Gose

For this summer's road trip beer, which traveled all the way back east across the country with me for work and family time for a month, I decided to go for a session-strength quick sour. The first examples of gose that I tried just a few years ago didn't excite me; the idea of a briny beer sounded disgusting, and that's how those first tastes read to my palate. My opinion of the style came up substantially, though, after a couple trips to Portland and its myriad kickass breweries. So, onward gose!

I've had plenty of success achieving a clean, lemony lactic sourness from sour worting with an uncrushed malt lacto starter. This time, though, I decided to combine its power with that of Goodbelly, highly touted by Milk the Funk for lacto souring. I found MTFers to generally recommend going with the mango version to minimize flavors contributed by the drink itself.

Trepidatious about ending up with an overly salty mess, I went conservative on the salt addition this time. Following the never-fail advice from the Mad Fermentationist, I did my best to forego the celery flavor of Mexican coriander in

favor of the Fruity Pebbles-like hit of the Indian version. Not having used either type in a beer before, however, I went light on that as well. For extra fun, I added some fresh nectarines (after freezing them) to a portion of the batch for a week before bottling.

So, how did the final beer(s) turn out? So well that I don't have a bottle remaining to do formal tasting notes. For those who liked sour beer, it went over very well: solidly tart without being tongue scraping with a robust tropical fruitiness (though not a new world overripe fruit character). It had a surprisingly full mouthfeel, probably from the high FG and mango in the Goodbelly, to which I also attribute that tropical fruit flavor. The salt and coriander were very subdued, so next time I'll definitely up those contributions.

I'll also consider sour worting for one day less; while the sourness wasn't overpowering, I think it might work even better here backing off it a touch. I'd be interested to see how Goodbelly does on its own; I dug the rounder, gentler lacto character this batch had over previous quick sours I've done with just malt starters. Another flavor of Goodbelly would be worth exploring, too; given how the mango carried over to the finished beer, one could definitely design a recipe to work with those residual characters.

While I didn't feel like downing bottle after bottle at a time of this, it was a welcome fresh flavor in the heat of a swampy summer.

No Witty Pun - Gose

Batch size: 5 gallons
Projected OG: 1.053
Projected SRM: 3.4
Projected IBU: 11.2
Boil time: 90 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 77%

Grains
48.8% - 5 lb Pilsner
48.8% - 5 lb White Wheat
2.4% - 4 oz Acidulated malt

Hops
.2 oz Galena (16%) (90 min)

Yeast
1.7 l Lacto starter
16 fl oz Goodbelly Mango probiotic drink
US-05

Extras
.5 tablet Whirlfloc (10 min)
1 tsp Yeast nutrient (10 min)
.5 oz Sea salt (0 min)
.5 oz Indian coriander seed (0 min)
3.5 lb Yellow nectarines, sliced & frozen (secondary)

Water (mash)
Profile: Reno

Lacto starter: 17 June 2017
1700 ml starter wort, 1 cup uncrushed malt, 1/2 tsp Lactic acid (88%), held at ~108F for 3 days.

Brewday: 20 June 2017
Mash: 13 qts @ 152F for 60 minutes
Sparge: 20 qts @ 190F
Pre-boil volume: 7 gallons
Pre-lacto SG: 10.8P (1.042)

Lacto fermentation: Brought to brief boil then chilled to 110F. Added 1/2 tsp Lactic acid (88%), Goodbelly at room temperature, and lacto starter. Covered wort surface with plastic wrap to reduce oxygen contact, held at ~103F for 3 days.

22 June 2017
Kettle was too full and the covering couldn’t keep a perfect seal. Sweet wort exhibits some fecal aromatics, but also includes a strong, full mango/peach aroma.

Transferred to boil kettle; boiled, hopped, chilled, and pitched US-05 as normal.

5.3 gallons to fermenter. Fermented in swamp cooler at 65F ambient.

28 June 2017: Allowed temp to rise 2F per day. Krauesen beginning to drop.

Bottled: 2 July 2017
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.0%
Bottled 3 gallons with 3 oz table sugar.

Transferred remaining 2 gallons onto 2.5 lb yellow nectarines (frozen).

Nectarine Bottled: 9 July 2017
Bottled 1.75 gallons with 2 oz table sugar

Peach Melomel III

Last summer in northern Utah, I picked up a 24-lb bucket of local wildflower honey to bump up mead production for DeAunn. When we returned to Reno, we also bought several pounds of fruit at the local farmers' markets for various fermentation projects, which we prepared and socked away in the freezer. It took me until earlier this month to finally do something with all of it.

