Beer Around Town

Well living in a small house and homebrewing can be a claustrophobic situation, 25 gallons in carboys, 30+ gallons in bottles, random one gallon experiments scattered about in a dizzying display like panic stricken fruit flies. I figured it was about time to get some of these homebrewed sours bottled and some of this clutter out of the way, house cleaning at it’s finest.

The culprits were lined up, their gravities taken, time to see what this team is made of. Some were banished back to the “cellar” for further aging, either not right for this blend, not close to ready yet, or still on the fence on whether it’s a sour beer or beer that’s sour. In the end I didn’t have a vision for what this blend would become, but this is my first go at blending, so I’m not expecting Gansberg-like results here. My sole goal for this was to make a blend that was better then any of it’s components. So here’s a quick run down of what I was working with, starting from left to right.

Sour Golden – aged 9 months, this started off as a simple low hopped golden ale, mostly Belgian pilsner malts and a touch of white wheat. This beer was fermented on a second generation Roselare yeast cake. SG 1.054, current gravity 1.006. About 4 months ago I also added the dregs of a Girardin Gueuze to it, a few weeks after this was added it picked up a very spicy gueuze-like nose that my other Roselare lacked. Sourness is moderate, tart finish, fairly citrusy and earthy overall.

Belgian Tripel – a bit over a month old, this Belgian tripel was fermented with the Chimay yeast strain with Turbinado added to dry it out. This was also aged for a bit on cabernet soaked french oak. OG 1.082, current gravity 1.008. Fairly nice tripel so far, a bit green in it’s youth, shows some apple phenolics, but overall spicy and pleasant with dry finish. Cabernet adds a soft dry wine sweetness and a faint touch of oak.

Tart Berry Saison – A relic of the first saison I brewed earlier this summer, Belgian Pilsner malt and a touch of Vienna with the Saison yeast blend. Now 8 months old, a gallon of this was set aside and finished off with 2nd generation Roselare blend. A half pound of marrionberries were a added for flavor and to provide the Roselare bugs something to work on. OG 1.056, current gravity 1.002. The original finished very dry at 1.008, so the Roselare hasn’t had much to feed on resulting in just a faint tartness, but the nose on this beer was beautiful.

Chamomile Saison – Another straggler from a previous batch, this one held off in a half gallon container and spiked with a brett culture from a bottle of Orval. Similar in grain and yeast to the previous saison with the addition of honey and chamomile. OG 1.060, current gravity 1.006. The brett character never developed much in this, probably due to the low final gravity of the original and the small culture of brett that was introduced. Slightly spicier then the original this beer still sports an very floral aroma and flavor of chamomile which could bring some intrigue to the final blend.

Sour Bug Juice – Yes, every bottle of those berry beers that I made for my wedding were devoured. All that delicious berry goodness spoiled by tons of lactose sugar to please people that are really craving soda, but want to watch me slave away on a batch of beer only to ruin it with artificial sweetness…. well here was my redemption. A gallon of the lactose saturated berry “beer” was held aside and inoculated with the dregs of a Russian River Temptation. Now I’m not a 100% on why this got so painfully sour, but I believe that lactobacillus is the only bacteria or yeast in the beer realm that can process lactose. So essentially it sat at the Thanksgiving table surrounded by a bunch of vegetarians with a whole turkey to itself. In the end this beer is far to sour to drink by itself, far to lactic and puckering… but it could add some nice residual sourness to the blend.

Flanders Red – Brewed early in the spring, I’ve found this beer to be the furthest along in it’s maturity. Brewed with Belgian pale, caramunich, wheat and fermented with first generation Roselare. This has been aging on french oak for 8 months. While still young overall the hot summer provided for a nice boost to the sourness. The oak maybe have been a bit overdone, but seeing as how this was meant to be blended I’m not worried. OG 1.044 current FG 1.004. Aside from the dominant oak I find this beer to be the most drinkable by itself. The malts play off the oak nicely, hints of cherry and blue berry come through. Also a touch more acidic then the golden.

So there were my pieces, onto the puzzle. I knew I had certain limitations to work within. Some beers only having a half gallon, others ready to go with more volume. Some I didn’t want to deplete to much as they are still very young, others I was hoping to use up all of. Rules, always rules, stay within the lines. In the end there were better blends, but some I couldn’t pull off, so I chose my favorite that worked. The final blend shall be a mystery, deep amber and moderately sour, we shall see what it transforms into as it carbonates. About 3 gallons in all collected and bottled. I’ll report back once I try a bottle.