Sour Blonde (2018) - Tasting Notes

This was my first Sour Blonde blend using beers that I brewed back in 2015 and 2016.  I chose beers to get the most complex product I could.  I ended up selecting three that seemed to have the most complimentary and interesting flavors.

I blended the batch in June 2018 and then aged it together for 4 months before bottling in October 2018.  The beer wasn't really all that sour going into the bottles but it seems to have gotten a bit more acidic after 5 months spent in the bottle.

These beers were not spontaneously fermented but they're intended to produce a lambic like beer.  This is a high bar to clear.  I think I got close enough to be satisfied with this first attempt.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  
• Musty and earth aroma along with some overripe fruit.  Maybe get some hay as well which is a bit weird
• Appearance:
• Light gold and pretty clear if you don't end up pouring in the dregs.  Pours with a couple finger head that disappears almost immediately
• Flavor:
• Fruity with a slight sourness up front.  Brett character kicks in next (earthy, musty, aged kind of flavors).  Also get a slight mineral character.  The finish has a lingering sour flavor along with a lemon-like flavor.
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied.  It is very dry and refreshing.  Really easy drinking.  Leaves a slight prickling on the tongue.
• Overall:
• 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.

Russian Imperial Stout with Bourbon Soaked Oak - Take II

Last year I attempted to clone the famous Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout which is a wonderfully intense whiskey barrel aged beer.  My version was pretty close (and very nice) but it didn't match the intense whiskey character of the original.  I've decided to try again this year to see if I could get a bit closer.

Last year I used 4 oz of white oak which I'd toasted at 450 F, charred, and then soaked in 90 Proof (45% ABV) Makers Mark whiskey for about 4 months.  Whiskey is aged in the barrel at closer to 60% ABV and then watered down to bottling strength.  This higher ABV (and stronger flavored) barrel strength whiskey is what BCBS is being flavored with.  I'm thinking this is probably the most likely culprit for the intensity difference between my clone and the original.

Over the last year I've been soaking oak (prepared the same way as last year) in a mix of 2/3 95% Everclear and 1/3 Spring Water which is about 63% ABV.  This is right in the range of cask strength whiskey.  I kept this in the attic over the summer and winter months and, as evidenced by the oak sinking to the bottom and the liquid changing from clear to very dark, there has been a lot of penetration into the oak.  I am going to start out with a 4 oz piece of oak this year and then, if I find more is needed, I have two additional oz that I can add.

Goose Island store their barrels in a non-climate controlled warehouse to approximate the aging conditions of the whiskey.  This should, in theory, drive the beer to be pushed and pulled out of the wood to the same depths the whiskey went and allow for more extraction of flavor.  Based on this I aged my beer in one of the hotter portions of the house and it did seem like the levels of flavor extraction improved as it got warmer out.  This year I'm going to try aging the beer up in the hot attic which I'm thinking should drive more penetration of the beer into the oak.

Like last year I'll be aging in a bucket fermenter.  I plan to use one with no airlock (will have a hard bung) to allow some pressure to build.  This will run some risk of bursting the bucket so I'll be sure to check on it regularly to assess the pressure situation - will vent off some pressure if necessary.

The recipe this year is just about the same as last time as the base beer was very nice.  The only difference this time is that I'm using black patent, which was specified in the Goose Island recipe, rather than debittered-black malt specified by somebody else's clone recipe.  I'm thinking this could have been a contributor to the sharper flavor of the original.

I'll also be mashing a bit lower this time to get the beer to finish closer to the target 1.030 (mine finished at 1.036 last year with a 155 F mash.  Will shoot for 154 F this time.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 24 lb 2 Row
• 8 lb Light Munich
• 1.5 lb Chocolate Malt
• 1.5 lb Crystal 60L
• 1.5 lb Roasted Barley
• 12 oz Black Patent
• 4 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 1 oz Magnum (Pellet 11.8% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Summit (Pellet 17.1 % AA) at 60 min
• Yeast:
• 2 Packs of US-05 "Chico" Ale Yeast (2nd Pitch for one pack)
• Water:
• 20 gal Spring Water
• 2 gal Tap Water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 7 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 154 for 60 min (154 F for 60 min)
• Boil:
• 4 hrs and 45 min (Target 4 hrs)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 68 F
• Primary Duration:
• 1 Month
• Secondary Duration
• 6-8 Months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.136 (Target 1.130)
• Efficiency:
• 7.2 (Target 58%)
• FG:
• 1.055 (Target 1.030)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 57% (Target 67%)
• ABV:
• 12.81% (Target 13.73%)

