Bottle Shop Trip Suggestions?

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theveganbrewer

theveganbrewer

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I am looking to get into wild brewing in 2013 and want to learn more about the styles and strains. I have had a few lambics and wild brews over the past couple years but never got into them seriously because of the price. I've picked up a copy of Wild Brews and have read the Farmhouse book.

So I'm headed to the bottle shop today to pick up some new beers. This shop has a large collection of beer but it is overwhelming. I don't have time to sort through everything when I go with the kids waiting outside in the car.

Do you all have suggestions of beers that are good to try but would also be good for collecting dregs from? Would I be able to store the dregs for awhile? I do ale yeast all the time, but wonder if the dregs from these wild brews can be kept for a while or not.

Thanks
 
I am just getting into this myself. I have been drinking both sours and beers with brett only as a secondary strain, to get an idea of what each will bring to the party.

Orval is the classic brett secondary beer. I also rather like Rayon Vert from Green Flash. Rayon Vert bottles usually have a nice yeast cake at the bottom which you could build up or just pitch as a secondary strain.

As for sours, Duchesse de Bourgogne would be a classic, but also look for Jolly Pumpkin beers. The Bam Biere is their better known beer, and they exhibit some lovely sour characteristics. "Can You Brew It" has had a lot of success fermenting with WLP550 and dregs from Jolly Pumpkin bottles.
 
Cool, I just got back from the store with a bottle of Orval and a bottle of Boulevard's Saison-Brett. I was scoping some Jolly Pumpkin but didn't know what to get and didn't want to blow 13 bucks without some research. At least I know a place that has it now. Also saw Duchesse de Bourgogne (had before and loved) and Rayon Vert which I'll pick up next time.

Gonna go figure out what to do with the dregs so I can drink ASAP. Thanks for the tips, if anyone else has ideas, they're welcome.

Will read up on building up whatever is in the bottle, I assume I can step it up and make more of it then store like normal? Anyone harvest and freeze with glycerin?
 
For JP. My go to is La Roja, I love it right around 5-6 months from bottling date. Also SAVE THOSE DREGS>
 
La Roja is their Flanders red. I think it is the beer they keep in the barrels longest. I like it. I think all their beers are a bit over-priced at $13, but buy a couple, try them and keep the dregs.

How to keep the dregs????? There are lots of ways. The simplest if you have it available, is to toss them into an existing starter, place on an airlock and leave alone.

The bugs don't like a lot of IBUs. I think it is best to give them an environment similar to that they come from/shall be used in; a beer with low IBUs, and low alcohol (a starter).
 
Ok, thanks, I'll remember to keep the IBUs and alcohol low. I am going to try and figure out if I need to worry about contamination from whatever is in the dregs getting into my other equipment. I might have to buy some extra flasks or canning jars to keep everything separate.
 
I see you are in Oregon, without much of any sour brewing experience i think the sour beers from Logsdon, Block15, and Cascade should all be available (amongst many others) and all make amazing beers. i'm sure you could brew with dregs from those and come up with an interesting blend.
 
I've haven't gotten into pithing dregs yet. I've got so many cultured strains going it never seems like a good idea sober and I try not to open really nice beers when I'm drunk :drunk:

JP is supposed to be great, as others have said. Look for the lower alcohol beers in the Bam series and for fresher bottles. They're all coded or dated.

I think Rayon Vert dregs would be great to pitch, into a similar West Coast Orval styled beer. Best bet IMO would be to grow the dregs up and then bottle condition your base beer with that.

Definitely look for the Logsdon - funky or not. I'd love to see some of his saison Sacc strain show up in the mail :D

Cascade is supposed to be amazing - 'Best US sour I've tried' was the phrase that got me to shell out way too much for the bottle I've got in the cellar.

I haven't tried Anchorage yet, either. Picked up a Galaxy White IPA yesterday. Also too expesnsive, not quite as bad as Cascade. It's got the magic 90 score I look for on BA and the interview with Gabe Fletcher on Sunday Session is worth the $20.
 
Caleb1980 said:
I see you are in Oregon, without much of any sour brewing experience i think the sour beers from Logsdon, Block15, and Cascade should all be available (amongst many others) and all make amazing beers. i'm sure you could brew with dregs from those and come up with an interesting blend.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that bit of info. I live about 5 minutes from Cascade unbeknownst to me. Wife loves sour fruity beers, so I think I'll go get her a Cascade Kriek Ale as an excuse for me to try some of their other beers. I saw them at the store yesterday but had honestly never heard of them. Looks like they have some really good brews.
 
TNGabe said:
I've haven't gotten into pithing dregs yet. I've got so many cultured strains going it never seems like a good idea sober and I try not to open really nice beers when I'm drunk :drunk:

JP is supposed to be great, as others have said. Look for the lower alcohol beers in the Bam series and for fresher bottles. They're all coded or dated.

