Back

Okay. I have several brewing related goals for this year. The first is to keep this blog more updated, hopefully I can post once a week. The second is to brew more... a lot more. I'm aiming to brew at least two times a month. The third is to brew sour beers, and a lot of them. The goal is actually eight for the year, so that later next year I can go back and blend.

I actually did the first sour yesterday. The base for the beer was pretty close to my Belgian single from last year, however I added some Munich and victory malt for added breadiness, upped the chocolate to a quarter pound and got rid of the special b. For hops I just did a FWH addition of Willamette. You want something low AA since bitter and sour don't jive. I pitched a smack pack of Roeselare straight from the package. That package of yeast is a very specific blend of yeast and critters. Making a starter will throw off the blend, so don't build one when using the blend. You don't really need to worry about the pitching rates as much because the bugs will attenuate it our over time. I got lower than expected efficiency (65%) so I added 1lb of light DME to it. This beer is going to set for about two months and then getting hit with some fruit.

I'll post the full recipe tomorrow. I've also tried harvesting wild yeast by placing mason jars with weak dme solution outside. I got small signs of fermentation with no mold growth in two of them. Last night I pitched then into a starter actually pulled from the mash of yesterdays beer. Should it take off I'll be brewing a Hoppy Saison with it.

Look for several posts soon with tasting notes on a lot of last years beers.