Brewing Notes:

• 3/9/19 - Brewday - 9:45 AM to 6:30 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Brought 7 gal of spring water and 2 gal of tap water up to 190 F
• Milled half the grain for the first mash.  Added half the CaCl and Gypsum to the mash

• Added 7 gal of water to the mash tun
• Cycled this through the Grant and RIMS until the system had normalized to 165 F
• Added the grain - stirred well to eliminate dough balls
• Cycled with the RIMS and mashed for 60 min - the temperature was 154 F for most of the mash
• Added 5 more gal of spring water to the HLT for the sparge and heated this up to 190 F
• Slowly drained the mast tun into the boil kettle.  Added water to the top of the mash as I went.  Sparged until I ended up with 8.5 gal in the boil kettle
• I started heating the boil kettle after collecting 3 gal.  Had it to a boil shortly after the sparge completed
• Boiled for 2 hrs
• There was a lot of hot break for the first 30 min.  I had a few minor boil overs.  I had adjust the heat throughout to limit this

• I saved off the remaining wort from the mash tun for use in the next mash (had about 2 gal)
• Heated 7 gal of water in the HLT for the next strike.  Let this get up to 170 F
• Milled the second half of the grain.  Added the other half of CaCl and Gypsum to the milled grain.
• With about an hr and 10 min left in the boil I transferred water and the extra wort from the previous mash to the mash tun until I had 6 gal.  I cycled this through the RIMS for 10 min.  The temperature fell to 149 F.  I cycled for 15 more min with the RIMS set to 170 F.
• I slowly added the grain with the RIMS running over the 15 min extra cycle and it slowly crept up to 153 F.
• Mashed for 60 min - the temperature got up to 156 F with 30 min left
• Heated 5 gal of sparge water up to 190 F
• At the end of the 2 hr boil I had about 3 gal of beer.  Measured the gravity as being above the 32 brix limit
• Sparged the second mash until I had 11 gal in the boil kettle

• Started heating after I had 4 gal.  Had it to a boil prior to the end of the sparge
• Boiled for 2 more hrs
• Added hops with 1 hr left
• Measured the gravity at 50 min at 29 brix.  I probably have about 8 gal.  My target is about 30 brix so I think I'll be a bit higher than target at the end of the boil.  I will top up with spring water if necessary.
• I've been unable to run the burner at full flame due to the large amount of hot break that builds threatening boil overs.  This slowed the boil off rate.  Had about 7 gal of beer at the end of the 4 hr boil.  Decided to extend it by 30 min.
• Added Irish Moss with 15 min left
• Put in the wort chiller to sanitize with 5 min left
• At the end of the boil I chilled the beer down to 75 F
• Rehydrated two packets of US-05 in 100 F spring water for about an hr

• Transferred the beer into two fermenters.  I split it so there were 3 gal in each.  Let it drop a foot or so to aerate.  Pitched the yeast during the transfer.

• Measured the gravity with my hydrometer as being 1.170.  I was shooting for 1.130 so I majorly overshot.  I need to add 1.5 gal to the beer to get to 1.135.  
• Added 1 gal of tap water split between the two and checked with my refractometer.  Measured the beers as 31 and 32 brix after.  This is 1.138 and 1.134.  I think this is close enough - I'm going to skip the extra half gal.
• Moved the fermenters into my fermentation chamber with a reptile heating pad.  This should hopefully keep it at the desired 68 F.  I'll allow it to ramp up after a few days.
• 3/10/19 - The airlock was bubbling lightly by this evening
• 3/17/19 - Airlock activity has faded to almost nothing.  Will give this another week and then combine the two batches,
• 3/22/19 - Checked on the beer.  The krausen has fallen and there are some bubble come up from the bottom.  May still be wrapping up
• 3/29/19 - Combined the two beers into the stainless fermenter.  Transferred using an auto-siphon.  The beer is almost to the top of the fermenter.  Moved this out of the chest freezer and into the mid-60's basement to finish up.

