Flanders Red Wood Guidance

[Mainer]

Hi folks,
I'm currently fermenting my first Flanders Red. I brewed 4 gallons with no hops, pitched Roselare blend and left it at ~75 ambient for the lacto to do its thing. Tried it yesterday and the sourness is there, so my next step is to brew a gallon of pale wort with an ounce of EKG and add it to primary.

When that's done, I'll transfer to secondary for the long wait... 12-18 months before bottling. But I can't get a good sense for when I add the wood. I'm going to use an ounce of medium-toast French oak, plus (for a little complexity) a half-ounce of Concord grape vine I foraged and toasted myself. My question is when do I add the wood? I've read recipes that call for everything between 7 days and 6 months on the wood. Can somebody help me out with this?

My original recipe for the 4-gallon batch was:
4.5# Belgian Pils
4.5# Vienna
1# Munich 20
10 oz Cara-red
8 oz Aromatic
8 oz malted rye
6 oz Special B
6 oz Acid malt

(Incidentally, The SG clocked in at 1.060. Is that too high for the style?)

 

[Wahoo]

1.060 is the SG I shoot for for my flanders. It's a little on the big side for BJCP comps but it doesn't seem to hurt.

 

[Mainer]

1.060 is the SG I shoot for for my flanders. It's a little on the big side for BJCP comps but it doesn't seem to hurt.

I brewed the hopped gallon at 1.030, bringing the average SG down to 1.054, which seems about perfect to me.

 

[ShareBrewing]

How long did you let the yeast blend ferment before adding the hopped wort?

French oak is a great choice, and can be added truly anywhere in the fermentation process. For my Flanders ales and "Flanders-inspired" ales, I prefer to add a half or full oz (depends on batch size) of cubes or wood spiral piece in primary from the get-go. It simply re fermentation in a barrel. The yeast will scrub and feed on some of the complex wood tannins (depending on your Brett strain), making for a much more subdued oak flavor than if added later in the process. Plus it gives the funky critters a little home for them to become established.

If the wood character isn't to your liking, you can let it mellow in secondary or add more wood. Of course you can always go the route of adding an oz in secondary. It's truly up to you based on what you want. Remember that the wood flavor will also fade a lot in the bottle.

 

[Mainer]

How long did you let the yeast blend ferment before adding the hopped wort?

French oak is a great choice, and can be added truly anywhere in the fermentation process. For my Flanders ales and "Flanders-inspired" ales, I prefer to add a half or full oz (depends on batch size) of cubes or wood spiral piece in primary from the get-go. It simply re fermentation in a barrel. The yeast will scrub and feed on some of the complex wood tannins (depending on your Brett strain), making for a much more subdued oak flavor than if added later in the process. Plus it gives the funky critters a little home for them to become established.

If the wood character isn't to your liking, you can let it mellow in secondary or add more wood. Of course you can always go the route of adding an oz in secondary. It's truly up to you based on what you want. Remember that the wood flavor will also fade a lot in the bottle.

Two weeks, maybe? I'd have to check my journal, which is at home. Long enough that when I tasted it there was a distinct sourness detected.

Edit: Looks like it was three weeks. I wanted to give it plenty of time to sour.

 

[ShareBrewing]

You said you were going to use Concord grape vine that you toasted. Very interesting. Never heard of this being used before. Any details/pics/info?

 

[Mainer]

You said you were going to use Concord grape vine that you toasted. Very interesting. Never heard of this being used before. Any details/pics/info?

It was inspired by the Homebrewer's Almanac, which has a whole chapter about foraging grapes. There are guidelines in there about how to use grapevine. They say it imparts a more tannic, acidic character to the beer. They suggested using it in a wee heavy, but Flanders Red seems like it would benefit. I've been storing the chips I made in an old vanilla bean jar, so I'm hoping it'll grab a slight character off that, too. I'll see about getting some photos when I pitch. I figure I'll soak the grapevine and the oak both in a pint or so of Amontillado Sherry I have lying around.

 

[ShareBrewing]

Please keep us posted! If this is a discussion wood, thought I might throw this out there. Found a cool cooperage in MN that sells these cool "honeycomb" wood products for homebrewers. They carry some exotic types of wood. Kind on my brewing bucket list to get the variety pack with every kind they have. And it's well priced to boot!

Blackswanbarrels.com

Really wanna try some of these woods in my sours... oh the possibilities.

 

[Mainer]

My LHBS was all out of French oak, so I picked up some medium toast Hungarian oak. It'll be a little more bold than French would have been, but still not overwhelming, I think. And certainly better than the light toast American oak that was the other option. I have 1.25 ounces of Hungarian oak currently soaking in Amontillado sherry with .75 ounces of light toast Concord grape vine. I think it'll be nice.