While she's been very receptive to all of my mead making endeavors, DeAunn has always particularly loved my peach melomel. Having only six pounds of peaches to dedicate to the cause, I aimed for a three-gallon batch. Fermenting in a full-size carboy or bucket sure beat working with the little two-gallon bucket or one-gallon wine jugs I've used before.

Also new and exciting was using the TOSNA (tailored organic staggered nutrient addition) method as detailed by Sergio Moutela of Melovino Meader on Mead Made Right. I've followed the conventional SNA, as set forth by champion mead maker Curt Stock, for past batches and have been pleased with the outcome; I'll be curious to see how this batch might differ because of this altered method. Both methods champion relatively quick turnaround: two to three months to being drinkable versus a year or more that more traditional methods require.

Having just transferred to secondary, my only change for future batches right now would be to bag the fruit in primary. There was around four and a half gallons of material in the primary fermenter; from it, I couldn't quite squeeze out a full three gallons to transfer, leaving behind a massive amount of peach sludge. It will get close to a month in secondary before bottling so we can take plenty with us for our summer travels (and age the rest for the next year). Now to decide what to do with the rest of this bucket of honey...

Peach Melomel III

Batch size: 3 gallons
Projected OG: 1.100

Fermentables
10 lb Utah mountain honey
6 lb Peaches (peeled, frozen)

Yeast
4 g Lalvin 71B-1122 (rehydrated)

Extras
5 g Go-Ferm (yeast rehydration)
15 g Fermaid-O (TOSNA: 3.75 g @ 24, 48, 72 hrs, 7 days after pitching)

Brewed: 4 May 2016
Rehydrate yeast: 100 g boiled water
OG: 18.8P (1.0 - Figuring honey isn’t totally diluted, nor are the peaches

Fermented in swamp cooler at 62-64F. Degassed twice a day for the first week of fermentation.

After the first week, left town for a few days; swamp cooler ambient reached 69F. Upon returning, cooled it back down into 62-64F range and degassed about once a day for the remainder of primary.

Secondary: 22 May 2016
FG: 1.010
ABV: 13.7%
Added 1.5 tsp bentonite dissolved in 1.5 cups boiled water.

Incredible amount of peach sludge; struggled to extract nearly 3 gallons from 4.5-gallon primary.

Bottled: 9 June 2016

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.

5-Year Tasting: Mad Elf Clone

While my parents were in town before Christmas, my father and I split the second-oldest homebrew I still have: the final bottle of my Troeg's Mad Elf clone. This beer at a year old was really spectacular; the alcohol harshness had mellowed, and the cherry character came through beautifully.

Unfortunately the ensuing years and treatment have not been kind to this bottle: at five years old, it had given up the ghost. While I could be disappointed, I'm instead spurred to continue my aging program. In addition, this beer definitely deserves a rebrew; it's a recipe that really shines with some age on it.

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Date: 16 December 2014

Venue: Our house (Sparks, NV)

Appearance - Cloudy red-brown. No head; thin lacing around the edges of the glass.

Smell - Sweet cherry, slight alcohol.

Taste - Belgian yeast peppery quality on the back of the tongue, which sits for just a few seconds before disappearing. The cherry from the aroma, which was my favorite element from the last tasting several years ago, doesn't carry through here. Its absence leaves nothing to balance the current tannic roughness and alcohol bitterness that follow the pepper note. The bottom has kind of fallen out, the Belgian yeast character becoming quite harsh.

Mouthfeel - Carbonation is still prickly, showing the bottle has held pressure well. The beer has a certain creaminess.

Overall - Disappointingly, this beer is well past its prime. We couldn't even bring ourselves to finishing the glasses we'd poured. It was a good experiment, though, and definitely worth it.

Utah Beer Tasting

This evening DeAunn and I sampled three offerings from two of Utah’s premiere breweries, Epic and Uinta Brewing Companies.  While not all of the beers we tried were necessarily to our tastes, they all were flavourful and worth trying; at least two of them we’ll have to try again.

Epic Brewing’s Sour Apple Saison: Voluminous cumulous head on a golden bodied beer.  Big wheat & nearly hefeweizen aroma.  Did not taste of sour apple, but big estery quality of Saison Dupont (of which we’re not really fans; in yeast terms, we both prefer French to Belgian saison strains).  Lots of light fruit and a quenching finish, but overwhelmed by an almost celery flavour we get from wit yeasts.  Not our favourite.