• 4/24/19 - Moved the beer to my chest freezer to cold crash at 38 F
• 4/28/19 - Added half a tsp of gelatin dissolved in hot water to drop any remaining yeast
• 4/28/19 - Transferred the beer into a bucket fermenter with the 4 oz of charred oak.  I ended up with about 5.5 gal of beer in secondary.  I measured the gravity of the beer as 1.064 so we're quite a bit above the target of 1.040.  Moved the bucket fermenter up to the hot attic to age for the next 6 months or so.  The fermenter has no airlock or bung so pressure will build up in there.

• 8/3/2019 - Took a sample after about 3 months aging with oak up in my hot attic and compared with 2017 BCBS.  Mine is thicker and maltier than the real thing.  The beer has a nice whiskey character but the BCBS has a much firmer spirit presence.  I have 4 oz of oak in the beer at the moment.  I'm going to add 2 more oz of charred and whiskey soaked oak for the remaining 3-4 months of aging

• 11/28/19 - Measured the gravity as 1.055.  It has a really lovely dark chocolate and roasted flavor.  Whiskey and oak are present but in the background.  Its pretty sweet still.  Sampled the beer next to BCBS 2017 and found mine to have a lot less of an alcohol presence like last year.  I'm considering adding a bit of the barrel proof spirit I've been using to age the oak with to the beer at bottling.  Assessed the impact of adding small amounts to a quarter cup of the beer.  It seemed like something close to 1/2 tsp of the 60% barrel aged spirit per 1/4 cup of beer was needed to get my beer close to the level of boozyness that BCBS achieves.  I have about 6 gal of beer.  At 1/2 tsp per 1/4 cup this would require the addition of 4 cups of the spirit (This is 96 cups or 384 1/4 cups in 6 gal which would be 384 1/2 tsp or 192 tsp).  My homemade whiskey is quite a bit more oaky than a commercial version.  Used at the 4 cup per 6 gal level the oak is very prominent.  I think I may back off to 3 cups per 6 gal which doesn't match to alcohol presence (but still gets close) and makes a better balance between beer and oak.

• 12/8/19 - Bottled the beer today with 4 oz of priming sugar, 1 package of Red Star Premier Cuvee Champagne yeast, and 3 cups of 60% alcohol I aged with oak (I watered this down with about 2/3 Everclear and water mix to reduce the oak flavor.  Ended up with almost 6 gal which netted me 42 15 oz bottles
• 8/9/20 - Tasting Notes - A really rich and boldly flavored beer with a broad array of flavors which bring a nice complexity.  Really nice sipping beer.  Judged on its own merits, it's a really nice beer.  I believe the whiskey character is a bit too far in the background to bare much resemblance to BCBS (will explore that further in a direct vertical tasting soon).  Still happy to drink this beer and not unhappy that I may have missed the mark a bit.
• 9/6/20 - Vertical tasting comparing this to the real BCBS performed.  This beer, though delicious, is much more malty than the real thing and is far off in terms of whiskey character.

Lessons Learned:

1. Getting down to the target 1.030 gravity is important if your aim is to clone this beer.  I will consider using high gravity yeast for the next version
2. The 60% alcohol mix I'm using to age the oak is much more heavily oaked than a 55 gal barrel of whiskey is.  As a result, my whiskey is a lot oakier than regular whiskey.  I may want to adjust the amount of oak I'm using in a quart jar.  I've tried this whiskey (watered down to 45%) next to Makers Mark in an Old Fashioned and both my wife and I thought it was at least as good if not a bit better (more flavorful).  So, if I ended up reducing the oak to spirit ratio it isn't like the extra spirit would end up dumped.
3. I toasted this oak at 450 F.  I may want to adjust this down to 400 F to get more vanilla next time.

Flanders Red 1.8.1 & Top Up Batch

Over the last 4.5 years I've brewed seven batches of beer on the Roeselare Yeast Cake I'll use for this bach.  This approach has repeatedly created some very interesting and complex beers for me.  It has been a bit over 2.5 years since I brewed my last batch using this yeast (Flanders Red 1.7.1) and I'm interested to see if I can get another out of it after all this time.  This will be Flanders Red 1.8.1.

