Faro

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