Cuvée Mon Cherié

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dwarven_stout

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
1,606
Reaction score
44
Location
Boise, ID
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
ECY Bugfarm IV
Yeast Starter
No
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
None
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.101
Final Gravity
1.006
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
24
Color
Ruby brown
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
6 months @ ~74 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
6-12 months @ ~70 degrees
Tasting Notes
Like Duchess de Bourgogne with huge cherry aroma and some brown sugar.
Two years ago, I paid $19 for a 12.7oz bottle of Red Poppy. It was awesome.

Drinking that beer made me determined to brew something like it. I pumped the grain bill, starting from something like Saq's Westy 12 "New World" clone. I knew I'd never get the exact same beer as Red Poppy, but I think I like what I got even more than the inspiration. I might not ever enter this in a contest. I don't want to waste it.

Cuvée Mon Cherié
Original Gravity: 1.101 SG
Final Gravity: 1.006 SG
Alcohol by Vol: 12.48 %
Bitterness: 23.6 IBU
Est Color: 47.2 SRM (Calculated- actual color is much lighter. Maybe some color compounds dropped out during bulk aging?)

Ingredients:

Grain:

12.00 lb Belgian Pilsner
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt
1.00 lb Munich Malt
1.00 lb Belgian Wheat Malt
0.34 lb Chocolate Malt
0.34 lb Special B Malt

Hops:

1.00 oz Northern Brewer [9.50 %] @ FWH (22.6 IBU)
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] @ 2 min (1.0 IBU)

Other:

5.00 lb Sour Cherries (Montmorency) after primary gravity stabilizes
2.00 lb Dark Candi Syrup (homemade- sub D180) in secondary
1.00 qt Acetic Sour Stout at kegging

Yeast:

Bugfarm IV (East Coast Yeast #ECY001)


Mash Profile:

Mashed with 20qts for 90 min at 152. Sparged 16qts for 10min at 170.

Boil/chill/ferment:

90 min boil. Collected 5.75 gallons of 1.088 wort. Left outside to chill, adding 2min hop addition after temp dropped to 200. Pitched ECY Bugfarm IV at 78 degrees, fermented at 74 degrees.

Fermentation notes:

10 weeks: 1.012. Slight tartness, otherwise tastes like an undersweet belgian dark. No funk yet.
20 weeks: 1.008. Tart, some strawlike funk. Some fruity notes emerging- cherry and plum. Thin bubbly pellicle covering.
30 weeks: 1.007. Developing tart, rounded funk. Medium mouthfeel. Some fruit- cherry. Pellicle is powdery and light tan. Added 5lb sour cherries.
12 months: 1.007. Racked to clean carboy (with plenty of sludge). Added 1qt homemade dark candi syrup (about 2lbs). SG 1.020
14 months: 1.007. Medium-low body. Big sour cherry nose, some brown sugar. Light funk.
15 months: 1.006. Med-low body. Sour cherry, brown/burnt/nutty sugar. Spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla). Some funky straw. Slight tannic astringency in the finish.
18 months: 1.006. Kegged, set carb for 2.0 volumes. Blended a portion of pasteurized acetic sour stout to taste.
20 months: 1.006. Final bottling (12oz x18) with homemade "beer gun". No additional yeast or bottling sugar. Some coconut developing. Huge cherry aroma and flavor. Brown sugar.

Overall notes:

If using Wyeast/White Labs cultures, I would decrease base malt to yield a ~8% beer. I was surprised and pleased that the ECY culture tolerated 12%- I'm doubtful that another commercial souring blend would.

There's no need to blend acetic character into this beer- it's fine without it. If you want a touch of that character, you could use some good balsamic vinegar to taste.

This beer makes a GREAT blend with a hearty stout. I've run off some samples of 25% sour/75% bourbon barrel stout as well as 30% sour/70% hoppy RIS. Both were great.

Compliments:

"The highlight of the hundreds of beers at NHC 2012" - BBB poster

"Delicious! Very interesting." - Eric Salazar (New Belgium)

"World class" - local brewer
 
Pictures:

Pellicle at 10 weeks:

may-pictures-517-56563.jpg


Pellicle at 20 weeks (before adding cherries):

june-pictures-002-56562.jpg


Racking off cherries at 52 weeks:

imag0365-56561.jpg


Racking at 52 weeks:

imag0364-56560.jpg


Perfection in a glass at 18 months:

img_9857-56564.jpg
 
this looks inappropriately delicious, and your notes are excellent! thanks for sharing :)
 
this looks inappropriately delicious, and your notes are excellent! thanks for sharing :)

Hey, thanks! Frankly, this recipe is as much for bragging as anything. I'm not sure that I could recreate this beer, but I certainly plan to try. If anyone else feels like taking on a behemoth project like this, more power to them!
 
So did you make an acetic sour stout for that addition?

I had a friend "gift" me several gallons of an unintentionally soured stout. I pasteurized it by bringing it up to 190 and holding it there for 10min, and racked off into a jug with several ounces of corn sugar and a pitch of mixed brett (idea was to have the brett produce some esters from the acetic acid to add complexity, but I'm not sure that it did much). Now when I want some acetic character in a beer, I blend in from that jug.
 
Did you pitch additional yeast for bottle conditioning?

Heh. Such a long post, and I totally forgot to include all the packaging details.

I just kegged this and carbed to 2.0 volumes. I have bottle conditioned sours with fresh yeast in the past and had spotty results. I didn't want anything to go wrong with a beer like this. :cross:
 
This is.... Incredible. Once I get my first wild ale going, I'll have to try a ~1.100 sour beer. Looks like a wine! Awesome
 
As a new brewer in Boise I have a pretty stupid question: Where do you get your East Coast yeast? Just order it online before it sells out? Both the LHBS that I visit have pretty abysmal yeast selections when it comes to the funkier stuff.
 
As a new brewer in Boise I have a pretty stupid question: Where do you get your East Coast yeast? Just order it online before it sells out? Both the LHBS that I visit have pretty abysmal yeast selections when it comes to the funkier stuff.


I believe that's what I've heard. Your best bet is to order directly from ECY. As for your LHBS, this might be the case with most. I had to special order my bugs. I don't think they're nearly as common to keep a nice supply stocked at all times.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
As a new brewer in Boise I have a pretty stupid question: Where do you get your East Coast yeast? Just order it online before it sells out? Both the LHBS that I visit have pretty abysmal yeast selections when it comes to the funkier stuff.

East Coast Yeast is a real PIA to get, having a 45 day wait for stock was not unusual. I get it from Love2Brew when it's available. Check out theyeastbay.com, they're on your side of the country and I have never had an issue with availability. Still use ECY, but I rely on The Yeast Bay for bugs
 
Thinking about giving this a go using ECY's Dirty Dozen Brett blend.

OP if you're checking this, anything you'd do differently? How much of an impact do you think the acetic stout had on the outcome? Wondering if it's necessary, at which point I'll have to reserve a quart of the Tart of Darkness clone I'm about to do with Bug County.
 
How was the body on this beer? Was there enough adjuncts to give it a decent mouth feel and body?
 

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