A Faro is a Lambic beer that had dark candi sugar added. The one example I've had (Lindeman's) was quite sweet but still had a fair amount of sour beer character along with some interesting cooked sugar notes (some fruitiness). I've decided to give one a shot this year to go along with my Raspberry and Cherry versions.
I'm going to make an invert syrup for this. These have a fruity character although are not quite like Belgian Candi Sugar. I'm going fairly dark on it - maybe and Invert #3 (a dark brown color). I found a good reference for sugar to beer ratio of 40 L of beer to 1 Kg of sugar. I am making a 5 gal batch of this which amounts to 17 oz of sugar
My plan is to use up some of the unused fermenters of my Sour Blonde Beer - choosing some of the less interesting ones for this purpose (based on tasting notes). I'll let this sit with the sugar for a short time (maybe just a few days) before bottling with some Champagne yeast. I'll monitor the carbonation and bottle pasteurize to maintain some sweetness
For the blend of beers I'm going with:
- Fermenter #1:
- 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
- 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.
- Volume:
- 1 gal
- Fermenter #2:
- 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
- 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
- Volume:
- 1 gal
- Fermenter #10:
- 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
- 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
- Volume:
- 3 gal
Blending Notes:
- 10/30/24:
- Made my invert sugar as follows:
- Mixed 17 oz of table sugar, 1/4 tsp of Citric Acid, and 2 cups of water in a pot
- Set the pot over medium low heat and stirred all the sugar until it was desolved
- The mixture achieved a very slow boil and, over the course of 4 hrs, evaporated the excess water and developed a darkening color and some very nice aroma (fruit and toasted marshmallow)
- Once I judged it complete I added some boiling water to it (a few cups) which makes the mixture into a thinner liquid that I can pour off once it cools
- Let it cool to room temperature over night
- Blended the beers:
- 3 gal fermenter #10
- 1 gal each of from fermenter's 1 and 2 (which have been temporarily combined into fermenter #2)
- 10/31/24 - Added the Invert syrup to the beer this morning
