Finally back into brewing. I brewed a hefe last week to get back into it. I have not brewed for 8.5 years. Last time was 2 weeks before my first kid was born and I think I have the big time itch again. Here’s what I’m going to toss together 10 gallon 23# Vienna 2# maize .5 crystal 40 .5 special B .5 chocolate 22 IBU of tettnager Yeast wyeast 3278 in one 3763 in the other. This is a long haul brew but I want to get one going to sit. I was going through my brew log book and I made this one like 10 years ago but I am sure techniques etc have changed. Have a great day
Looks good to me. Pretty traditional for a Flanders red I think. One thing that's changed a lot in the last 8.5 years is that there has been a profusion of yeast suppliers. I like Wyeast and use it for a lot of my clean beers, but for sour beers a lot of people prefer the more aggressive blends that you can get from places like Yeast Bay, East Coast, and Bootleg Biology. Another option is to crack open some bottle-conditioned sour beers and pitch the dregs into your beer. You just need to check to make sure you're using microbes you really want - some brewers add champagne yeast to bottle condition. Mike Tonsmeire maintains a pretty good list. Of course if you're in a homebrewing club, your fellow brewers may also have some good bugs to contribute. But that's all assuming you want a bit more character than the Wyeast blends are known for. If you're going for something pretty laid back, then Wyeast is fine.
Huh. Thanks. Never heard of those sites. I remember last time I dumped some Russian river dregs into it. Back then I think it was Deviation and Toronado 20th. Those may be hard to come by nowadays. Maybe consecration would do good in there? Thanks for the reply.
How'd that beer turn out? Don't expect much from 3763 - Roeselare if it's your first generation and the 3278 - Lambic Blend isn't a great performer out of the gate either. Add to that the fact that your IBUs are going to completely inhibit any lactobacillus in the blend and you've got yourself a conundrum. The best advice that I can give you is to read as much as you can to determine which processes and microbes suit your needs. The Milk the Funk wiki is the best source on the planet. Bomb around there for a while and see what you like and then ask question either here or on the MTF Facebook page. Good luck and happy brewing!
Right on thanks for the info. I will check it out. As I recall the beer was pretty good but that was years ago. Going through my book I bottled half after 6 months and the other half after a year and a half and added the dregs from those Russian river beers. I brewed it back in 2005 when I was living in Santa Rosa a year after Russian river opened and I fell in love with sours. I didn’t know much then except the beer store told me what yeast to use so I used it. I have not read a thing on it since. So I figured I just brew it up and try again. Given what you see and me not trying to become a scientist, what are your recommendations that may help this out. Thanks again Kelly
I have heard good things about Yeast Bay's Mélange blend, although I have never used it myself. I've got a sour going right now using Bootleg Biology's solera blend (I used a previous version, not the Fall 2017 version, but I'm sure it's similar). It's still in the fermenter, but when I racked it to secondary it tasted and smelled great. (It was a little ropey, but that will go away.) However, I'm not sure you can get your hands on Bootleg Biology's homebrew-size pitches right now. It's out of stock at Maryland Homebrew (in Columbia), which may be your closest source. Bug County, from East Coast Yeast, is another one that a lot of people like but that I've never tried. It appears to be in stock at love2brew. I think any of those would be more aggressively souring (and possibly funkifying) than the Wyeast blends you mentioned. You could also drop the IBUs a bit to encourage sourness. I've heard different theories on this, but I imagine those IBUs aren't going to be noticeable in the final product, so you could cut them back quite a bit I think. (I don't even include hops in the vast majority of my sour beers, but then again, I mostly brew Lacto-soured beers like gose and Berliner.) And I mean dregs can't hurt. You can simply add them to the fermenter along with whatever yeast blend you settle on. (So basically, brew, then have some friends over and drink some sours, and pitch the dregs.) I think Consecration is a good idea, but really anything you like should work. Jolly Pumpkin, Alvinne... just not Rodenbach, sadly, because it is filtered. [Edited to add... those are just the blends that I happen to have used or heard good things about. You should shop around, there are lots of sources for wild/sour microbes these days. GigaYeast has a few blends that look suitable for your purposes, and Imperial Yeast has a blend with Lactobacillus that might work. As I said, the profusion of yeast suppliers has really been remarkable.]
My recommendations might surprise you , but here goes nuthin'. 1) Keep you grist the same 2) Completely drop your hops 3) Build up a starter with dregs from sour beers that you like 4) If the starter smells good and has shown obvious signs of fermentation, pitch it into your wort 5) Ferment for 8 - 12 weeks, or until a stable terminal gravity has been reached 6) Package In reality, it depends upon what you want your end product to taste like and if you want a classic representation or simply a tasty sour beer.
I like it, thank you. I had no idea about the hops. I will try the no hops. I will do the 3278 since i ordered it and chuck in some consecration dregs to go along with it. I might jump on the Minderbender bandwagon and order the bug county for the other 5 gallons.
Guess that I should have justified that, ehh? Aerate the hell out of your wort before pitching, but after that, try your best to keep oxygen away from your beer.
@calir1 AST1 here Due to the possibility of PCS'ing....whenever...I have been making kettle sours. Ready in only a few months. UT ALII VIVANT!!
Just brewed her up. Came out at 1.063. Did no hops and did one batch with wyeast 3278 and one ECY Bugcounty. Here is to the wait. See ya in a few months.
It all looks good to me! Let us know how it turns out! No hops is a good place to start. Though, if you continue to use your yeast/bacteria cake you may want to slowly up your hopping rate. Bacteria tends to start out competing yeast in mixed fermentation blends, what sour brewers call "drift" in their culture. If you find your beers are becoming too sour, hopping rates can be used to dial it back. As others have said the Milk the Funk wiki is an awesome source of knowledge, but if you're into podcasts check out The Sour Hour (milk the funk also recently started a podcast as well that has been killer).
Just opened a bottle of Modern Times 1500 sour. That beer is amazing. So in the dregs went to the #3278 beer.
Well after a month and a half both sit at 1.020. They still have some time to go. Both are pretty darn tasty and tart already. I will say the bug county strain is more tart and from the looks of it will turn out well. Both have great color and flavor. But I can tell they still have some aging to do. Hibernation they go. Next check in about 6 months.
What makes you say this? Have they reached a stable terminal? If so, you can package them and allow them to mature in the bottle instead.
