othellomcbane
Well-Known Member
I'm sure it's been posted on here before, but a couple months ago I read this interview with the brewers at Surly, where they talk about their process for Surly 5, the brewery's 100% Brett creation. Unfortunately, I've never had the beer myself, but I recall various posters (including the Mad Ferrmentationist) relating that it was surprisingly sour. Maybe the only sour 100% Brett beer they'd encountered.
Now, having gained more experience with brewing 100% Brett beers myself, this is really bugging me lately. How the hell did they get it sour? I mean, the consensus on here, in my own experience, and with any other commercial 100% Brett beer, is that even getting the beer to come out funky is rare. Much less sour. Are we missing something?
Here's part of their description: "Oxygenation is a huge thing too. The tricky thing is that when using Brett, leaving it in the tank is the safest thing to do. Rack your beer off it and then just put fresh wort in there. Every time you oxygenate it theres more acetic acid, so it gets more sour every time. They dont recommend trying to quicken the fermentation by oxygenation because youre going to have a lot of weird stuff happen with a lot of acetic acid produced. We tried not to do that."
Again... has anyone else experienced that? I can't recall ever seeing another homebrewer report results like that.
In the interview, they also describe how they aged it in barrels, and the sourness only appeared after a few months of aging. Is it possible the beer was actually inoculated with bacteria in those barrels, thus allowing it to follow a typical souring path? Did the brewer's just not mention this part (or maybe not realize that it was happening, somehow?) I do remember Chad Yakobson (who would probably have some great insight on this.... cough cough) mentioning on a podcast that Brett can produce some kind of acid under certain conditions, so if this is possible, what exactly did the Surly guys do that most of us are missing?
Would love to hear some theories, or better yet explanations, if you've got 'em!
Now, having gained more experience with brewing 100% Brett beers myself, this is really bugging me lately. How the hell did they get it sour? I mean, the consensus on here, in my own experience, and with any other commercial 100% Brett beer, is that even getting the beer to come out funky is rare. Much less sour. Are we missing something?
Here's part of their description: "Oxygenation is a huge thing too. The tricky thing is that when using Brett, leaving it in the tank is the safest thing to do. Rack your beer off it and then just put fresh wort in there. Every time you oxygenate it theres more acetic acid, so it gets more sour every time. They dont recommend trying to quicken the fermentation by oxygenation because youre going to have a lot of weird stuff happen with a lot of acetic acid produced. We tried not to do that."
Again... has anyone else experienced that? I can't recall ever seeing another homebrewer report results like that.
In the interview, they also describe how they aged it in barrels, and the sourness only appeared after a few months of aging. Is it possible the beer was actually inoculated with bacteria in those barrels, thus allowing it to follow a typical souring path? Did the brewer's just not mention this part (or maybe not realize that it was happening, somehow?) I do remember Chad Yakobson (who would probably have some great insight on this.... cough cough) mentioning on a podcast that Brett can produce some kind of acid under certain conditions, so if this is possible, what exactly did the Surly guys do that most of us are missing?
Would love to hear some theories, or better yet explanations, if you've got 'em!