Jester King Viking Metal Clone

Hey Guys,

This is one of my favorite (If not my favorite) beers at the moment. The great guys at Jester King released the recipe for their Gotlandsdricka with the extra steps to sour it and turn it into Viking Metal. Viking Metal is essentially a sour/wild version of Gotlandsdricka that is aged in Gin Barrels.

IMO, Gotlandsdricka is a great beer, however far too smokey with nothing to cut that intense flavor. This is where Viking Metal shines. Viking Metal's sour/gin characteristics turn Gotlandsdricka into a dry and sessionable wonder. I'm not suggesting sessionable in the ABV department, I'm referring to the fact that the beer can be consumed for an entire session without the smoke getting too much in the way. I can drink this beer all day and night!

It is also my opinion that this beer is unlike ANYTHING you've ever tried. I've yet to find anything commercially available that is anywhere near this style. I would venture to say that anyone with access to this beer NEEDS to try it at least once. Jester King definitely has found something that is truly unique and sets them apart.

Thanks to the guys at Jester King and Beer & Wine Journal for sharing this with all of us (http://beerandwinejournal.com/gotlandsdricka-clone/).

Note, this recipe is designed for achieving 85% efficiency. Make sure to adjust for your particular environment. Also note, this doesn't match up 100% against the specs on their website, but at least they are giving something away




Recipe Info

Description
This rendition of Gotlandsdricka—an ancient Swedish farmhouse ale that was once the beer of Vikings—was brewed with birchwood smoked malt (smoked in house), juniper and Myrica gale, then aged in Old Tom gin barrel for several months with wild yeast and souring bacteria. Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and naturally conditioned.

9.5 lb Pilsner Malt
3 lb. 14 oz. Weyermann Rauchmalz (beechwood smoked malt)
3 lb 9oz. birchwood smoked Weyermann Organic Pilsner malt
13 oz. flaked rye
9.4 oz. Weyermann Oak Smoked Wheat malt

Hops and Other Spices (for 27 IBU total)
East Kent Goldings hops (27 IBU)
1.25 oz. (at 5.4% alpha acids), boiled for 60 min
0.20 oz. juniper berries, at whirlpool
0.42 oz. sweet gale, at whirlpool
Wyeast 3711 French Saision yeast
(make a 1.5-qt. yeast starter)

PROCEDURE
Mash at 154 °F. Boil wort for 60 minutes. Aerate wort and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F. Allow temperature to free rise after 48 hours.

Inoculate with Brettanomyces and lactic acid producing bacteria and age in a gin barrel. As an alternative to barrel aging, soak oak cubes for 4–7 days in gin. Add about 2.5 oz. (71 g) of oak cubes to the fermenter 3–4 days before bottling.

I hope i can find some over this way once it is offically release. Their special beers are hard to find in Houston. I cant wait to try it

DisturbdChemist said:

I hope i can find some over this way once it is offically release. Their special beers are hard to find in Houston. I cant wait to try it

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They have released it on draught at their brewery (Since the laws changed). If you can make your way to Austin, I couldn't recommend this more.

Jester King plans to have a bottle release at the brewery in the coming weeks/month, so be ready to see them all over texas shortly after.

Have you tried this recipe? I tried Viking Metal at the brewery a couple weeks ago and it was definitely different from anything else. I was worried that the juniper/gin character would be overwhelming, but it was very subtle.

EDIT: Oh, I see it's in your signature in Primary. Are you using dregs to inoculate? Or commercial cultures? And when are you pitching the bugs vs the 3711?

Did you smoke your own malt as well? Or use a commercially available substitute?

Sorry, lots of questions.

Haputanlas said:

They have released it on draught at their brewery (Since the laws changed). If you can make your way to Austin, I couldn't recommend this more.

Jester King plans to have a bottle release at the brewery in the coming weeks/month, so be ready to see them all over texas shortly after.

Click to expand...

I'm planning to be at Jester King on Sept 14th. Its going to be a crazt day but i'm excited. I'll definitely get some when i see the bottles. I'm also planning to go to the Artrial Rubiside release. That one will be next to impossible to find for me

Haputanlas said:

They have released it on draught at their brewery (Since the laws changed). If you can make your way to Austin, I couldn't recommend this more.

Jester King plans to have a bottle release at the brewery in the coming weeks/month, so be ready to see them all over texas shortly after.

Click to expand...

I also saw they're expanding their tasting hours to try to ease the lines (12-6 I think?). Don't know if it will work, but it will at least give everyone more time to wait in them.

BGBC said:

Have you tried this recipe? I tried Viking Metal at the brewery a couple weeks ago and it was definitely different from anything else. I was worried that the juniper/gin character would be overwhelming, but it was very subtle.

EDIT: Oh, I see it's in your signature in Primary. Are you using dregs to inoculate? Or commercial cultures? And when are you pitching the bugs vs the 3711?

Did you smoke your own malt as well? Or use a commercially available substitute?

Sorry, lots of questions.

Click to expand...

Sorry man, I didn't see this till just now.

I'm using dregs from a couple of bottles of VM I acquired for innoculation. Also, I created a starter from dregs of a previous Noble King bottle to get their yeast.

I pitched both at the same time at start of primary (Of course).

As far as the grain, I smoked them on my own. I used the soda can method to smoke them. I've never tried this before, but I hope it comes out OK.

BGBC said:

I also saw they're expanding their tasting hours to try to ease the lines (12-6 I think?). Don't know if it will work, but it will at least give everyone more time to wait in them.

Click to expand...

Just so you know, this has definitely worked out for them. The few weekends I was out there after changing their tasting hours was much much better. Shorter lines and less of a mob at all times.

DisturbdChemist said:

I'm planning to be at Jester King on Sept 14th. Its going to be a crazt day but i'm excited. I'll definitely get some when i see the bottles. I'm also planning to go to the Artrial Rubiside release. That one will be next to impossible to find for me

Click to expand...

Jester King will likely be posting their signup for for Zwanze 2013 tasting ticket lottery later today or tomorrow. Check their site to signup for this for free to get to sample the Cantillon Zwanze.

I'm very excited to try this.

Bottles of Viking Metal go on sale for the first time this Saturday at the brewery.

Haputanlas said:

Bottles of Viking Metal go on sale for the first time this Saturday at the brewery.

Click to expand...

I 'm interested in this recipe - what has been your experience?

Close to taste, needs tweaking, right on, etc.

sikkingj said:

I 'm interested in this recipe - what has been your experience?

Close to taste, needs tweaking, right on, etc.

Click to expand...

I only very recently brewed this and it is still in primary. I don't expect any sour character for quite some time.

I won't be able to make that assumption for a while.

Maybe I can taste the non sour version to compare with Gotlandsricka. However, I don't think Jester King will ever release Gotlandsricka again. It will likely only be Viking Metal from now on, so it will be hard for me to answer.

Why wouldn't they release Gotlandsricka anymore?

Easily my favorite brewery day BTW.

Also, after trying Noble King I emailed them about the yeast. One of them got back to me within a day saying it was WY3711.

Does anyone have any updates on this? I would like to try but would appreciate hearing more experiences.


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