Sour Brown

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Sixbillionethans

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2006
Messages
159
Reaction score
11
Location
Wauwatosa, WI
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
US-05/WY3763
Yeast Starter
800ml
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
WY3763
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.056
Final Gravity
???
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
24
Color
???
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
1 week @ 68
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
See below.
Additional Fermentation
See below.
Tasting Notes
Unknown yet.
MASHED GRAINS
6# German Munich
3# Belgian Pilsener
0.75# Belgian Aromatic
0.25# Special B
0.125# Black Roast

ADDITIONAL FERMENTABLES
0.5# Turbinado Sugar

HOPS
1oz Perle (8.0%aa) @ 60 mins

MASHING NOTES
Straightforward single infusion mash. 152 for 60 minuts.

FERMENTATION NOTES
OK, so yeast starter didn't start at first. So I pitched the US-05 to begin with. 4 days after initial pitch, the starter actually started. Seeing it was ok, I decided to pitch it.
Seems like the yeast strain was VERY slow to get going, but the bugs were probably ok to begin with. Pitching the neutral ale yeast was probably a good idea.
So the bugs went in on day 3. I did not check the gravity at that time.
Transferred to secondary and took upstairs to closet, where it has sat since. When I tasted it at transfer it was crappy. Not sweet, kinda sour, just crappy.
1/29/09 - There was some scummy looking film over top of surface. It kind of fell down to bottom around this time. Was replaced with slightly thinner scummy looking film.
3/22/09 - Starting to develop a collection of white specs on the surface to go along with the scummy looking bubbles.
7/31/09 - Took a sample. Gravity was 1.010. Taste was suprisingly good and sour. Very reminiscent of red wine due to oak. Thinking to bottle this @ 1 year.
- I put a little less than 1/8 cup of corn sugar in after I pulled the sample to encourage some fermentation to create a CO2 blanket.
8/20/09 - Hadn't checked on this beer since moving it to basement. Flaky white looking layer of mold/pellicle has now formed in past 2 weeks. Good sign that Brett may be gettin' busy.
10/1/09 - Pitched 1/2 pack of rehydrated US-05 dry yeast and bottled.

TASTING NOTES - 10/24/09
- Great beer, well worth the wait.
- The sour flavor is definitely there, but could have gone longer (18-24 months to increase even more). I love the sour flavors in beer, so it might be better for ME if I waited, but this probably has a larger appeal now.
- Oak flavors are apparent with some strong tannin/wine-like character.
- Pie-cherry flavors.
- Unfortunately, I can pick up some flavor from the US-05 which is detrimental. Brew carbonated up in a short while, so I definitely could have added just a little bit of dry yeast, instead of 1/2 pack.

Sour_Brown_-_Secondary_Fermenter.JPG
 
I don't suppose you took a gravity reading before pitching the roselare?

I'd like to brew these, but I'm not sure I'm up to speed on when to start the souring.
 
I didn't take a gravity reading when I pitched the 3763, it was after about 5 days so likely 1.020 or so.

However,

you can actually pitch this yeast blend as your primary yeast. The Wyeast product is a mixture of bugs representative of the Rodenbach culture as well as "a very aggressive and flocculent ale strain" (Wyeast QC Manager).

For a variety of reasons, I didn't use it as my primary yeast.

I'm not sure that timing is hugely critical because the bacteria are so much slower to act than the ale yeast.
 
I've been doing my best to ignore this beer, trying to allow it to age. I decided to check it last night.

Overall status: has not developed a pellicle. Some small goopy surface scum, but mostly, this thing has just been sitting in my upstairs closet for 8 months. Summer temps have gotten as high as 78F.

First, I took a gravity reading. 1.010.

Then, I took a smell. Some fruit. A little sourness. Some oak.

Finally, took a taste. Wow, really happy. Quite sour. That, along with the oak gave a noticeable red wine character. Thinking to let it age until mid October, then bottle. Drink after one year.
 
I just posted a thread about this style of beer, I'm starting one in two weeks. Couple of questions. started with us05 then after primary fermentation (five days) you pitched the Wyeast smack pack? on top of the us05? Also have you racked it to any sort of secondary or left it in the same fermenter? I have my recipe and plan posted under the lambic/wild brewing topic, titled flander's brown. thanks
brian
 
yeah.. pretty much. Just curious if you've racked it to a secondary, or have you just left it be in primary?
Edit: I just reread and saw the secondary transfer. I think I'm going to get my starter going well in advance of this one. thanks again man
 
Brewed this one yesterday, looking forward to seeing how it ages. Anyone who's made this have any updates?
 
Update, for anyone who's interested...

-Brewed 30 Aug 2010
-Transferred to secondary after two weeks. Deployed and left it, forgotten, in a corner of a closet.

10 March 2011
Came home to an empty airlock, was somewhat worried about too much oxygen. Nice pellicle had formed in the last 6 months. Pulled a sample at 1.012.

3037-sourbrown.jpg

(forgive the sideways iphone picture)

The aroma is malty and tart. It doesn't taste as sour as it smells, just a hint of sourness so far. There's a little bit of funkiness in there, though, along with the wine/fruity notes that others had mentioned. Doesn't seem to have much body, but I haven't tasted a sample off a carboy in a while so it may just be that it's flat and room temperature. Seems a little lighter than most other sour browns I've seen, but I'm not too concerned about that. I think a few more months and this baby will be headed to bottles.
 
I am brewing this today, and despite losing a bit of my first runnings (ball valve, WHY YOU NO CLOSED), I am on track to hit my SG and volume. My plan is to ferment for about 4 months in primary, rack to secondary, and then brew the recipe again to toss onto the yeast cake from the first batch. After about a year of aging on the initial batch, I will blend the batches together and hopefully start a pipeline of sour beer.

I'll keep all of you updated, hopefully at 4 months, a year, then the 16 month mark.
 
You talkin to me? YOU TALKIN TO ME?? Well, if you are, know that I have been swamped with school and work, so I haven't had time to brew my second batch yet. When I do get a chance, I will let you know how the first is coming along. Last time I checked it about a month ago, it had a pretty scummy pellicle and smelled super funky. I'll post in a few weeks when I start the second batch.
 
1.5 yr update?

Forgot about this guy in the closet for a long time, fortunately airlocks stayed filled. In April of 2012 I figured I'd mix it up and racked it onto 3lbs of sour cherries and added some stepped-up Jolly Pumpkin dregs. Gonna have to give it a taste and see what's happening...Considering I brewed this beer back in 2010, I'm wondering whats been happening and if it's still good.
 
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