JeffOYB
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- Joined
- Apr 24, 2014
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MY REPORT ON MY FIRST FLANDERS ATTEMPT:
I'm aiming for "easy" with my first attempt at a Flanders Red. I'm using Sparrow's recipe. I boiled it up and pitched and it bubbled and now it's maybe 7 months later. I sampled it and it's tangy.
It's a bit underwhelming how 'thin' it is. Attenuated might be the term. It's kinda like tangy water. It tastes pretty good though, I guess. So I'm semi-happy for now. I do wish it had more body. It has nice color -- reddish light brown. I'm not the best at determining taste w/o carbonation. Tho I don't need a lot of fizz to like a beer.
This kind of beer is often blended, right? I figure I can do my own blending later. Like, I could just make 'black'n'tans' w it. ...I could add some storebought malty amber when it's time to drink to boost the body. My rule is my tastebuds! It has a lot of nice red/brown color to it, tho.
I haven't done any secondary. It just sits there in the primary fermenter. There is a 1-2" layer of white stuff at the bottom. I don't see a pellicle on top. It's in my basement which has maybe been about 60F all summer.
So now I just added a couple pounds of fresh frozen red raspberries that I've picked the last few weeks from my yard patch. I didn't boil them or even wash. They were clean. Probably they have yard yeast on them. Who knows. We'll see what happens. I just funneled them down the mouth of my carboy. I also added a couple ounces of oak chips that I'd soaked a few days in water then drained off the water. (I've read that I can keep the oak chips but I don't know how I'm going to separate them from the glop. I can try to later on after bottling.) Maybe I'll try to pipette off another pint so I can fit in another couple pounds of berries. Sparrow writes that a pound per gallon is common. But I bet so is just adding "what ya got, as much as you might feel like." So now I'll keep an eye on it and see if it starts bubbling again. And I'll taste now'n'then. My vague idea is that it might taste even niftier in a month. Hopefully all the berries sink over time. Then after fizzing is done awhile I could siphon/strain into a metal pot with some bottling sugar in it then bottle.
(UPDATE: It's been a couple days now since I added my berries. I carried the carboy upstairs where it's prolly 68F. The bubbler is now starting to bubble now'n'then. I piped off another pint and added another half-pound or so of berries. The berries are now white, floating at top with the oak chips. I missed the memo that to add 5 lbs of berries I might have to pipe off a half gallon. I tasted what I piped off after the berries had been added a couple days: it tasted like berry-water. Well, gotta start somewhere!)
I'm not big on waiting. So at each step of this game when I sample it if it tastes good I'll move to the next step. Sure, it might get even better w time but if it seems good then I'll probably act.
To me, sour Belgian beer goes with CYCLOCROSS. And that season is just starting. Also my birthday is Oct 30. So I wouldn't mind starting to drink these in November.
Conversely, if a sample doesn't taste good at any step, I'll let it sit and taste again later to see if anything got better. I might also read more as I go along to see if any possible fix at some point inspires me.
I've seen notes about "bottle bombs" and long-term fermenting creating ever more CO2. And so some don't like to bottle w extra sugar it looks like. But I'm thinking my friends and I will drink this 5 gal batch quick enough to not get in pressure trouble. A 2-wk carbonation plan doesn't sound bad to me. I use heavy pint bottles.
If no fizz happens in a few days w these berries then I will read up a bit more and maybe add some Monk's Cafe dregs and see if that starts anything.
That's my report!
I'm aiming for "easy" with my first attempt at a Flanders Red. I'm using Sparrow's recipe. I boiled it up and pitched and it bubbled and now it's maybe 7 months later. I sampled it and it's tangy.
It's a bit underwhelming how 'thin' it is. Attenuated might be the term. It's kinda like tangy water. It tastes pretty good though, I guess. So I'm semi-happy for now. I do wish it had more body. It has nice color -- reddish light brown. I'm not the best at determining taste w/o carbonation. Tho I don't need a lot of fizz to like a beer.
This kind of beer is often blended, right? I figure I can do my own blending later. Like, I could just make 'black'n'tans' w it. ...I could add some storebought malty amber when it's time to drink to boost the body. My rule is my tastebuds! It has a lot of nice red/brown color to it, tho.
I haven't done any secondary. It just sits there in the primary fermenter. There is a 1-2" layer of white stuff at the bottom. I don't see a pellicle on top. It's in my basement which has maybe been about 60F all summer.
So now I just added a couple pounds of fresh frozen red raspberries that I've picked the last few weeks from my yard patch. I didn't boil them or even wash. They were clean. Probably they have yard yeast on them. Who knows. We'll see what happens. I just funneled them down the mouth of my carboy. I also added a couple ounces of oak chips that I'd soaked a few days in water then drained off the water. (I've read that I can keep the oak chips but I don't know how I'm going to separate them from the glop. I can try to later on after bottling.) Maybe I'll try to pipette off another pint so I can fit in another couple pounds of berries. Sparrow writes that a pound per gallon is common. But I bet so is just adding "what ya got, as much as you might feel like." So now I'll keep an eye on it and see if it starts bubbling again. And I'll taste now'n'then. My vague idea is that it might taste even niftier in a month. Hopefully all the berries sink over time. Then after fizzing is done awhile I could siphon/strain into a metal pot with some bottling sugar in it then bottle.
(UPDATE: It's been a couple days now since I added my berries. I carried the carboy upstairs where it's prolly 68F. The bubbler is now starting to bubble now'n'then. I piped off another pint and added another half-pound or so of berries. The berries are now white, floating at top with the oak chips. I missed the memo that to add 5 lbs of berries I might have to pipe off a half gallon. I tasted what I piped off after the berries had been added a couple days: it tasted like berry-water. Well, gotta start somewhere!)
I'm not big on waiting. So at each step of this game when I sample it if it tastes good I'll move to the next step. Sure, it might get even better w time but if it seems good then I'll probably act.
To me, sour Belgian beer goes with CYCLOCROSS. And that season is just starting. Also my birthday is Oct 30. So I wouldn't mind starting to drink these in November.
Conversely, if a sample doesn't taste good at any step, I'll let it sit and taste again later to see if anything got better. I might also read more as I go along to see if any possible fix at some point inspires me.
I've seen notes about "bottle bombs" and long-term fermenting creating ever more CO2. And so some don't like to bottle w extra sugar it looks like. But I'm thinking my friends and I will drink this 5 gal batch quick enough to not get in pressure trouble. A 2-wk carbonation plan doesn't sound bad to me. I use heavy pint bottles.
If no fizz happens in a few days w these berries then I will read up a bit more and maybe add some Monk's Cafe dregs and see if that starts anything.
That's my report!