In addition to this, I'll be making some extra wort to use to top off my other fermenters which were partially depleted from some recent blending sessions (see notes).  I'll be using the unfermented wort from this batch to hopefully give the microbes left in my other, older, fermenters a bit more to chew on over the next year.

I'll be using a very similar grainbill to previous batches along with a Cereal Mash using Corn Grits.  In a fit of creativity I decided to move some of the starchy cereal mash liquid directly to the boil kettle for this batch in an attempt to get some additional starches into the wort for the long secondary fermentation period.  Managed to add quite a bit of particulate matter into the boil kettle with it.  I'm sure it wont harm anything but will it help?

I will also be lightly hopping this batch in order to limit the influence of lacto as the beers a getting a bit more acidic than I would prefer.

Finally, it's going to be a cool brew day and a very cool night so I've decided to limit my use of the hose.  I'm going to let the wort air cool down to sub-100 F degrees rather than use my wort chiller.  This might also capture some wild yeast which will help get the primary fermentation done as yeast component of the Roeselare Yeast cake is likely mostly depleted.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct
• 8 lb Pilsner Malt
• 6 lb Munich Malt
• 1.5 lb Aromatic Malt
• 1.5 lb Crystal 60L
• 1.5 lb Special B
• Cereal Mash
• 1.5 lb Pilsner
• 3 lb Corn Grits
• Hops:
• 1 oz Fuggle (Pellet, 3.5% AA) at 60 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Ale Blend (Eighth Pitch)
•  Water:
• 11 gal spring water
• 7 gal tap water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Citric Acid

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 10.5 gal
• Mash:
• Cereal Mash:
• 60 F for 30 min
• 120 F for 30 min
• 155 F for 20 min
• Boil for 30 min
• Main Mash:
• 160 F for 75 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Ambient Basement Temps (~60 F)
• Primary Duration:
• 1 Month
• Secondary Duration:
• 1-3 years

Results:

• OG:
• 1.058
• Efficiency:
• 74%
• FG:
• TBD 
• Apparent Attenuation:
• TBD
• ABV:
• TBD

Brewing Notes:

• 2/10/19 - Brewday - 12:00 PM to 6:30 PM - Including cereal mash and cleanup
• Cereal Mash

• Soaked cereal mash in cool water (~2.5 gal of spring water) for about 30 min
• Heated the cereal mash to 120 F on the stovetop
• Let it sit at this temperature for about an hr while I ran to the store
• Heated it up to 155 F

• Let it sit for 20 min at this temperature
• Brought it to a boil and boiled for 30 min
• Brought 10 gal of spring water up to 210 F in my HLT
• Milled my grain
• Added half the brewing salts to the grain
• Found that I was out of Acid Malt.  Used 1 tsp of powdered Citric Acid instead
• Added 6 gal of strike water to the mash tun - let it sit for 10 min.  Temperature settled to 190 F at this point
• Rigged up the RIMS and cycled through the grant and RIMS tube.  Added another gal of water to the system as part of this.  Cycled for 5 min after which the temperature seemed to settle to about 175 F
• Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate doughballs.  Temperature settled at 160 F.  Right on target!
• Started cycling the RIMS again at 160 F

• Poured about a gal of the liquid from the cereal mash into the boil kettle.  I'm hopping this gives me a richer, starchier wort
• Added the cereal mash to the mash tun after 15 min
• Mashed with everything together for 60 min
• Added 5 gal of tap water to the HLT and then heated 8.5 gal of sparge water up to 190 F
• Added CaCL and Gypsum to the boil kettle
• Slowly drained the mash tun into the boil kettle.  Did a manual fly sparge where I added hot sparge water to the top of the mash tun when the water dropped below the grain bed level
• Collected 12 gal
• Started the flame on the HLT during the mash.  Had it at a boil a few min after the end of the collection
• Added my hops after the hot break cleared.  Boiled for 60 min
• Had a little over 10 gal at the end of the boil
• Decided to let the beer chill for a few hrs in the cold night air (was about 30 F outside) rather than getting out the hose for the wort chiller
• After 3 hrs the beer was down to 100 F
• I'm down to 9.5 gal after evaporation
• Measured the gravity of the beer as 1.060 at 100 F which is 1.068.  Added 1 gal of cool spring water which should get me to the high 1.05s/low 1.06s.
• Measured the gravity as 1.058 after adding the water.  This knocked it down to 95 F
• I had about 3.5 gal of Flanders Red 1.7.1 left (in Fermenter #12).  I transferred 2 gal of this off into a couple other fermenters (#4 and #6)
• Drained 4 gal into Fermenter #12.  Set this up with a 3 piece airlock
• I got 6 gal of remaining wort which I used to top off other fermenters (#1, #2, #3, #5, #7, #9, and #10)

