Munich Dunkel - Tasting Notes

I brewed this Munich Dunkel back in May and employed a double decoction mash as well as 6+ week lagering period.  It was pretty long process going grain to glass (over 2 months) but I think it was worth it.  Some style you can make mistakes and throw a ton of hops at it and hide some flaws (at least for a little while).  A beer like this is really a demonstration of the care that was taken in making it as there isn't any hiding of the flaws.  I'm not sure how loudly I would crow my ability to brew this style (since this is somebody else's recipe) but I'm very happy with how well I was able to execute this one.

The combination of malt complexity and smooth and easy drinking character make for a really comforting and satisfying beer.  Once I'm setup to keg I plan to have one of these on tap all the time.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Clean lager yeast along with a bit of toasted bread and burnt caramel.
• Appearance:
• Dark Amber or light brown in color with good clearity.  Pours with a finger head that settles down to a thin layer of foam after 30 s or so.
• Flavor:
• Bready and toasty malt flavor come through up front.  A very rich malt flavor.  Get a bit of the caramel I picked up in the aroma as well.  The malt flavor lingers into the finish and is carried through with a light hop bitterness.  I pick up a subtle hint of hop flavor in the beer which is herbal and tea like.  No alcohol and no yeast character come though.
• Mouthfeel:
• Light-medium bodied and fairly dry.  Goes down very smoothly.
• Overall:
• Rich and complex malt flavor which is comparable to many of the German made examples I've had.  Easy drinking and refreshing which makes drinking 2 to 3 pretty easy.  Nice clean lager profile - it was a well executed fermentation and lager period on this beer.  One interesting note:  this beer has, by far, the least sediment per bottle of any of the beers I've made.  This hasn't prevented the normal carbonation from occurring.  The six odd weeks of lagering is likely responsible but I also gave it some extra time to fine with gelatin.  I may have to try something like this with future beers.

Cherry Flanders Red (2017) - Tasting Notes

I made up this Cherry Flanders Red last year using two batches of beer which had aged more than 2 years each and then let them age on 12 lbs of sour cherries for more than 6 months.  This is my second attempt at the style (read about the first here).  This time I opted for a different blend than I used for this year's plain batch.  I chose beers that were relatively mild in flavor knowing that the cherries would lend quite a bit of complexity and sourness to the beer.

Some changes from last time:  I used sour cherries for the batch which have an interesting flavor but not the classic cherry flavor so I used a bit of black cherry juice to supplement.  My first attempt got very dry which hurt the drinkability a bit so I've added dark invert syrup to backsweeten and than pasteurized the beer once it had carb'd up.

Cherries get along really well with a Flanders Red as the base beer normally has a cherry like fermentation character.  I picked cherries again this year and plan to make another batch of this soon.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Very fruity aroma with a hint of balsamic vinegar.  Get a bit of earthy brett character mixed in as well.  Maybe a bit of alcohol comes through.
• Appearance:
• Brownish red in color.  Pours with a finder of head which dissipates down to nothing in a few seconds.  Pours reasonably clear normally but for this tasting I dumped in the dregs.
• Flavor:
• Up front the flavor matches the aroma with a strong fruit flavor mixed with a hint of acetic acid.  The finish has a good balance between sweet and sour.  There's a bit of brett character mixed in as well as a bit of malt flavor the lingers through the finish.  The cherry flavor is very nice in this one and I think that is accentuated by the fermentation character.  I think I may also detect some slightly nutty character which I suspect could be the cherry pits.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and fairly dry.  The sourness is prickly.  It is an easy drinking beer with good refreshment value.
• Overall:
• Bold flavored with a really striking complexity.  The cherries play very well in this beer and are the obvious star of the show.  The acetic character the beer developed supports the overall package in my opinion.  I also think the slight sweetness from the backsweetening makes this a much more drinkable beer.  

Burnt Honey Mead (Bochet)

I just bottled my first attempt at mead this weekend so I've decided to try a second.  I'll be try out a Bochet which is a mead made out of honey that has been cooked until it has started to caramelize.  I've never had one before but it's reported to create some interesting caramelized flavors.

