dougdecinces
Well-Known Member
I have got my first real good taste of sour ales and I am hooked. My girlfriend loves the Lindemann's (I know, where have we heard that before.), but I think I can get her on board with something that's a bit more true to style. I just want to make sure my recipe and methods are sound. I have a skeleton plan and a recipe that I am going to work with, but lots of questions and I am hoping I could be shepherded in the right direction.
Recipe (assume 65% efficiency):
5.5 gal
1.058 OG
5 lb Belgian 2-row
3.25 Flaked wheat
3 lb Wheat DME
1 oz of whatever low A.A. hop I can stale.
Triple decoction mash
Ferment with Wyeast 3278
Here is my plan:
1) In August or September, I will brew a basic version of my recipe and transfer to a bucket. I will add the yeast and French oak cubes.
2) After a 4-6 month primary, I will transfer the beer to a carboy for bulk aging. At the same time I will brew a 2nd batch of the beer and pitch it straight on to the existing yeast cake (with a fresh collection of oak cubes).
3) After another 4-6 months, I will combine the two batches. Half will go in to the carboy for more aging, the other half will go on top of a gallon or two of apple cider and will age another 2-3 months. I timed this out so that I'll be ready to do this when my local farmers market first releases apple cider, so it will be a nice seasonal thing to do.
4) Then I will brew a third batch of this and pitch it on the same cake. When that batch is ready, I will mix it with a combination of batches 1 and 2 and store half of it and transfer the other half to a vessel with several pounds of sour cherries.
5) I'll repeat this process using different fruits and infinite blendings until I die or get bored.
I like this method because it only has me using one fermentation bucket, carboy and bottling bucket ad infinitum. That way I can mark these clearly and don't have to worry about cross contamination.
Here are some of the big questions I have:
*Can I keep pitching on to the 3278 or will I have to eventually replace it? The description of the yeast on my LHBS' website says that I shouldn't use it for multiple generations, but it's expensive and I'm lazy, so I am hoping I could get at least 2-3 generations out of it. I don't mind if I have to also pitch an inexpensive dry yeast with it, too. I just don't know what kind of shelf life the buggies have.
*Can I add 0.5 lb honey malt to finish with a sweeter product to please the SWMBO? Or will the triple decoction mash be enough to get a desirable level of sweetness?
*I am going to be doing BiaB. I usually mash without a sparge. Will I need to do a sparge with boiling water just for this recipe, or am I fine doing without?
*Is two-three months on the fruit fine? I plan on bottling the Pomme in early to mid-november. If I do, will it be ready in Christmas? That would make it 15 months old and 1.5 months in bottle.
*Does anyone in the Indianapolis area want to help me???
I'm sure I will have more questions going forward, but I think that's enough for you all to marinate on for now.
Recipe (assume 65% efficiency):
5.5 gal
1.058 OG
5 lb Belgian 2-row
3.25 Flaked wheat
3 lb Wheat DME
1 oz of whatever low A.A. hop I can stale.
Triple decoction mash
Ferment with Wyeast 3278
Here is my plan:
1) In August or September, I will brew a basic version of my recipe and transfer to a bucket. I will add the yeast and French oak cubes.
2) After a 4-6 month primary, I will transfer the beer to a carboy for bulk aging. At the same time I will brew a 2nd batch of the beer and pitch it straight on to the existing yeast cake (with a fresh collection of oak cubes).
3) After another 4-6 months, I will combine the two batches. Half will go in to the carboy for more aging, the other half will go on top of a gallon or two of apple cider and will age another 2-3 months. I timed this out so that I'll be ready to do this when my local farmers market first releases apple cider, so it will be a nice seasonal thing to do.
4) Then I will brew a third batch of this and pitch it on the same cake. When that batch is ready, I will mix it with a combination of batches 1 and 2 and store half of it and transfer the other half to a vessel with several pounds of sour cherries.
5) I'll repeat this process using different fruits and infinite blendings until I die or get bored.
I like this method because it only has me using one fermentation bucket, carboy and bottling bucket ad infinitum. That way I can mark these clearly and don't have to worry about cross contamination.
Here are some of the big questions I have:
*Can I keep pitching on to the 3278 or will I have to eventually replace it? The description of the yeast on my LHBS' website says that I shouldn't use it for multiple generations, but it's expensive and I'm lazy, so I am hoping I could get at least 2-3 generations out of it. I don't mind if I have to also pitch an inexpensive dry yeast with it, too. I just don't know what kind of shelf life the buggies have.
*Can I add 0.5 lb honey malt to finish with a sweeter product to please the SWMBO? Or will the triple decoction mash be enough to get a desirable level of sweetness?
*I am going to be doing BiaB. I usually mash without a sparge. Will I need to do a sparge with boiling water just for this recipe, or am I fine doing without?
*Is two-three months on the fruit fine? I plan on bottling the Pomme in early to mid-november. If I do, will it be ready in Christmas? That would make it 15 months old and 1.5 months in bottle.
*Does anyone in the Indianapolis area want to help me???
I'm sure I will have more questions going forward, but I think that's enough for you all to marinate on for now.