• 2/16/19 - No krausen has formed on 1.8.1 or any of the other fermenters that I topped up.  All have reformed their pellicles which are looking a little more bubbly than usual.

Lessons Learned:

1. Concurrently with this brewday I baked some bread and made a pot roast.  Everything turned out well which was nice but it was an exhausting day.  I'll try not to be so ambitious again.
2. I have a lot of beer related projects going right now that do not involve actual brewing (last beer made had been in late October).  I enjoyed brewing again - shouldn't leave this much time between batches.

Russian Imperial Stout with Bourbon Soaked Oak - Tasting Notes

A little over a year ago I brewed up a big Russian Imperial Stout which I aged on my own whiskey soaked charred white oak in an attempt to make a clone of the famous Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout.  This beer aged for 6 months on oak and finished at a pretty extraordinary 1.046 (close to the Starting Gravity of many of my beers).  It started at 1.130 which puts it at about 13% ABV - it packs a wallop.

I bottled the beer about three months ago with wine yeast and was pleasantly surprised that it has carbonated somewhat.  I've been drinking it quickly (I've got less than half the batch left at this point) and it's been preventing me from drinking my stockpile of real BCBS.

This batch has re-enforced my opinion that duplicating the effects of barrel aging isn't a trivial matter.  Even though I didn't quite capture the BCBS barrel character I think I've gotten pretty close (definitely moving in the right direction compared with the medium toast Hungarian oak cubes soaked in whiskey).  Regardless, it has been a lot of fun!

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Oak and light whiskey aroma hits first followed by the smell of bitter dark chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee
• Appearance:
• Black and opaque.  Pours with a thin layer of brow foam.  This fades into a thin ring after a couple minutes
• Flavor:
• Malt hits up front - it has a chocolate and caramel character.  The oak (vanilla, roast, and smoke) and whiskey then come through.  They meld very nicely with malt.  In the finish there is a bitter roast flavor - very much like eating a high % dark chocolate.  I suppose some of the bitter finish is the hops as well although there isn't any hop flavor that clearly comes though.  There is also a strong alcohol component in the finish.  The finish has a balance between the sweet malty, bitter roasty, and alcohol flavors.
• Mouthfeel:
• It is a full bodied beer with quite a bit of sweetness.  It drinks fairly smooth - maybe a slight bit of astringency.  Has a warming alcohol presence.  As strong as this beer is it drinks very easily - not so heavy that you feel full after drinking one (although a second would be way too much if I want to get out of bed the next morning).
• Overall:
• This is a big, rich, and complex beer.  The base beer brought a real rich set of flavors which stand up nicely to the the whiskey and oak.  This was intended to be a clone of BCBS but I'm thinking I likely missed the mark a bit in terms of the strength of the whiskey character (will do a final side by side comparison).  Even so I think the beer strikes a very nice balance of it's own.  I'll be brewing another one of these.

English Barleywine (2018 Version) - Tasting Notes

I brewed this English Barleywine based on the Original Famous Thomas Hardy's Barleywine from the Famous "Shut Up about Barclay Perkens" Blog.  The recipe interested me due to it's heavy bittering (68 IBU) and very high fermentation temperature (73 F).  I followed the recipe in both of these specification and, prior to aging, the beer was rough around the edges.  After four months bulk aging with a bit of toasted oak I found it has softened significantly and the flavors were mellowed and melded nicely.