Mead making is very easy compared with beer making - they just take honey, water, yeast, and a lot of time to mellow.  The boiling necessary to make the caramelized honey makes things slightly more complicated.  The general process seems similar to making candi syrup where the temperature the mixture is allowed to get will determine the color and flavor of the mead.  I'm going to go with a relative low temperature for this first attempt - 142 F.  I'll cook it on a pretty low heat to not overshoot this.  May not get really bold flavors from this but I'll hopefully avoid burning anything.

I'm making 2 gal of this in the same pot I used last time.  I'll use Nottingham ale yeast which should dry things out pretty well.  Like my last mead, I'll give this a good 6 months or more to mature.

Recipe Details:

• 7.5 lbs of clover honey
• 1.75 gal of spring water
• 0.25 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• 1 package of Nottingham Ale Yeast

Results:

• OG:
• 1.108
• FG:
• 1.022
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 78%
• ABV:
• 12.63%

Process/Notes:

• 8/12/18 - Brewday:
• Poured the 7.5 lbs of honey into a large pot

• Rinsed out the remaining honey from the containers with some hot tap water
• Heated at medium low 
• The mixture came to a boil after a couple hrs
• The honey started to form some foam at the top.  I skimmed this off

• Stopped the boil when the mead got to 142 F
• Let it chill to the low 100s
• Hydrated the yeast in a cup of 90 F spring water
• Put 1.5 gal of spring water into the pot - mixed in the yeast nutrient
• Poured the warm honey into the pot
• Topped up the pot with water to get to about 2 gal
• Pitched the yeast
• Moved this to the basement utility sink in case there was any aggressive foaming
• 8/13/18 - Fermentation was well underway by the next day.  Only a light layer of foam on the top
• 8/14/18 - Fermentation still going.  Still pretty tame so I decided to move it off to a corner where it will age and be forgotten about for the next 6 months
• 11/23/19 - Bottled this Mead today.  Measured the gravity as 1.022.  Bottled it without any priming sugar for a still mead.  Ended up with about 2 gal which got me 22 bottles.  It is a little sweet and had a caramel and raisin flavor along with a slight bitterness.  It has an alcohol presence but is pretty smooth.

• 12/12/20 - Tasting Notes - Boldly flavor with a good amount of complexity.  Not easy to drink a lot of as it's quite sweet (half a bottle might be a good amount in one sitting) but enjoyable as a sipping drink on a cold.  I like the flavors quite a bit - fruit and caramel are very nice - and it's neat that they're all derived from just browning honey.

Flanders Red (2017) - Tasting Notes

Here are tasting notes for my second attempt at the Flanders Red Style.  This beer is a blend of two two year old beers which I put together back in September 2017 based on a tasting of 15 different beers.

The beers ended up very dry which really accentuated the complexity but reduced the drinkability a bit.  I decided to backsweeten up to about 1.012 which is about the gravity of Rodenbach Grand Cru (which is also backsweetened).  I let the beer carbonate in my cold basement for about 3 weeks until the bottles seemed carbonated and then pasteurized in a pot of hot water.  It's turned out that they weren't all evenly carbonated this time (doh).

I've been drinking these for the past few months and have really enjoyed them.  Hope to make them last several more years.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Fruity smell dominates - it is reminiscent of cherries or raisin.  I also get a leathery and earthy smell mixed in.  Maybe a bit of spiciness in there as well. 
• Appearance:
• Reddish brown and pretty hazy.  The beer pours with a very wispy head which dissipates almost immediately.
• Flavor:
• It has a fairly mild sourness and a good bit of brett funk (earthy, leathery, bandaidy).  The sourness goes along well with a slight fruity character.  The finish has a very mild bready malt flavor.  It has a slightly sweet flavor in the finish as well which softens the sourness.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and fairly dry.  It drinks very smooth - no prickliness.
• Overall:
• The beer has really bold aroma and flavor and has a very pleasing complexity.  Compared with my last batch (2016 Flanders Red) this beer is softer and smoother around the edges which makes it a more pleasant beverage.  I think the slight sweetness from the back sweetening is responsible.  Maybe lose a bit of Brett complexity using this method but overall I'd say it is an improvement.

