The OFFICIAL 11-11-11 Old Ale Thread - The HBT Anniversary Series

[SCARYLARRY]

Brewed mine on 10/17 and racked it tonight to secondary. My reading was 1.020 and the sample tasted GREAT, could not believe how the color has changed. Looks like my britt is doing a good job.

 

[AlphaWolf-Brewery]

Got my transfer complete. When I popped the top I could SMELL the acetic acid. According to my refrac which tends to read lower than a hydo I'm at 1.012.

Here's the pic I took about a month ago.

Here's from today.

My taste of it from the pipette was a bit thin and it was slightly tart. I will give it a while in the carboy and possibly and some dextrin later on to return body to the beer. I sort of wish I had the problem some of you guys have with real high gravity. Mine dropped like crazy.

How much of the first runnings did you boil down and for how long? I boiled just under two gallons for about 2 hours. It got very thick and stuck to the spoon. I wonder if this would give more unfermentables to the wort.

 

[SCARYLARRY]

I boiled two gallons down till it was a syrup that would barley come off my brew spoon and my sample wasn't thin bodied at all.

 

[Barc]

you shouldn't have acetic without acetobacter... brett doesn't produce it as far as i know.

 

[jmo88]

you shouldn't have acetic without acetobacter... brett doesn't produce it as far as i know.

+1

i think it's easily confused by some people though. Not to say he didn't get acetobacter in there somehow, but not all sours are the same. A lactic sour can be great, for instance. Aceto is pretty gross and brett shouldn't be producing it.

 

[maskednegator]

Brett can absolutely produce acetic acid.
http://www.brettanomycesproject.com/dissertation/introduction/
Paragraph 3.

 

[TheGeek]

Is it too late to get in on this?!? Maybe I could do a 1-11-11 for 11-11-11?? hehe.

 

[jmo88]

Brett can absolutely produce acetic acid.
http://www.brettanomycesproject.com/dissertation/introduction/
Paragraph 3.

Wow, what a cool site! Don't believe everything you hear, I guess. I never pick up what I believe to be aceto, but if it is produced when it metabolizes acetaldehyde, then it must occur in every brett beer. Although it might be below my threshold.

Thanks for posting that.

 

[Beer_Maker]

Is it too late to get in on this? Still have about 11 months to let her sit.

 

[smokinghole]

How much of the first runnings did you boil down and for how long? I boiled just under two gallons for about 2 hours. It got very thick and stuck to the spoon. I wonder if this would give more unfermentables to the wort.

I boiled the 2 gallons down as far as I could get it with out burning. I would get one drip off the spoon until it cooled to the point it wouldn't drip at all. It was verging on caramel consistency.

Good to see a number of other people resolved the acetic acid question.

 

[maskednegator]

Wow, what a cool site! Don't believe everything you hear, I guess. I never pick up what I believe to be aceto, but if it is produced when it metabolizes acetaldehyde, then it must occur in every brett beer. Although it might be below my threshold.

Thanks for posting that.

Don't get me wrong, the only time I've ever personally gotten perceptible acetic acid from brett is when I've tasted decanted starters. I'm just saying that it's definitely within the realm of possibility to get it in other circumstances.

 

[Haputanlas]

Sweet, I will be a little late on starting this though. I will probably brew this in the coming weeks.

 

[sigsegv]

I brewed this on 11-26 and just racked to secondary on 12-28. O.G. was 1.082 and S.G. the last 10 days was stuck at 1.020. So it appears the sacch has done about all that it's going to do. I'm surprised it attenuated out as much as it has since I pitched a bit too warm and then thought I'd killed it for the next several days. I didn't get any big fermentation signs out of this one for the duration. It just did its work slow and silent.

I started with about 2.25 gallons of first runnings in a 5 gallon pot and only boiled it down to about 3 quarts. It's amazing how much it foams up once it starts to reduce down.

 

[DSMbrewer]

My batch went NUTS!!!!!!!!!Damn near blew the lid off my ferment bucket! It's tough walkin past the carboy every day......I"ve sampled twice to see how it's coming along....VEWY big beer~!

 

[heywolfie1015]

Is it too late to get in on this? Still have about 11 months to let her sit.

Do it!

 

[smokinghole]

Do it x2. It'll add a complexity to the trade. Some will half a full year some will have less.

 

[bierhaus15]

I brewed two batches of this, one with the Old Ale strain w/brett and another with wy1469. Should be interesting to compare the two come trading time.

 

[KingBrianI]

Mine is wearing a nice pellicle now. Went out of town for a couple weeks and I guess the brett decided to have fun.

 

[Barc]

Mine restarted about 2 weeks later enough to visibly notice and is still going. No pellicle but it is in a carboy and tightly sealed so it may not get much of one for a while.

 

[AnOldUR]

Finally moved mine from primary to secondary (w/ oak) last night after 48 days. A small amount of pellicle had started to form and added a nice flavor to the sample. Gravity dropped from 1.084 to 1.026. The Brett should complete the job, but this has all the signs of a great beer just the way it is.