This is the fifth beer in a series of Barleywine I've brewed on the last five Memorial days.  I believe this is the best EBW I've made so far.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Fruity ester is the most dominant aroma followed by caramel and toasted bread.  I get a bit of herbal and tea like hop aroma.  I think I pick up a bit of oak.  Alcohol comes though as well.
• Appearance:
• Dark brownish-red.  Pours with a 5 finger head (was pretty aggressive with the pour this time).  Foam fades down to less than a finger pretty quickly and then lingers through most of the glass.  Leaves lacing.  The beer is very clear.
• Flavor:
• Caramel and malt flavor take the lead in the flavor.  Has a bit of a graham cracker taste to it.  The finish has a lot of fruity ester flavor along with a kick of bitterness.  The fruit is raisin like.  There is a bit of hop flavor mixed in as well as a bit of alcohol.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium to full bodied.  Has a bit of sweetness that leaves my mouth a bit sticky.  Slight alcohol warming is detected.  Smooth with no astringency.
• Overall:
• This has a lot going on between the malt and ester flavors.  These get along very well together and make for a nicely complex beverage.  It is a sweet beer but it's not cloying or difficult to drink.  I think the hop bitterness the beer has retained over the long aging does a nice job to balance the finish such that you're called to take another sip.  I think this was a very good recipe.  I think this one will age nicely and look forward to many more tastings.

I'm excited to try this against the 4 previous years English Barleywine.

Spiced Flanders Red

With it's bold fruity flavors and aroma the Flanders Red style of beer is sufficiently interesting without any help but I was thinking it might be fun to try adding some additional spices and flavorings as an experiment given that I have quite a bit of beer to play with.  Flanders Red are often compared with wine due to the acidity and fruitiness although they don't taste particularly wine like.  With their sweet and sour components one might argue that their most close relative (outside of other beer of course) might be soda.  This idea got me thinking about how some of the flavors in a Flanders Red have similar components in Coca-Cola Classic - citrus, caramel, and vanilla.  Based on this, I've decided to spice this beer using components from the original Coke.

The Wikipedia article's original "John Pemberton" recipe seemed like a good place to start - I am using this as a basis for my spicing.  Coke is made using essential oils for flavoring.  I was thinking it would be more fun to use real fruit and spices for the beer.  I decided to make a tincture using the following ingredients:  Orange zest, lime zest, lemon zest, cinnamon sticks, ground nutmeg, ground coriander, bourbon vanilla bean, and vodka

I've done a bit of playing around with spicing beers in the past:  a Witbier with orange zest & coriander, a Berliner Weisse with grapefruit zest, a mead with oranges, cinnamon, & cloves, and a Tripel with orange zest, coriander, & star anise.  Some of these have been very subtle in flavor while others pack a pretty strong punch.  For this beer I'm thinking I'd like a fairly obvious flavor contribution from the spices.  It is not easy to choose the right amount to get the job done so I'll be doing two tinctures. I'll add one at the start and then sample after a few months.  If the beer isn't flavored enough I'll add the second.  Each tincture will be composed as follows:

• Zest of 4 oranges
• Zest of 1 lime
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 6 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 bourbon vanilla bean
• 1 cup of vodka

It's difficult to say how closely these ratios relate to the original coke formulation but the aroma of the tincture is definitely fairly close to coke in aroma.

For the beers I'll be putting together a blend using the 12 fermenters of beer I performed a tasting on several weeks ago.  I think a boldly flavored base beer with a nice level of complexity and medium sourness would be good starting point for this one in order to balance with the spices.  This does run the risk of clashing with the spices but I am willing to accept that possibility.  This will be a 6 gallon batch.