Belgian Tripel

It has been a while since I brewed up a Belgian Trappist style of beer (1.5 years since my Belgian Single) so I've decided to make a Belgian Tripel this week.  I found this nice looking Tripel Karmeliet clone recipe from homebrew talk which I'll use as a basis for this batch.  Tripel Karmeliet has a really nice complex set of flavors derived from the yeast and, maybe, some spices.  This recipe uses Orange Zest, Star Anise, and Coriander to attempt to replicate that complexity.

One interesting thing about the Belgian Trappist beers is their use of sugar to get to the high alcohol levels while still remaining light and crisp.  This recipe calls for 1 lb of sugar which is about 12% of the fermentable sugar.  Spoiler alert - I wasn't paying enough attention when I planned out the grain bill and ended up undershooting my gravity by 8 SG so I've gone with 2 lbs of sugar for 21% of the fermentables.  Pretty disappointing.

I'm sticking with the recipe pretty close otherwise.  The recipe author says he's made the beer 7 times and that it's very close to the real thing.  I'll do my own side by side with this one.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 11 lb Pilsner
• 2 lb Flaked Wheat
• 1 lb Wheat Malt
• 8 oz Oat Malt
• 8 oz Flaked Oats
• 2 lb table sugar
• Hops:
• 1 oz Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 2.6% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Saaz (Pellet, 3.3% AA) at 15 min
• 1 oz Saaz (Pellet, 3.3% AA) at 5 min
• Yeast:
• WLP 500 Monastery Ale Yeast
• Water:
• 15 gal Spring Water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min
• Extras:
• 2 Star Anise Stars at 5 min
• Zest of 2 oranges at 5 min
• 0.5 Tbs Coriander Powder at 5 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal
• Mash:
• Step Mash as follows:
• Protein Rest at 122 F for 15 min
• Beta Rest at 149 F for 30 min
• Alpha Rest at 158 F for 30 min
• Mash Out at 172 F for 10 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 75 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.078 (Target 1.078)
• Efficiency:
• 69% (Target 69%)
• FG:
• 1.012 (Target 1.014)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 84% (Target 81%)
• ABV:
• 8.66% (Target 8.40%)

Brewing Notes:

• 7/14/18 - Made a 1.6 L starter at 1.06 gravity out of pilsner malt and set the yeast up an my stir plate to propagate
• 7/15/18 - Brewday - From 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM Including setup and cleanup
• Added flaked grains to the mash tun along with the brewing salts

• Added 2 gal 165 F water to the mash tun
• Milled the grain into the mash tun.  The mash ended up way too dry so I added 1.5 gal of 190 F water
• The mash temp was way too high (160 s) so I added about 1.5 gal of cool water which got me down to 125 F (so, I missed the Acid Rest)
• Cycled the RIMS at 125 F for 15 min
• Ramped the RIMS up to 149 F and added 1.5 gal of 190 F water.  Settled out to 149 F in about 5 min.
• Cycled RIMS at 149 F for 30 min
• Ramped the temp up to 158 F using the RIMS and adding 1 gal of 180 F water.  This took 5 min or so
• Cycled the RIMS at 158 F for 30 min
• Ramped the temperature up to 172 F using the RIMS and by adding 1 gal of 190 F water.  This took 5 min
• Sat for 10 min at 172 F
• Sparged until I had collected a bit more than 80 gal
• Started the boil after collecting 4 gal - had it to a boil by the end of the sparge
• Boiled for 60 min
• Added bittering hops after the hot break cleared
• Added sugar after 30 min
• Added flavoring hops and irish moss with 15 min to go
• Realized I had to boil an extra 15 min at this point to get down to the 6 gal target
• Added the spices with 5 min left along with the final oz of hops
• Added the wort chiller with a couple min left to sanitize
• Chilled down to 80 F
• Transferred to by SS brew bucket and added the yeast.  Ended up with more than 6 gal.  The pickup tube got clogged so I had to pour the beer in - ended up transferring one of the star anise and quite a bit of the orange

