavor
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied with a light prickliness
    • Overview:  Fairly mild in flavor without a whole lot in the way of complexity


Fermenter #13:

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Spontaneously Fermented after cooling off in my side yard next to Raspberry Plants
    • Mix of Pilsner and Raw wheat malt
    • Hopped with high AA hops for 15 min of boil.  Left these in the beer while it naturally cooled which was a mistake I think.
    • Aged with 3 piece airlock which has run dry several times in a better bottle
  • Status Notes:

  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Musty with aged beer character.  A bit of skunkiness - interesting.
    • Appearance:  Golden and a little cloudy
    • Flavor:  A bit of harshness up front - solvent flavor.  Once you get past that there is fruitiness on the finish along with a bready character.  Maybe a slight hop bitterness but very faint.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied but a bit harsh on the palate
    • Overview:  An interestingly flavor beer.  Not very good on it's own but it could be an interesting blending component in small amounts.

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