Hey guys, I've been brewing sour beers for a few years now, and the last couple I made were pretty decent. I've stuck to established recipes for most of my sours, but I wanted to do something different for my next project.
I'm looking to acquire a used red wine barrel (10-15 gal) in the next few months to use as a solera vessel, but I need to build up my sour beer pipeline leading up to that. I want the base beer to be pale, with a decent malt depth and enough complexity to withstand months (or years) of aging. I don't really have the capability to perform a turbid mash anymore so I wanted to avoid the standard lambic recipe.
Please let me know if you guys have any recommendations (including experience with solera fermentations). Though I've fermented sours in oak before, this is a bit of uncharted territory for me.
Style: Wild Specialty Beer (28C)
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.74 gal
Color: 3.4 SRM
Bitterness: 5.8 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.048 (11.9° P)
Est FG: 1.010 SG (2.5° P)
ABV: 5.0%
Ingredients
7.00 gal Yellow Balanced (Under 6 SRM)
4 lbs 12.00 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
2 lbs 6.00 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
14.00 oz Raw Wheat (1.6 SRM)
14.00 oz Spelt Malt (1.9 SRM)
10.00 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)
2.00 oz Lambic [1.2%] - Boil 60 min
1 pkgs Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
1 pkgs Roselare Belgian Blend (Wyeast Labs #3763)
0.75 oz American Oak Cubes - Medium Toast (Secondary 365 days)
Mash Schedule
Saccharification - 60 min @ 145°F
Dextrinization - 30 min @ 161°F
Mash Out - 10 min @ 172°F
Notes:
1) I'm using a house sour culture (mixture of Allagash, Hill Farmstead, Bruery and other dregs) in lieu of the Roeselare blend.
2) I'm planning on fermenting with Saccharomyces in primary and racking to secondary (5-gal carboy) with the sour culture and oak cubes.
3) I'm thinking of brewing a batch every 3-6 months and then racking to the barrel at the same time. Probably going to pull 1/3 of the barrel every 6 months and replace it with hopped, fermented wort. (Lees are fine...I just don't want trub to accumulate in the barrel).
Any advice is appreciated!
I'm looking to acquire a used red wine barrel (10-15 gal) in the next few months to use as a solera vessel, but I need to build up my sour beer pipeline leading up to that. I want the base beer to be pale, with a decent malt depth and enough complexity to withstand months (or years) of aging. I don't really have the capability to perform a turbid mash anymore so I wanted to avoid the standard lambic recipe.
Please let me know if you guys have any recommendations (including experience with solera fermentations). Though I've fermented sours in oak before, this is a bit of uncharted territory for me.
Style: Wild Specialty Beer (28C)
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.74 gal
Color: 3.4 SRM
Bitterness: 5.8 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.048 (11.9° P)
Est FG: 1.010 SG (2.5° P)
ABV: 5.0%
Ingredients
7.00 gal Yellow Balanced (Under 6 SRM)
4 lbs 12.00 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
2 lbs 6.00 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
14.00 oz Raw Wheat (1.6 SRM)
14.00 oz Spelt Malt (1.9 SRM)
10.00 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)
2.00 oz Lambic [1.2%] - Boil 60 min
1 pkgs Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
1 pkgs Roselare Belgian Blend (Wyeast Labs #3763)
0.75 oz American Oak Cubes - Medium Toast (Secondary 365 days)
Mash Schedule
Saccharification - 60 min @ 145°F
Dextrinization - 30 min @ 161°F
Mash Out - 10 min @ 172°F
Notes:
1) I'm using a house sour culture (mixture of Allagash, Hill Farmstead, Bruery and other dregs) in lieu of the Roeselare blend.
2) I'm planning on fermenting with Saccharomyces in primary and racking to secondary (5-gal carboy) with the sour culture and oak cubes.
3) I'm thinking of brewing a batch every 3-6 months and then racking to the barrel at the same time. Probably going to pull 1/3 of the barrel every 6 months and replace it with hopped, fermented wort. (Lees are fine...I just don't want trub to accumulate in the barrel).
Any advice is appreciated!
