Cantillon Don Quijote beer clone recipe

Looking for some input on this. I know you need Lambrusca grape juice, and that's about it. Anyone have any idea's on a grape Lambic? All grain, 10 gallon batch.

Thanks in advance!!

Probably fairly standard lambic aged out a year or two and then put on the grapes/grape juice for 4-6 months.

Great idea! I've read about this beer and always thought an american grape lambic would be interesting. The grapes they use in this are Vitus Labrusca, that is native American grapes, common cultivars in the US are Concord, Catawba, and Niagra (corresponding to Purple, Red, and White grape juice at the store) From talking to guys on the wine boards it sounds like one of the popular wine making labrusca grapes in Europe is called "Isabella" in the states, but goes by a dozen different names over there. It makes a nice light strawberry scented wine, and is really easy to grow so a lot of people in the country like it. It's unlikely that you'll have access to Isabella grapes, but they sound fairly similar to Catawba. Before prohibition Catawba was used to make sparkling wines that were very popular in the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_(grape)

So that's probably the best approximation. Welch's Red Grape juice at the store is made from Catawba or related cultivars and makes a more palatable wine (in my opinion) than concord. Niagra (white labrusca) juice would also be interesting.

Any idea what ratio of grapes/juice they use in Don Quijote?

Given that DQ was made for an Italian bar, and used Italian grapes....I am having a hard time understanding/believing how "Vitus Labrusca", which appears to be a variety grown almost only in the US, was used for DQ. Does anyone with a little more wine knowledge know the connection between this?

"A fruit lambic brewed with Italian grapes similar to Concord grapes or Fox grapes (Vitis Labrusca) exclusively for Goblin Pub and Livingstone Club - Florence - Italy."

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/cantillon-don-quijote/101077/

Labrusca grapes are grown in a lot of rural parts of Europe, but the EU doesn't view them as fit for inclusion in their definition of "real wine" and seems to be actively trying to stomp out their cultivation. I'm having trouble finding some of the articles I read on this back in the day. There's a particular name for Italian labrusca wines around northern Italy, and another name for them in Austria. They call the aroma "strawberry" like and in Austria it's some word that means "country wine".

Here we go, it's called "Fragola" in Italy
http://www.snooth.com/varietal/isabella/#

Weizenstein said:

"A fruit lambic brewed with Italian grapes similar to Concord grapes or Fox grapes (Vitis Labrusca) exclusively for Goblin Pub and Livingstone Club - Florence - Italy."

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/cantillon-don-quijote/101077/

Labrusca grapes are grown in a lot of rural parts of Europe, but the EU doesn't view them as fit for inclusion in their definition of "real wine" and seems to be actively trying to stomp out their cultivation. I'm having trouble finding some of the articles I read on this back in the day. There's a particular name for Italian labrusca wines around northern Italy, and another name for them in Austria. They call the aroma "strawberry" like and in Austria it's some word that means "country wine".

Here we go, it's called "Fragola" in Italy
http://www.snooth.com/varietal/isabella/#

Click to expand...

Hmmm, when I was stationed in Italy there was a sparkling wine we drank called fragolina. I always assumed it was strawberry since that's what it tasted like and the picture on the bottles of strawberries. Not to mention that's the literal translation. It may have been a wine with a grape base and strawberries fermented with it since an all strawberry production wine may be cost prohibitive. I may need to look more into this for personal knowledge.

I do think this would be a good fruit to try in a lambic style. Not sure of the clone since the only Cantillon I've had is their Geueze (and I'm very fortunate to have even had that).

Sounds like Fragolino/a was made with Isabella in the past, but Italy banned its use in wine in the 80s after some kind of mess, various sources say because it harbors Phyloxera, or because there were people spiking the wine with Methanol, or yadda yadda yadda. So supermarket Fragolino since the 80s has been a legal wine base with strawberry flavoring. However, there are places that still serve the strawberry scented Isabella wine under the table. It's also still allowed for use in grappa and non-wine beverages - perhaps why the guys at the Goblin pub wanted to include it in their house lambic.

http://www.science20.com/small_world/exploration_into_the_mystery_behind_fragolino

Here's a thread on making Fragolino by an odd British guy living in Italy
http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=18&t=14755&st=0

Weizenstein said:

Sounds like Fragolino/a was made with Isabella in the past, but Italy banned its use in wine in the 80s after some kind of mess, various sources say because it harbors Phyloxera, or because there were people spiking the wine with Methanol, or yadda yadda yadda. So supermarket Fragolino since the 80s has been a legal wine base with strawberry flavoring. However, there are places that still serve the strawberry scented Isabella wine under the table. It's also still allowed for use in grappa and non-wine beverages - perhaps why the guys at the Goblin pub wanted to include it in their house lambic.

http://www.science20.com/small_world/exploration_into_the_mystery_behind_fragolino

Here's a thread on making Fragolino by an odd British guy living in Italy
http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=18&t=14755&st=0

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info!