BrewingChemist
Well-Known Member
interested in brewing this - what was the final word - good or bad? like Sofie or not so much? Thanks!
Goose Island Sofie...AG Clone ideas?
- Thread starter Brocster
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h0psnobery
Well-Known Member
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This looks like the best thread to resurrect for Sofie clone ideas...
Here are the recipe and mash and fermentation profiles I used...
Primary took 5 days. Moved to secondary in a Speidel 30 liter fermenter and pitched Brett and let it go for 31 days. Then added oak cubes and bitter orange for 6 days. Removed oak and orange after 6 days and kegged. Force carbonated and bottled from keg.
Overall it's a nice and interesting Brett finished Saison. But it ended up with too much bitter orange flavor. I think oaking is correct, but it's hard to tell since the orange is too strong. I think it has more citrus than Sofie, but I've not done a head-to-head comparison yet.
I tasted daily once I added oak and citrus, but I think I needed to agitate it a little (don't like to agitate my fermenting beers). My hypothesis is the bitter orange flavor kinda hung around the bag and didn't mix well, so when I took a sample from the tap, I wasn't getting a true reflection of how much orange was really there. What do you think about agitating? Will this break the pellicle? Is that bad?
Also, has anyone tried a tincture approach to adding orange to this recipe?
Finally, what are opinions about using prepared bitter orange peel vs fresh orange zest?
Check out my brewing blog... http://www.sycamorecreekbrewing.com/
Here are the recipe and mash and fermentation profiles I used...
Primary took 5 days. Moved to secondary in a Speidel 30 liter fermenter and pitched Brett and let it go for 31 days. Then added oak cubes and bitter orange for 6 days. Removed oak and orange after 6 days and kegged. Force carbonated and bottled from keg.
Overall it's a nice and interesting Brett finished Saison. But it ended up with too much bitter orange flavor. I think oaking is correct, but it's hard to tell since the orange is too strong. I think it has more citrus than Sofie, but I've not done a head-to-head comparison yet.
I tasted daily once I added oak and citrus, but I think I needed to agitate it a little (don't like to agitate my fermenting beers). My hypothesis is the bitter orange flavor kinda hung around the bag and didn't mix well, so when I took a sample from the tap, I wasn't getting a true reflection of how much orange was really there. What do you think about agitating? Will this break the pellicle? Is that bad?
Also, has anyone tried a tincture approach to adding orange to this recipe?
Finally, what are opinions about using prepared bitter orange peel vs fresh orange zest?
Check out my brewing blog... http://www.sycamorecreekbrewing.com/
Like the poster above I figured this is as good as any place to talk about a Sofie clone, or anything close to it. I picked up a 4-pack of Sofie today with the sole intention of culturing the dregs to use in a Saison. If I get something close to Sofie I'd be ecstatic but in the end I just want a really good Saison with something along the lines of the citrus character in Sofie.
I don't get a lot of barnyard character when I drink Sofie, get more subtle barnyard funk with more citrus combines with "traditional" Belgian funk, if that makes any sense. I think the mouthfeel is also a big part of Sofie, it's on the high side for carbonation yet comes across quite smooth, possibly the wheat playing a role in that.
I'm hoping to brew the base this weekend, use WY 3711 for primary fermentation. I'll also build a starter of the bottle dregs, 2 or 3 bottles worth, on Saturday then pitch that in after 2 or 3 days.
I'm still contemplating the grain and hops, thinking of using some combo of notes in the thread and the following three recipes:
El Dorado/Motueka Saison - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/el-dorado-motueka-saison-459174/index3.html
I made this last year and it had some good lemon citrus to it so that might help with getting the orange/citrus character i'm looking for
Saison Furtif - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/bbd-saison-furtif-155009/
This was the first Saison I made and it had some decent lemon citrus character to it
Cottage House Saison - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/cottage-house-saison-254684/
Many of the reviews state that this is a pretty solid recipe that carries some good citrus character
I don't get a lot of barnyard character when I drink Sofie, get more subtle barnyard funk with more citrus combines with "traditional" Belgian funk, if that makes any sense. I think the mouthfeel is also a big part of Sofie, it's on the high side for carbonation yet comes across quite smooth, possibly the wheat playing a role in that.
I'm hoping to brew the base this weekend, use WY 3711 for primary fermentation. I'll also build a starter of the bottle dregs, 2 or 3 bottles worth, on Saturday then pitch that in after 2 or 3 days.
I'm still contemplating the grain and hops, thinking of using some combo of notes in the thread and the following three recipes:
El Dorado/Motueka Saison - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/el-dorado-motueka-saison-459174/index3.html
I made this last year and it had some good lemon citrus to it so that might help with getting the orange/citrus character i'm looking for
Saison Furtif - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/bbd-saison-furtif-155009/
This was the first Saison I made and it had some decent lemon citrus character to it
Cottage House Saison - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/cottage-house-saison-254684/
Many of the reviews state that this is a pretty solid recipe that carries some good citrus character
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