I have chosen the following beers to make up this blend:

• Fermenter #4:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma: Fruity with a bit of earthy brett character. Also has a mineral aroma
• Appearance: Brownish red and pretty clear
• Flavor: Very light sourness. Has a yogurt like lacto character. The finish has an interesting funky, fruity and earthy flavor
• Mouthfeel: More substantial than I'd expect from one of these beers - Medium bodied.
• Overall: Medium level of flavor but has a nice variety of things going on that give it a good amount of complexity
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #6:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  Earthy funk and overripe fruit.  Fairly pungent
• Appearance:  Red and very clear
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with fruit and earthy and leathery brett character.  Fruit lingers into the finish nicely
• Mouthfeel:  Pretty smooth drinking - only a slight prickle
• Overall:  Pretty boldly flavored with a nice complexity
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #7:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  Fruity with some earthy and leathery funk
• Appearance: Dark orange and clear
• Flavor:  Medium sourness with a really lovely fruity flavor (tropical fruit kind of flavor).  Earthy brett and some malt come through in the finish
• Mouthfeel:  Pretty smooth - slight pickling of acidity
• Overall:  Has a bold and very pleasant flavor along with some nice complexity.  This is one of the best.
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #11:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  Fruity with a slight earthy brett character.  Also get a wine like aroma
• Appearance:  Dark Orange and pretty clear
• Flavor:  No sourness has developed.  Has a bit of a bitter flavor in the finish which I think is Brett - kind of like the bitterness from a grapefruit or pineapple.  Has a fairly pungent overripe fruit flavor as well
• Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied and pretty smooth
• Overall:  Pretty bold flavors and pretty complex.  Has come interesting things going on that none of the other beers do.  I think this will make an interesting blending component
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #12:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  Earthy and leathery brett character along with some fruit.  May get a bit of acetic acid from it as well
• Appearance:  Dark Orange/Red and pretty clear
• Flavor:  Slightly sour and very fruity.  Has a slight funk in the finish along with some bready malt.  Maybe a slight vinegar in the flavor as well.
• Mouthfeel:  Slight prickling 
• Overall:  Really bold flavor in this one with really nice complexity.  This one is really lovely - best of the bunch this time.
• Volume:
• 2 gal

I'll be blending this beer along with 3 other Flanders Red blends (see Plain, Cherry, and Raspberry).  Each will be a unique blend.  I'll plan to use 2-3 gal of all the beers so that each fermenter can get a bit of fresh top up beer.  I'm hoping this will sustain them through the next year.

Blending Notes:

• 12/27/18 - Made first tincture
• Zested oranges, lime, and lemon.  Added this to 1 quart mason jar
• Added cinnamon sticks which I snapped in half
• Added Coriander and Nutmeg
• Split vanilla pod down the middle lengthwise and scraped out the seeds.  Added the whole thing into the jar
• Added vodka - this submerged all ingredients.
• 12/31/18 - The tincture had initially had an orange aroma that was significantly more pronounced than all the other ingredients.  After a few days the orange has subsided a lot and the other ingredients are now fairly evenly mixed.  IT is actually smelling very much like coke now

• 1/1/18:
• Made second tincture
• Blended the beers in the volumes noted above in a bucket fermenter

• Added the spice tincture - stirred well

• Setup with a 3 piece airlock
• 2/16/19 - Sampled the beer to check the impact of the spicing.  Orange, vanilla, and spices come through in the aroma fairly distinctly.  Also pick them up faintly in the flavor.  I think the beer could handle quite a bit more spicing.  Added my second tincture to the mix - this has smelled more and more like Coke as it's aged.
• 6/30/19 - Sampled the beer again.  The aroma has a distinct vanilla and nutmeg spice character - the original beer comes though a bit but is overshadowed by the additions.  The spicing also comes through strongly in the flavor (vanilla, nutmeg, with some cinnamon) but it's close to an equal balance to the beer flavor.  Tastes somewhat like a coke as intended.  It's very dry - a bit of back sweetening will help this one quite a bit.  I plan to bottle soon.
• 10/19/19 - Bottled tonight with 2 lbs of home made Invert #2.  Had 6 gal of beer which netted me 59 bottles of beer.  The spicing is very nice - comes through strongly but not overwhelmingly so.  I'll watch this for the next week and a half and pasteurize once it's nicely carbonated.
• 11/16/19 - This beer finally carbonated for me!  I was starting to wonder if it ever would.  Pasteurized in a hot water bath of 145 F for 30 min (water started at 180-190 F).  No exploded bottles this time.
• 6/5/20 - Tasting Notes - A very interesting beer.  I think the spicing gives  it a very strong resemblance to coke.  The base beer blend was made up of boldly flavored beers but they didn't stand up to the spicing.  It doesn't really resemble a Flanders Red in any way - base beer doesn't come though.  So, while it is a very boldly flavored beer with a certain complexity it doesn't quite hit the mark for what I was hoping the beer would be.  Lighter spicing would be in the cards next time

Raspberry Flanders Red - 2018 Version

Last year I blended up Flanders Red using home grown raspberries and it turned out to be a really lovely combination (blending session and tasting notes links).  The flavor of the sour beer and the tartness of the raspberries really married well together.  My raspberry patch produced a lot more fruit this year (90 lbs) so I'll be making another Raspberry Flanders Red this year.