Epic Brewing’s Brainless With Cherries: Small white head that dissipates even on pouring with a rich ruby beer.  Aroma starts with big cherry, but later transitions to a metallic aroma.  Flavour is heavily toward a Duvel-type Belgian golden strong; some cherry left late on the tongue.  Alcoholic, to be sure; tasty, and worth another sampling.

Uinta Brewing’s Crooked Line Series - Cockeyed Cooper Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale: Pours deep amber with little head.  Aroma of heavy bourbon and bittering hops; smells like it weighs in as a young Sierra Nevada Bigfooot.  In tasting, though, it’s much more mellow; heavy bittering hops are subdued with a boozy, malty flavour coming through.  Finish is relatively bitter, but very enjoyable.  Definitely worth having young, and possibly putting away for a year and trying against a fresh bottle.

Mad Elf clone - 1-year Tasting & Recipe

While shuttered inside against the thundersnow a few evenings ago, I sampled one of the last bottles of a clone beer I brewed a little over a year ago.  The original, Mad Elf Ale, is the winter seasonal by Tröegs Brewing Company, based in my old home state of Pennsylvania.  Mad Elf is a Belgian strong ale, brewed with cherries and honey with a spicy Belgian yeast character.  I’d read about it, but lacking distribution this far west, it took a while to get hold of some to taste (which happened when my parents headed back to PA for a visit last winter).  In the meantime, I put together my recipe based on thoughts and suggestions on the Northern Brewer forum and got to brewing.  I was pretty happy with how it came out; not exactly like the original, but in the ballpark, and a good winter ale to help brace against the cold weather.  And at such a high ABV (12.3%), it made an excellent candidate for aging.

The past year has been very kind to this beer; the flavours have mellowed and blended, and the fruit is very forward, particularly in the nose.  The next night I sampled a year-old bottle of the commercial beer; it was good, but the yeast was dominant over the cherry.  I just wish I had more of these squirreled away!


Mad Elf clone - 1 year old

Appearance
Murky red-orange-brown with chill haze; off-white head that dissipates within a minute or two.

Aroma
Big cherry dominates, sweet with a hint of tart; some yeasty esters.

Taste
The vinous quality has developed pleasantly.  The alcohol has mellowed; it gently warms but doesn’t burn.  Definite Belgian yeast character, followed by cherry at the end and lingering in the nose for a short time.

Mouthfeel
Medium body; moderate-high carbonation keeps it from been too thick and syrupy

Overall
Remarkably drinkable for such a big beer; nicely mellowed after a year.  While alcohol is present, certainly doesn’t taste as big as it is.  A half glass is plenty, though; it’s still a sipper.

Recipe - Mad Elf clone


Projected OG: 1.114
Projected SRM: 15
Projected IBU: 17
Brewhouse efficiency: 71%

for 3 gallons:

Grain/Fermentables
10 lb    Belgian Pale
2 lb    Belgian Munich
2 lb    Honey (KO)
5 lb    Frozen Sour Cherries (secondary)

Hops
1 oz    Hallertau (3.8%) (150 min)

Yeast
WY1762 Belgian Abbey II - 3L starter

Starter: 13 September 2009
3L w/ 10 oz Light DME

Brewday: 14 September 2009
Mash in: 17 qts @ 152̊F for 60 minutes.
2 ½+ hour boil - ran out of propane, had to boil on stovetop.

Pre-boil volume: 5 gallons
Pre-boil SG: 16.3̊P (1.066)
Volume: 3 gallons
OG: 27.2̊P (1.115)

Chilled with IC, then overnight in cold water bath.  Starter had been crash cooled all day on ice, then placed in fridge overnight.

Wort temp: 65̊F.  LHBS suggested temp of 68̊F for full fermentation; may let it go (up to 75̊F) after a few days.  Will need to condition warm to finish fermentation; keep yeast in suspension!

Secondary: 7 October 2009
Spent 2+ weeks jogging fermenter multiple times a day to keep yeast in suspension; no activity noted in airlock for some time.
SG: 1.023 - 80% attenuation.
Beer tastes fairly solventy right now; give it a long secondary/tertiary/bottle aging before drinking.

Bottled: 13 November 2009
FG: 1.027
Bottled with 2.5 oz cane sugar in solution and a partial pack of rehydrated Muntons yeast.

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At five years old, this beer was past its prime, unfortunately.