American Sour Blonde

For as much as I really enjoy sour beers, it's been nearly two years since I produced one. Seeing an opportunity over this summer to set a new sour project rolling undisturbed, I put together a recipe for a moderate-gravity blonde beer based on The Rare Barrel's blonde recipe. The only alterations I made to this recipe had to do with ingredient availability: Briess aromatic malt was available locally while the Franco-Belges variety was not, and unmalted soft white wheat stood in for spelt malt. I don't foresee these changes really ruining this beer.

I really like the approach Jay Goodwin, one of The Rare Barrel's founders, has described for testing out ingredients and processes for producing sour and funky beers. He's covered it several times in his interview on the Brewing Network and in his own excellent BN show, The Sour Hour. The Rare Barrel contracts local breweries to produce three different worts--blonde, red, and dark--to their specifications, eliminating the need for their own on-premise "hot side" brewery. They then experiment with different yeast and bacteria strains and mixes, fruits and other post-boil ingredients, and other variables in their Berkeley, California facility. Over time and many batches, they seek to determine what different souring methods and processes offer sour brewers and blenders. It was a real treat to finally sample their wares in their tasting room this spring.

My plan here was to make a double batch of wort to ferment and sour with two different cultures: one with Wyeast's proprietary lambic blend, the other with the sour/funky dregs I've collected over the past year (along with the grown-up dregs from a bottle of Russian River's Damnification). I managed to produce about six and a half gallons of wort on my system, to which I then added back boiled & cooled water for eight total gallons. Two carboys received four gallons each. The batches fermented cool and controlled to start, then ramped up to the semi-uncontrolled ambient temps of Reno's summer months. The initial krauesen had dropped in both fermenters after the first few days in water baths, though the Wyeast carboy began another before we left town.

Not trusting conventional airlocks to stay full during our absence in the heat and low humidity, I set up blowoff tubes for each carboy that run into a bucket of Star San. Hopefully this will keep oxygen transfer to the wort from getting too crazy. My only big concern for this experiment comes from my top-up water; I couldn't tell before I started adding it to the carboys, but it picked up a bit of pink-brown color from the old boil kettle that held it. That kettle has had some deep scorching from a failed batch several years ago that I wasn't able to fully remove. At this point I can only hope that it won't heavily impact the way this project turns out. For now, I'm just curious to see the variation between the carboys as the different yeast and bacteria blends have expressed themselves when we return.

American Sour Blonde - double batch

Batch size: 8 gallons
Projected OG: 1.050
Projected SRM: 5
Projected IBU: 7
Boil time: 70 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 68%

Grains
68.75% - 11 lb 2-row
12.5% - 2 lb Wheat
6.25% - 1 lb Organic soft white wheat
6.25% - 1 lb Aromatic
6.25% - 1 lb Organic flaked oats

Hops
.2 oz Millennium (15.9%) (60 min)

Yeast
A - Bottle dregs from RR Damnation (multi-stage stirplate starter) & collected sours
B - WY3728 Belgian Lambic Blend - no starter

Extras
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (5 min)

Water (mash)
Profile: Reno
2 g Gypsum
6 g CaCl
3 g Epsom salts
1 g Salt
7 mL Lactic acid (88%)

Brewday: 15 June 2015
Mash: 156F for 60 minutes
Milled & boiled white wheat in 1 qt water for 15 minutes; added to start of main mash
Pre-boil volume: 8.25 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 12.7P (1.051)
Post-boil SG (before adding back water): 14.1P (1.057)

Top-up water had pink-brown cast to it; may be from sitting all day in the old kettle.
Final fermenter volume (total): 8 gallons
OG is estimate; possible affecting factors include untrustworthy measuring tools and stratification of wort & top-up water.

Water report and chemical calculations from brewersfriend.com, using "light colored & malty" setting.

Topped off 2 fermenters with boiled & cooled water to 4 gallons each.
30 seconds of pure O2 in each fermenter.

Ferment:
Day 1 - up to 69F ambient
Day 2 - 71F ambient
Day 3 - 72F ambient; initial krauesen dropped in both carboys
Day 4 - removed from water baths, left at ambient temps (75-85F) for several months

15 February 2016: As the WY3728 batch's airlock tended to suck back and go dry with exceeding regularity (drafty corner?) I swapped the airlocks on both batches for breathable silicone stoppers a couple months ago. Today I found out how good a job they do at creating a vacuum rather than let in outside air. I pried a bit at the top piece, expecting to let out a bit of pressure. Instead a massive gasp of air rushed in, breaking the pellicle. I haven't checked these batches' progress at all; this might be the time.

Secondary/Bottling #1: 30 April 2016
A
FG: 1.011
ABV: 4.6%
Sample was solidly lactic, tart that grabs the sides of the tongue, very light hint of saltine.

Bottled 1 gallon with .4 oz table sugar. Remainder put on fruit:
1-gal #1: 1 lb 6 oz pluots
1-gal #2: 1 lb peaches
1-gal #3: 2 lb 7.1 oz cherries

B
FG: 1.011
ABV: 4.6%
This batch took on air during fermentation and developed very obvious acetobacter infection, but tasted all right at this point. Sample was somewhat tart, generally uninteresting.

Bottled 3 gallons with 1.9 oz table sugar. Remaining gallon put on 1 lb 5 oz cranberries.