• Checked gravity and was shocked to see I'd only gotten 1.070.  I made a mistake in my efficiency calculations and assumed a 5.5 gal.  Added 1 more lb of sugar to the batch to get up to the 1.078 target
• Moved to the fermentation chamber with a blowoff tube.  Set the chamber to 76 F.
• 7/16/18 - The beer was bubbling vigorously the next day
• 7/20/18 - Still a lot of CO2 production going on
• 7/22/18 - Moved the beer out of the fermentation chamber to finish up.  It has a very estery aroma.
• 8/25/18 - Moved the beer back to the fermentation chamber to cold crash at 34 F
• 9/1/18 - Added gelatin to fine the beer
• 9/16/18 - Bottled this beer today.  Used 5 oz of priming sugar for about 6 gal of beer.  This got me 60 12 oz bottles.  The FG is about 1.012.  I'll give it a couple weeks to carb up.  It has a really nice fruity ester character along with quite a bit of spice.
• 11/3/18 - Tasting Notes - A very complex and interesting beer.  Hides it's 8.6% ABV very well which is pretty typical of the style.  I haven't tried this side by side with Tripel Karmeliet yet but I believe it should be very close.

Lessons Learned:

1. I got a little careless with this one.  Missed my initial acid rest and screwed up the calculation for based grain/efficiency.  I left getting new propane until the brew day and got a late start.  I think that sort of wore me out a little bit and I wasn't super excited to be brewing.  I should have gotten the gas the previous day to conserve my energy a bit more.

Sour Blonde 7.1.1 and 8.1.1

Today I'll be brewing up yet another Sour Blonde.  This will get me up to my goal of having 12 active batches of this beer.

I'll be doing a 10 gal batch which I'll split between two Bootleg Biology Brett Cultures (Funk Weapon #2 and Funk Weapon #3).  I ordered these 3 or 4 months ago so they may be a bit beyond their ideal age.  I expect them to be slow starters.

Same grainbill as the last few Sour Blond Beers which leverages Raw Wheat and a Cereal Mash.  The raw wheat gives the beer a really nice bready malt flavor that seems to stand up with time.  I'd like to think that it also give the beer more to chew on than a standard infusion mash (more starches making it through to the fermenter).

To try to give the microbes even more food I'll be pulling off about a gallon of the starchy liquid from the cereal mash during the first rest.  I'll boil this to halt any conversion and then add it to the kettle during the boil.  This seems sort of like a lazy man's turbid mash.  Probably wont make any difference by it makes things more interesting to mix things up a bit.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 10 lb Pilsner
• 2 lb Light Munich
• 6 oz Acid Malt
• Cereal Mash:
• 7 lb Raw Wheat
• 2 lb Pilsner
• Hops:
• None
• Yeast:
• 7.1.1:
• Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #2
• 8.1.1:
• Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #3
• Water:
• 16.5 gal of RO Water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• Extras:
• 2 oz of Chardonnay soaked oak

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 10 gal (I considered topping it up to 12 gal but opted not to mess with it)
• Mash:
• Standard Cereal Mash:
• Rests at 125 F and 155 F and then boiled for 20 min
• Main Mash:
• 160 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Mid 60s (ambient basement temps)
• Primary Duration:
• 4 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 1-3 years

Results:

• OG:
• 1.058 (Target 1.054)
• Efficiency:
•  76% (Target 71%)
• FG:
• TBD (Target 1.012)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• TBD (Target 79%)
• ABV:
• TBD (Target 6.02)

Brewing Notes:

• 6/24/18 - Brewday - 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM - Including Setup and Cleanup
• Cereal Mash
• Milled my grain.  Double milled the raw wheat after finding quite a few grain that hadn't been cracked on the first pass.  Reduced the gap in the mill to the minimum spacing between passes.  Will be interesting to see if this impacts efficiency
• Added 3 gal of spring water to my small pot
• Added the grain to the small pot and stirred well to avoid dry spots
• Heated to 125 F on my turkey frier
• Let this sit for 20 min
• Decided to try some thing new to more closely match a turbid mash - I ladled out a little more than 3 quarts of the very starchy wort into a separate pot which I then boiled to denature the enzymes.  I'll add this back during the boil
• Added an equivalent amount of spring water back to the cereal mash
• Brought the cereal mash up to 150 F and let sit for 15 min
• Brought the cereal mash to a boil and boiled for 20 min
• Let this sit for a couple hours to cool down prior to proceeding with the main mash
• Heated 5.5 gal of spring water to 180 F for dough in
• Milled the remainder of my grain
• Added CaCl and Gypsum to the milled grain
• Added 2 gal of 180 F strike water to the mash tun
• Added the Cereal Mash - temperature settled to 160 F.  There was some scorching in the cereal mash which slightly darkened the wort added from the cereal mash - we'll see how much impact this has on the overall batch color
• Cycled the RIMS slowly to warm the system up - this settled to 165 F
• Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls
• This made a very thick mash so I added the remaining 3.5 gal of strike water
• Temperature of this settled out in the mid 150s
• Cycled the RIMs set to 165 F (had the beer up to 160 F within 10 min)
• Mashed for 60 min
• Heated up 10 gal of spring water to 180 F for the sparge
• Fly sparged.  Drained down to the surface of the grain bed and then added water as I went.  Collected 12 gal of wort

