I brewed an 18 gallon batch on Saturday (3/14/15). Into split primary with Yeast Bay's Saison Brett, Melange and Farmhouse Sour. I have the carboys sitting in a 50-55 degree basement with fermwraps around them that keep them in the 70-72 range.
I approximated the Rare Barrel’s grain bill for their red beer (thanks to info from the Sour Hour), based on what I had around:
70% floor malted 2-row from Valley Malt
11.6% pale wheat
4.6% aromatic malt
4.6% spelt from Valley Malt
2.3% crystal 80
2.3% crystal 20
(I didn’t have crystal 60 on hand)
2.3% flaked oats
2.3% flaked wheat
Mashed at 152. Used a touch of lactic acid in the mash to get pH to 5.3. 1.074 wort went into the three fermenters.
I debated whether to do starters with these three blends, as I wasn’t sure if I would F up the sack/brett/bacteria ratios (is that even a valid concern?). But I decided to make 1600ml starters @ 1.030. These went for three days with minimal aeration (no stir plate), sitting on a cool kitchen counter (mid-low 60’s). I cold crashed the starters and decanted (they all tasted pretty good, BTW, with Farmhouse sour being my favorite).
The Melange beer is going crazy and blowing its krausen out the top of the fermenter. The others took off nicely too. The Saison Brett’s krausen has now dropped out and is starting to form a clear pellicle with clear bubbles about and inch wide and 1/2 inch high, and a bunch of little tiny bubbles that look kind of like carbonation. It kind of looks like what I remember happening with the Da Bom blend beer I did last summer.
Anyway, I’ll update this thread with pH readings, tasting notes, etc. I’m also open to any suggestions. At some point, I was thinking about moving these guys to a warmer part of the house and getting them into the high 70’s-80’s, or getting them into my ferm chamber when space frees up (I have Vermont Ale IIPA in there). Thoughts?
I approximated the Rare Barrel’s grain bill for their red beer (thanks to info from the Sour Hour), based on what I had around:
70% floor malted 2-row from Valley Malt
11.6% pale wheat
4.6% aromatic malt
4.6% spelt from Valley Malt
2.3% crystal 80
2.3% crystal 20
(I didn’t have crystal 60 on hand)
2.3% flaked oats
2.3% flaked wheat
Mashed at 152. Used a touch of lactic acid in the mash to get pH to 5.3. 1.074 wort went into the three fermenters.
I debated whether to do starters with these three blends, as I wasn’t sure if I would F up the sack/brett/bacteria ratios (is that even a valid concern?). But I decided to make 1600ml starters @ 1.030. These went for three days with minimal aeration (no stir plate), sitting on a cool kitchen counter (mid-low 60’s). I cold crashed the starters and decanted (they all tasted pretty good, BTW, with Farmhouse sour being my favorite).
The Melange beer is going crazy and blowing its krausen out the top of the fermenter. The others took off nicely too. The Saison Brett’s krausen has now dropped out and is starting to form a clear pellicle with clear bubbles about and inch wide and 1/2 inch high, and a bunch of little tiny bubbles that look kind of like carbonation. It kind of looks like what I remember happening with the Da Bom blend beer I did last summer.
Anyway, I’ll update this thread with pH readings, tasting notes, etc. I’m also open to any suggestions. At some point, I was thinking about moving these guys to a warmer part of the house and getting them into the high 70’s-80’s, or getting them into my ferm chamber when space frees up (I have Vermont Ale IIPA in there). Thoughts?
