Cuvee de Tomme clone group project - Page 11

**Saccharomyces** · 01-22-2010, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldsock

I would worry about leaving the barrel partially filled for months (if that is what you are doing), sounds like you could end up with vinegar if you aren't careful.

The barrel is filled to the bung. We will need to rack some out of the barrel back into a keg when we add the concentrate, the keg will then be used for topping off.

I will start with a gallon of concentrate and see how it tastes after a few weeks.

**Bsquared** · 01-25-2010, 09:28 PM

It looks like this weekend I will brew the final two batches to fill up the barrel. I have not added any thing yet, I have a lot of kegs and carboys filled with beer waiting for a home.

my Idea is to inoculate with WLP655 sour blend. I have had good experience with this, an want to keep it simple. I was thinking that for one of the 6.5 gallon carboys I will fill this weekend I will pitch one vial of 655 with the top cropped 530.

my question is should I use two vials,or make a starter of the 655 and pitch that in to one of the 6.5 gallon carboys, or just go directly into the barrel?

Oldsock · 01-26-2010, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bsquared

my question is should I use two vials,or make a starter of the 655 and pitch that in to one of the 6.5 gallon carboys, or just go directly into the barrel?

When Rodenbach starts a new barrel they add 10% sour beer, so a 5-6 gallon batch is right on target (although for our wine barrel we added 10 gallons of 6 month old sour to get it going). If I was fermenting that batch out normally I would probably add two tubes, but since it is really just a big starter for the barrel, 1 should be fine.

jessup · 04-10-2010, 01:03 AM

any updates on this project? i'm planning on jumping on this project, albeit a little late. i'd like to hear what's working and what's not working so i can learn from ya'll successes and shortcomings.

saq · 04-10-2010, 11:08 PM

Mine is going great! The CdT bugs is acting as a great culture for me to sour stuff with. I'm actually brewing up a base CdT (but with toasted pecans!) to refill the barrel in a few weeks and blend with in a year.

**Saccharomyces** · 04-11-2010, 04:08 AM

Awesome! Ordered the sour cherry this week for the group barrel, so it's about time to culture up the Cuvee de Tomme dregs and add them to the barrel.

**Bsquared** · 04-23-2010, 04:25 AM

It's good to see everyones beers are moving a long well. My 55 are in the barrel for about 1 month now. I pitched the sour blend into one of the 6 gallon carboys in January, kinda like a starter. I figure Ill let it sit in the barrel for another few months then pull ten gallons out and put that on to cherries.

One thing though I'll never fill a barrel by my self again!

saq · 04-29-2010, 11:03 PM

I've got my second batch to blend with that I'm about ready to use. It finished pretty high (on purpose) at 1.030, should give the bugs plenty of food to eat

I'm thinking of racking most of whats in my barrel right now into a 6g BB, leaving a bit behind, and filling it up with the new batch.
With whats left over from the new batch (won't be much) I'll probably put that into the 6g BB to help blend it out and tone down the oakiness a little bit and let it finish souring.

saq · 05-02-2010, 08:04 AM

I racked the contents of my barrel for my first batch of the CdT clone to a 6g BB and racked in the new pecan quad. Didn't get great usable volume on the brewing of the pecan quad so I had to top back up with a little bit of batch1.
After that I poured in my half quart+ of the cherry concentrate and sealed it up. Before racking the pecan quad into the barrel I diverted some into the 6g BB holding batch one for a little bit of food to keep it going.
I took a sample of batch1 and my knees went weak. The fact that I haven't kegged this is a feat of willpower. That and its fairly oaky and needs a little bit of blending from Batch2.

**Saccharomyces** · 05-05-2010, 10:49 PM

Kegged my 5 gallon barrel yesterday and threw a 3.5 month old Flanders Red into the barrel. I added 12oz of cherry concentrate, I think I might add more later. It tastes awesome. I was afraid the oak would be overpowering after three months in the barrel, but it isn't, this beer is sooo huge it seems like a perfect balance.