• Boiled for 60 min.  Ran out of gas part way through and switched to a new tank so the boil wasn't super-vigorous the whole time.  Got pretty close to a boil over a few times.  Added my starchy wort from the cereal mash about half way though the boil
• Put the wort chiller in with about 5 min left to sterilize
• Chilled to 80 F
• Drained the beer into two bucket fermenter and pitched the yeast

• Collected 10 gal and measured gravity as 1.058
• 6/27/18 - Three days in and there is no airlock activity from the Funk Weapon #2 batch (7.1.1) and some very slight airlock activity in the Funk Weapon #3 batch (8.1.1).  Might have been a good idea to build a starter with these.  I'm not worried yet.
• 8/24/19 - Status Report:
• Sour Blonde 7.1.1:
• Aroma:  Very interesting fruity aroma from this beer.  I get citrus, peach, and pineapple maybe.  Also get a bit of brett funk
• Appearance:  Golden and slightly cloudy
• Flavor:  Medium sourness with a very fruity flavor.  Also has a bit of funk going on.
• Mouthfeel:  Light-medium bodied and dry.  Slight prickling
• Overall:  This beer has a very bold fruit flavor which is unlike any of the other beers.  Very pleasant with good complexity.
• Sour Blonde 8.1.1:
• Aroma:  Musty and funky aroma along with a slight fruity character
• Appearance:  Golden and slightly cloudy
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with some fruity flavors and a bit of brett funk
• Mouthfeel:  Light-medium bodied and slightly sweet.  Smooth drinking
• Overall:  Fairly mild in flavor but it has some interesting and fairly unique elements compared with the other beers.

Lessons Learned:

1. Got better efficiency than normal with the tightened grain mill.  Will be interesting to see if this continues into my next batch

Cherry Sour Blonde (2018)

This beer will be a blend of Sour Blonde Ale from my stockpile of mature beers (10 5-6 gal batches) aged on 11 lbs of Sour Cherries I picked last summer at a local orchard.  You can read the notes from a recent tasting here.  I will also be blending a Plain Sour Blonde and one with Raspberries which will be tracked in other posts.

I will be making 5 gal of this beer which will leave enough head space for the fruit (a lesson learned from my 2017 Cherry Flanders Red where I tried to fit 6 gal of beer in a bucket fermenter with 12 lbs of fruit).  My goal with this blend of beers will be to provide an interesting but somewhat mild base beer to allow the Cherries to really shine.  I think too much sourness could run the risk of becoming overwhelming as the cherries will lend quite a bit of acidity to the final beer.

With this in mind I will use the following beers:

• 1/2 (2.5 gal) from Fermenter #1:
• Beers:
• Sour Blonde 1.1.1
• Portion:
• 5/6th
• Brewed:
• 11/1/14
• Top up Batch:
• Portion:
• 1/6th
• Brewed:
• 11/19/17
• Overview:
• First pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast
• Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
• 1 oz of hops
• Topped off with 1.25 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
• Tasting Notes:

• Light earthy aroma along with a subtle fruity ester.
• Light gold in color. Fairly clear.
• A bit of fruit with some earthy flavor. Finishes with a slight tartness. Get a hint of bready malt on the finish.
• Medium light bodied with a slight sweetness. Drinks very smoothly
• Pretty mild in terms of flavor and aroma but has some complexity of flavor that is pleasant.

