Now that my NHC beers are all done, time to try something new! I haven’t made any Belgian-style sours so since I have extra beer on draft it seems like a good time to brew some stuff that will take a long time to be bottle up and drunk. I’ve been a big Rodenbach fan since the first time I tried one many years ago and often “reward” myself with a Grand Cru. After looking at different recipes, it looks like most of the NHC winners have been modeled around Jamil’s 2-time winning recipe so it seemed like a good place to start. My grain bill pretty much matches but I did tweak a few things around the hopping as well as the bugs/yeast. I want to make sure it gets sour enough so I did a starter of Swanson Lacto Plantarum that I pitched a the same time as the Roselare blend. I also lowered the IBUs to ~4 to try and limit inhibit the lacto. My plan is to let if ferment for a couple weeks at 70F and then just move it to a closet in my basement that stays at 70F year round and just let it sit for about 6 months and then bottle it assuming it is tasting good. I also plan to add wood cubes at about 3 months.
BrewDesign
Recipe Info
Beer Name: flanders_red_eBIAB_1
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Style
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.010
Color: 11.5
Alcohol: 5.5 %
Bitterness: 3.6 IBUs
Brewery
Efficiency: 70
Attenuation: 80
Mash
Mash Fermentable Weight: 14.25 Pounds
Mash Thickness: 2.1 Quarts per Pound
Grain Temp: 72 F
Strike Water Qty: 9.48 Gallons
Mash Volume: 10.62 Gallons
Strike Water Temp: 165.1 F
Mash Temp: 156 F
Boil
Kettle Gravity (start of boil): 1.044
Predicted Mash Run-off Volume: 8.19875
Target Starting Boil Volume: 8.25
Boil Duration: 60 Minutes
Evaporation Rate: 1.25 Gallons per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 7
Fermentables
| Weight (Lbs) | % by Weight | Name | Yield | SRM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 42.1 | Best Malz Pilsner; German | 80.0 | 1.8 |
| 5 | 35.1 | Best Malz Vienna Malt | 79.0 | 3.4 |
| 1 | 7.0 | Best Malz Munich Type I | 78.0 | 6.0 |
| .5 | 3.5 | Weyermann Melanoidin | 78.5 | 27.0 |
| .5 | 3.5 | Castle Special B | 76.0 | 114.0 |
| .5 | 3.5 | Weyermann Caramunich III | 73.0 | 56.8 |
| .75 | 5.3 | canadian malting Wheat Malt; White | 88.0 | 2.8 |
Hops
| Weight (ozs) | Name | AAU | Time (mins) | Use | IBUs / Addition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .5 | Hallertauer Pellets | 2.5 | 60 | Boil | 3.6 |
Yeast and Friends
| Amount (Milliters) | Name |
|---|---|
| 2 pouches | Wyeast Labs 3763 Roselare Belgian Blend |
| 1 pill per gallon | swansons lacto |
Misc
| Amount | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 tablet | Whirlfloc Tablet | 15 |
| 1 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) | 10 |
| 1 oz | Oak; French Medium Toast Cubes | in fermenter |
Notes
pitch lacto starter with roselare blend @ 68F and raise over 24 hours to 70F. ferment for 2 weeks at 70F then move to to long term storage at house ambient for ~6 months. kept in primary and moved from blow-off to silicon bung with flap that acts as an airlock.
Salt and Acid adjustments:
Mash Salts:
Gypsum: 5.0 gram
Calcium Chloride: 10.0 gram
Mash Acid:
Sparge/Boil Salts:
Predicted Mash pH of: 5.41
Mash Ions (ppm):
Ca: 115.2 Mg: 3.0 Na: 21.0 Cl: 145.1 So: 101.5
4-22-16 made 1L lacto starter w/ 100g of DME and qty 3 swanson lacto plantarum bills. they opened but did not dissolve. not ideal.
4-25-16 regular brew day. 1st time using new oxygen tank. did 1L setting for 1 min w/ 0.5 micron stone
– pitched most of 1L starter but tried to leave behind the pill shells. tasted what was left and it tasted clean and sweet but a little sour on the backend.
-also pitched 1 pouch of roselare blend
-oxygenated at 1L for 60 sec
-raised from 68F -> 70F over 24 hours and held for 2 weeks
-used a 5 gallon better bottle and it was pretty full but not all the way up to the neck.
4-26-16 @ 8am no activity
@10pm kreusen and bubbling
4-27-16 1/2″ kreusen and solid bubbling
4-28-16 kreusen is dropping and bubbling is slowing
4-29-16 bubbling much slower and starting to drop clear
4-30-16 ~12 secs apart
5-1-16 no bubbling
5-9-16 moved to closet which stays about 72F with silicon venting bung for long term storage. will check after 6 months.
8-12-16 nice thin pellicle. boiled 1 oz of french med oak cubes for 5 mins and cooled. poured off water and added to fermenter.
11-15-16 bottled 4 gallons to 2.5 volumes using 102 g of table sugar an reyeasted with half a sachet of lavlin ec1118. 36 bottles. FG 1.014 pH 3.61
promising. good level of sour. assertive but not over the top. fruity ester take the lead in the nose but there is a lot going on. acetic. wood. lactic. bready maltiness. nothing overpowering but all noticeable. a bit thin but flat so maybe with carb it will be good. very clear.