I think Rayon Vert dregs would be great to pitch, into a similar West Coast Orval styled beer. Best bet IMO would be to grow the dregs up and then bottle condition your base beer with that.

Definitely look for the Logsdon - funky or not. I'd love to see some of his saison Sacc strain show up in the mail :D

Cascade is supposed to be amazing - 'Best US sour I've tried' was the phrase that got me to shell out way too much for the bottle I've got in the cellar.

I haven't tried Anchorage yet, either. Picked up a Galaxy White IPA yesterday. Also too expesnsive, not quite as bad as Cascade. It's got the magic 90 score I look for on BA and the interview with Gabe Fletcher on Sunday Session is worth the $20.
Click to expand...

Yeah, let's make sure Conan survives the trip first, looks like it made it to Knoxville. I want to find a better transportation setup and hoping my new containers coming Monday are better suited. Looks like you an I are on a similar path of wallet destruction, I just remember I used to pay 20 dollars for a bottle of wine and this is better.
 
Thanks dcHokie, I should have known to go there. I have been reading his blog for 6 months or so, but haven't gone back in the archives and should have.
 
theveganbrewer said:
Thanks for that bit of info. I live about 5 minutes from Cascade unbeknownst to me. Wife loves sour fruity beers, so I think I'll go get her a Cascade Kriek Ale as an excuse for me to try some of their other beers. I saw them at the store yesterday but had honestly never heard of them. Looks like they have some really good brews.
Click to expand...

You're in for a treat. Cascade makes great beers, I actually had a pint of their Blueberry sour yesterday on tap. They aren't cheap though, most are in the $20+ a bottle range.
I brewed my first ever sour yesterday actually. It's a saison with whitelabs670 and the dregs from a Logsdon Seizoen Bretta. It's bubbling away in the next room as i type this.
I will also add beers from Anchorage Brewing and The Bruery as other west coast breweries you should be able to find in Portland that make great sours as well.
 
Calder said:
The bugs don't like a lot of IBUs. I think it is best to give them an environment similar to that they come from/shall be used in; a beer with low IBUs, and low alcohol (a starter).
Click to expand...
I was thinking about this bit of conventional wisdom, in light of a few Jolly Pumpkin offerings. I know that Bam Biere is dry hopped, and they do an ESBam, which is advertized as having "more hops." Do these beers violate the general rule, or is it generally OK to dry hop a sour beer as long as your bittering hops are restrained?
 
It's the bitterness that doesn't go so well with sours. A lot of the citrusy aromas in hops go well with sours. May not be traditional but if it taste and smells good then it's a good thing.
 
Rob_B said:
It's the bitterness that doesn't go so well with sours. A lot of the citrusy aromas in hops go well with sours. May not be traditional but if it taste and smells good then it's a good thing.
Click to expand...

I think more than a taste clash between bitter and sour, the idea is that lactobacillus don't do well with the antimicrobial chemicals in hops.
 
TNGabe said:
I think more than a taste clash between bitter and sour, the idea is that lactobacillus don't do well with the antimicrobial chemicals in hops.
Click to expand...

Regardless the question was about dry hopping and not the souring. The sour factor balances out the malt rather than bitterness. Some souring bugs, pediococus, are also more tolerant to the anti microbial properties in hops. Also in the beers mentioned the dry hopping obviously comes into play after all souring is complete.
 
Rob_B said:
Regardless the question was about dry hopping and not the souring. The sour factor balances out the malt rather than bitterness. Some souring bugs, pediococus, are also more tolerant to the anti microbial properties in hops. Also in the beers mentioned the dry hopping obviously comes into play after all souring is complete.
Click to expand...

Really?
 
Has anyone had Bison/Logsdon Cocoa Bretta? I was at the bar last night before seeing a game and had a look at the tap list and noticed Logsdon from this thread. It was amazing. A collaboration using Bison's chocolate stout and Lodsdon's seizoen bretta.
 
TNGabe said:
Really?
Click to expand...

What's your point? 25 IBU'S is not all that bitter and that also proves the point that some lactic acid producing bacteria are tolerant to higher IBU's. There are several sours in this range including a sour brown I have going right now. I think where people get confused on the taste of sour and bitter clashing is at much higher IBU's of say an IPA. But this little discussion of ours is getting way of topic from the OP's question. If you want to discuss further start a new thread or PM me. My apologies to the OP and other contributors to this thread.
 
TNGabe said:
It's got the magic 90 score I look for on BA and the interview with Gabe Fletcher on Sunday Session is worth the $20.
Click to expand...

$20's crazy. $11.99 up here in KY. The White Out's really good and the tripel's amazing if you can find any still lying around. I'd say the galaxy was my least favorite.
 
pohldogg said:
$20's crazy. $11.99 up here in KY. The White Out's really good and the tripel's amazing if you can find any still lying around. I'd say the galaxy was my least favorite.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I think it was $18 in NC.
 

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