Last year I used about 10 lbs of fruit which produced a very nice raspberry flavor.  This year, given my extra yield I'm going to try it with 15 lbs.  I am hoping this doesn't completely overwhelm the base beer.  I think there is a risk that this will seem more like a raspberry wine than a beer - we'll see.

I'll be blending the base beer for this using 12 fermenters of Flanders Red that I've been aging for the last 4 years.  I have a really nice assortment of flavors to choose from (reference the 2018 tasting notes).  Given that I'll get a lot of sourness from the fruit I will make a bulk of the blend using the less sour/more mild tasting beers.

Based on that criteria, I have chosen the following beers:

• Fermenter #5:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma: Earthy and leathery brett character most prominent. A bit of fruit
• Appearance: Orangish red and very clear
• Flavor: Lightly sour with a citrus quality. Very mild brett character as well. Maybe a bit of mineral flavor in the finish.
• Mouthfeel: Has a bit of a sharp twang that hits the back of the throat
• Overall: Mild flavored and not very complex
• Volume:
• 2 gal
• Fermenter #9:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  Rich fruit aroma with a bit of earthy and leathery brett character.  A bit of a mineral aroma
• Appearance:  Dark orange with a slight haze
• Flavor:  Very lightly sour.  Has a bit of a band aid like brett character
• Mouthfeel:  Slight prickling in the palate
• Overall:  Pretty mild flavor and not very complex
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #10:
• Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:  Fruity with some leathery funk
• Appearance:  Orange and slightly hazy
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with a lot of brett character - this is earthy and leathery with a slight band aid flavor
• Mouthfeel:  Slight prickling
• Overall:  Bold flavors with a lot going on.  Wouldn't want to drink a whole glass of this but could add some nice complexity to one of the blander beers.
• Volume:
• 2 gal

I'll let the beer age on the raspberries for 3-6 months before bottling.  I expect that all the sugar will ferment out in this period.  I'll backsweeten it to 1.016 or so with invert syrup and then pasteurize it in a hot water bath once it has carbonated nicely.  I did this last time for all my 2017 Flanders Reds (Plain, Cherry, and Raspberry) and found that the sweetness balances out the flavor profile nicely.

In addition to this beer I'm brewing up a Plain, Cherry, and Spiced Flanders Reds.  I have made an attempt to use 1-3 gal from each of the fermenter.  This will make room for a bit of fresh top up beer in each so that I'll keep the microbes alive until next year.

Blending Notes:

• 12/31/18:
• Blended together the three beers in the volumes noted above
• Added 4 1 gal bags of raspberries which ended up being 15.7 lbs

• Stirred everything with the auto-siphon
• Setup the bucket with a 3 piece airlock
• 8/17/19 - Bottled the beer today with 2 lbs of invert #2 (cooked to 265 F) and a packet of white wine yeast.  Collected about 6 gal that got me 61 bottles.  I will let this carbonate for the next week or so.  Once it's carbonated up I'll pasteurize to leave a bit of sweetness.
• 9/5/19 - These have been pretty slow and uneven carbonating.  A random sampling today found one only lightly carbonated still, one pretty much at the right level, and one over carbonated (such that it gushes out of the bottle and makes a mess).  I'm not sure what went wrong (probably uneven sugar distribution) but I've decided to bottle pasteurize today.  Heating the bottles in a 150 F waterbath for 20-30 min.
• 5/23/20 - Tasting Notes - I think the raspberry and base Flanders red get along very nicely.  The fruit dominates but the beer shines through enough to keep it interesting.  Definitely a little on the dry side of the balance scale - could have done with some more back sweetening