I put 5-1/2 gallons in a six-gallon carboy for the 11-11-11 debut, but have another 2-1/2 gallons in a three-gallon carboy that I hope is good for a late spring warmer.

 

[bierhaus15]

Update:

Racked the beer into secondary today and took a few samples. The beer had a pretty good pellicle forming in the primary.

The gravity dropped from 1.080 to 1.015 and the beer is very tasty as is. The nose is intense cherry with toasty caramel and some typical brett aromas. On the palate it's dark toffee, toast crust, spiced rum, and caramelized sugar. Mouthfeel is a little thin, though not surprising how far it attenuated. No boozy alcohol notes or really any alcohol presense at all... don't know if this is a good thing; I was sort of hoping for something a little more robust.

I am starting to think about oaking this, though I am a little unsure of when to do so and what to use? Any suggestions???

Color is pretty much as I expected, though a little hazy from racking.

 

[jmo88]

I took my first sample today to see how it was progressing in the secondary. I'll probably leave it alone now until I keg or bottle it.

I brewed this on 11-6 and used oak cubes in the primary for a month. I racked from the primary, leaving the oak behind, to a secondary on 12-6. The gravity was 10.18 then. It is now 1.014. The aroma is all oak at first. The oak aroma is really pleasant even though it is in the foreground. It is a really mature complex cabernet-like aroma. At first I didn't pick up the brett. But after a quick swirl of the glass, the brett poked through and was noticeable throughout. I'm loving this uncarbed and young. :rockin: It is a little too firm of a bitterness right now and I hope that'll mellow out a little despite the falling gravity.

It has a great shiny copper color to it – like a freshly minted penny.

 

[mojotele]

I just took another gravity sample today. The beer that was at 1.020 mid-December is now at 1.015 so the brett is (or was) definitely fermenting some of the leftover sugars. Color-wise it looks extremely similar to jmo88's. I believe I'm smelling the oak as it smells very similar to a bourbon - just less alcohol. Very nice, actually - not overpowering.

It tastes really, really good. I was skeptical of the beer at first - it just tasted odd when I racked to secondary - but it has really come a long way. It tastes woody up front with a slightly tart malty finish.

I've had this on oak for a couple months now, and I'm debating if I should rack off the oak or not. This is my first oaked beer, so I'm unsure. I only used 1 oz. of medium toast oak cubes. Any suggestions?

 

[KingBrianI]

Alright, you guys are bad influences. I was happy to just let my beer sit and be happy without me bothering it for at least a couple more months. But seeing you guys tasting your beers was too much for me to resist. So I grabbed the thief and had a taste.

Gravity hasn't moved since I racked to secondary but there is a nice pellicle going on. Aroma is very nice. A mixture of subtle, whisky-like oak and cherries. Flavor is very vinuous with a slightly tart, cherry-flavored finish. Slightly sweet with toffee notes coming out on the backend. Slightly tannic oak aftertaste. Alcohol is well hidden and smooth. I'm also getting a hint of apple peel. Appearance is good, nice copper color, like a well-aged whisky. Only thing wrong with the appearance is the floaties from the pellicle that made their way into the glass. Interestingly, it looks like there are a couple rice-sized floaty balls of pellicle.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Damn, I'm still waiting to brew mine. It's going to happen within the next month, though. Still, it's making me antsy.

Stupid question for you all. My yeast pack is a bit old now. Did you guys make a starter for this yeast, or would doing that throw off the balance of yeasts in the pack? I've heard Wyeast mention before that using some of their lambic blends in consecutive brews will up the souring bugs to the point that heavily soured beers will result from doing this. I have no idea if this blend is at all the same.

 

[Paramecium]

I wasn't paying attention and missed this one. Is it too late to join in the fun? I can brew this in the next couple weeks and still have 9 months to let it age.

 

[AnOldUR]

Did you guys make a starter for this yeast, or would doing that throw off the balance of yeasts in the pack? I've heard Wyeast mention before that using some of their lambic blends in consecutive brews will up the souring bugs to the point that heavily soured beers will result from doing this.

For this blend, I do not think it as much an issue. The Brett will probably not grow in the starter, as the Saccharomyces will take over, but there should still be enough Brett for long term secondary aging. It may just take a month or two longer.

Jess Caudill
Brewer/Microbiologist
Wyeast Laboratories
(541) 354-1335

 

[GuldTuborg]

^^^ Answers don't come much better than that. Cheers!

 

[Barc]

Paramecium, you are welcome to do whatever you want! No one will stop you but you might want to tell folks it isn't as aged or wasn't brewed a year previously.

So far as a starter, I think that was discussed previously somewhere. I just tossed mine in without making a starter (not that I usually do that) and didn't have a problem.

Mine is still making CO2 visibly but much slower than it was even a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure the Brett is what's active now but the CO2 is keeping it from making a pellicle.

 

[Paramecium]

I think I'll wait till next year and get in at the right time. If I'm going to put that much time into a beer I want it to be right. Also if I start working with Brett I'll designate equipment specifically four sour beers just to have good peace of mind.