Bell's Oarsman Ale clone?

npauley88 · 05-16-2011, 11:12 PM

One of the highlights (for me at least) at the International Beer fest this past weekend in Cleveland was the Bell's Oarsman ale: an "American Pale Wheat Ale" mashed using sour mash techniques.

Definitely sampled this one a bazillion times! It's only 4% abv but it's a damn tasty session beer with just a hint of tartness.

I was just curious to see if anyone's tried to clone it or something similar. I'm sure I can try to recreate it myself, but I'd rather check with you geniuses on here first!

also, I've never tried any sort of sour mash.

Thanks!

Oldsock · 05-17-2011, 05:33 PM

Sour mashes are tricky. Try to find ways to reduce the amount of oxygen exposure the mash receives. Many breweries flush with CO2 (very effective if you mash in a cooler or other airtight vessel) or you can push something up against the surface (I’ve heard of people using plastic wrap). Once conversion is complete (maybe take at a Oberon clone to get an idea on the grist, probably not much more than pale and wheat malt) cool it to ~115-120 F and add a handful of pale malt to provide the bugs. Oarsman wasn’t very tart when I had it, so 12-24 hours may be enough. Alternatively you could only sour mash part of the grist.

Keep the hops low, and ferment with a clean ale yeast.

Hope that helps, good luck.

**jfkriege** · 05-19-2011, 01:37 PM

I chatted with a Bell's rep a while back about this specific beer. They sour mash only a portion of the beer, pasteurize it, and blend to achieve consistent results.

My last sour mash produced a character I did not like. I purged the headspace of O2 using nitrogen, and still had the issue that it smelled a bit like good homemade sauerkraut (which I love as a part of my sauerkraut, but not my beer).

I have been thinking about pasturizing a gallon of traditional berliner wiesse (I have a 12 gallon batch going right now) and adding it in to 4 gallons of the appropriate beer to see what I get out of it.

Joshua

**cimirie** · 08-14-2011, 01:36 AM

jfkriege - I have used your proposed technique to good results many times. It's a great way to measure the sourness level. For this particular beer (oarsman), I think a 1 gallon sour to 4 gallons normal is a bit overkill. It wouldn't be bad at all, it would (IMO) be noticeably more sour than oarsman, however. My thought would be closer to 1/2 gallon to 4.5 gallon would be closer.