This will be Sour Blonde Beer using home grown Sour Cherries from my crop last year. These are a dark fleshed variety like those used for Kreik Lambic in Belgium. They are sour but also have a fairly rich cherry flavor to go along with that (unlike the lighter fleshed Montmorency variety). I am using about 13.5 lbs of fruit in this batch (they've been frozen which will help them expel their juice better).
I'll use about 5 gal of beer in this batch. I'm shooting for a blend with a fairly mild flavor and light sourness as the fruit will likely dominate at this ratio. I'll choose beers based on a recent tasting of my 13 fermenters
I have chosen the following beers:
- Fermenter #5:
- 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
- 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
- Volume:
- 2 gal
- Fermenter #9:
- 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
- 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
- Volume:
- 2 gal
- Fermenter #12:
- 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
- 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
- Volume:
- 1 gal
I plan to let this beer sit on the cherries for a few months before bottling
Blending Notes:
- 2/25/24:
- Added the cherries to the fermenter
- Siphoned the 3 beers onto the cherries
- Setup the fermenter with an airlock