• 1/5 (1 gal) from Fermenter #2:
• Beers:
• Sour Blonde 1.2.1
• Portion:
• 5/6th
• Brewed:
• 2/7/15
• Top up Batch
• Portion:
• 1/6th
• Brewed:
• 11/19/17
• Overview:
• Second pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Left to cool outside over night to let it capture some wild yeast
• Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
• 1 oz of hops
• Topped off with 1 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
• Tasting Notes:

• Pungent earthy and cheesy aroma to the beer. Maybe a bit of overripe fruit. Quite musty as well.
• Light gold and clear - a few pellicle chunks floating in it.
• Fruity with a light tartness in the finish. Has some earthy brett notes. I detect a bit of sulfur. Also get a bit of bread flavor in the finish on this one.
• Medium-light bodied a bit of sweetness to it. A bit of prickling acidity in the mouthfeel. Drinkable beer.
• Some nice flavors and aromas with pretty good complexity. I quite like this one

• 1/5 (1 gal) from Fermenter #3:
• Beers:
• Sour Blonde 1.3.1
• Portion:
• 11/12th
• Brewed:
• 5/10/15
• Top up Batch:
• Portion:
• 1/12th
• Brewed:
• 11/19/17
• Overview:
• Third pitch of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Grainbill of 2/3 pilsner and 1/3 flaked wheat
• Cut hops back to 1/2 oz
• Decided to only mash for 15 min to get a less converted wort. Ended up with abysmal 43% efficiency
• Topped off with 0.5 gal of 1.020 (pilsner and raw wheat) beer which had been primaried with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
• Tasting Notes:

• Funky/musty brett character dominates the aroma. Has a bit of cider character and some sulfur smell as well.
• Straw yellow and a bit murky.
• A bit of a musty flavor initially and finishes with a slight tartness. Get sort of a mineral flavor as well.
• Light bodied and pretty dry. Smooth drinking
• Very mild in flavor and not very complex

• 1/10 (0.5 gal) from Fermenter #9:
• Beers:
• Sour Blonde 3.2.1
• Portion:
• 100%
• Brewed:
• 8/20/17
• Overview:
• Second pitch of ECY 34 Dirty Dozen 
• Brewed with a bit over 1/3 Raw Wheat which was cereal mashed. Used pilsner and a bit of munich for color
• Primary was performed with a blend of brewers yeast and lacto
• Maltodextrine was added to give the microbes a bit more to work on
• No hops were used
• Beer has been aged in a bucket fermenter
• Tasting Notes:

• Cheesy and earthy funk. A bit of overripe fruit as well
• Light gold and quite hazy
• Moderately sour with a bit of cheesy brett character. Has a slight mineral flavor to it. I get a bit of bready malt in the finish as well.
• Medium light in body and dry. Slight prickly feeling in the mouth
• Some interesting flavors and aroma. Not terribly bold but has a pretty pleasant complexity

This will use up quite a bit of the Sour Blonde 1.1.1 which is a pretty boring beer that is unlikely to become interesting and then adds in three other beers which are not very sour but have quite a bit of complexity.  It think there will be enough beer flavor to cut through the cherries but not detract from this being a cherry beer primarily.

The cherries have been frozen for the last year which should allow the juice to be released more freely.  They have the pits in them still which should have a slight flavor impact as well.  Sour cherries have a nice flavor but, based on my previous beers using them, I've found that they benefit from a bit of help in the form of black cherry juice to increase the cherry flavor somewhat - I'll add 1 quart of this.

I'll give this batch 2 months for secondary fermentation to take place prior to bottling.  I may back sweeten this beer slightly with some golden invert syrup if I feel it's become a too dry.

Blending Notes:

• 6/3/18 - Blending Day:
• Blended the 4 beers

• Added the sour cherries and black cherry juice

• 12/9/18 - Bottled today with 6.5 oz of priming sugar and a rehydrated packet of Red Star Priemer Cuvee wine yeast.  Got about 6 gal of beer off the fruit which netted me 56 12 oz bottles.  The beer is a light red or dark pink in color.  I measured the gravity as 1.004.  The beer has a nice tart cherry flavor which, together with the beer, produces a product with a medium level of sourness.  It is a dry beer but I think tastes nicely balanced - I've opted not to backsweeten based on this.

• 6/23/19 - Tasting Notes - A really nice cherry beer that puts the fruit front and center.  The based beer comes through enough to add a bit of complexity with brett flavors to keep things more interesting.  Really refreshing beer as well.