Lambic 2012 (Peach) blending

2/3 of my 2012 Lambic blends now completed and aging.
I did the raspberry last week and will do the gueuze sometime in a few months probably.
For this beer, I also took 1 gallon from each of the 2011 and 2012 base beers. We went peach picking on Saturday and picked 9pounds of yellow peaches. The white were not ready yet. Since only a few were ripe, I added 2.5 pounds on Saturday and another 1.5 Monday night for a total of 4 pounds in 2 gallons. This should be enough to get a nice peachy aroma and flavor.
Sometime next year we will get to see how well that goes...

Lambic 2012 (raspberry) - blending

Raspberry Lambic - Framboise
Fruit beer aged for years with various microbes with fruit added (in this case raspberries)

After my first Lambic attempt 2 years ago with the Dawson creek kit from northern brewer turned out pretty good, I decided to start my own lambic project.

Spring of 2011, I brewed 5 gallons of wort and pitched wyeast lambic blend - this part has been aging quietly since.

Spring of 2012, I stepped it up and brewed almost 10 gallons. This time I pitched a combination of lambic blend, slurry from the year before and some bottle dregs from sour beers I have been sampling.

The plan is to take 3 gallons from both years, blend them and split to 3 separate 2 gallon batches. One gets raspberries, one gets peaches and the last will be gueuze.

I know 1.5 years in is a little early to start blending them, but I am impatient, this will age another 6 months before bottling and I am saving plenty for next year.

This weekend (7/13-7/15) is peak season for wild raspberries here in Croton. Over the weekend, I picked over 7.5 pounds (Not including the 1-2 we ate). 2 pounds of this is for this lambic, the rest goes into RaspBerry Wheat.


Framboise in BB



I had a little tasting session Friday night to see how the 3 batches were doing and confirm my 50/50 blend plan. All went well and I am sticking to the plan. There was some tartness, a little brett flavors coming through and luckily no horrible off flavors. The older one had some apple flavor and the younger one had a little too much oak tannin.

The 2011 batch was crystal clear, while the 2012 was almost opaque it was so cloudy. Hopefully that will settle out with extended aging. The 2012 that I had in this plastic cubitainer tasted like it was more aged than the half in glass, so I will go with that one.



Lambic 2011 original gravity: 1.055 SG now: 1.003

Lambic 2012 original gravity: 1.050 SG now: 1.008

Expected abv: 6%



 

 

Kriek 2010 - Tasting

Back in May 2010, I brewed up a batch of Norther Brewer AG Dawson Kriek.  This is a Lambic style ale aged on sour cherries.  These beers can take years, but I was impatient and had this kegged within a few months.  While it was a decent beer, the shortened timeline limited its potential.  I did bottle a few for extended aging.

I also bottled a few blended 50/50 with some NB Belgian Tripel that I brewed in August.  These precious few were dated for sampling at 6 month increments.

This tasting marks 18 months in the bottle.

I could smell the classic lambic funk as soon as I cracked the first one open.  On closer inspection, the kriek did have a bit more cherry aroma.

Both have great clarity and a good sized head, but that faded to a small layer of bubbles in short time.
The kriek has a great pinkish hue, while the blend was more orange.

Kriek still had some cherry flavor to go with the brett funk and noticeable, but not overpowering acidity, which was almost enough to pucker you up.  The blend had a more mineraly flavor and a bit less acid, but still some hint of cherry.  Maybe even a little metallic in the finish.  I did sensed a touch of this in the Kriek also, but not as much.

They both had great carbonation - The blend had champagne like carbonation that made it feel much fuller that it really was, while the kriek had a nice light and spritzy body.

Overall I like the kriek best, which is interesting because when Mike and I sampled these 6 months ago, we both liked the blend better.  It's like candy that doesn't leave a sticky sugar coating in your mouth.
They are both enjoyable beers, but still not as complex as some of the better true Lambics.  Hopefully my current projects will get me closer.
I only have one of each left, which I will be tasting in September.
Notes:
  4/26/10 Ordered
    5/?/10  Brew
    6/?/10  Secondary w/ 2x Oregon can Cherries
    ~7/3/10 Keg-condition
     7/29 - Tasting {Aroma - sour cherries??  Taste - sour, but not too sour  - reminds me of...something 
          one dimentional. all cherry?  feel - smooth, not TOO thin}
    8/19 - Bottled 1 + a 50/50 with triple
    8/25 - Tasting (Still un carbed) {Still not too sour, but flavor mellowing.  Starting to really like it..}
    9/6/10 - 4 bottles to cellar 6/12/18/24 mo Also Carb'd Keg
    9/15~  -  really cloudy from keg, carbonated, but some foam wouldnt clear?  maybe from the shaking try again.
     9/26 - Carbonated (could be a little more), clearing, tasting not bad.  maybe brett flavor?
    10/1 - Tasting - turning nice.  young flavors mellowing, sour starting to show - got a little lemon finish
    ~10/30/10 - Served at Halloween party
    3/1/11 - Bottle tasting - not bad - clear red/brown.  good carbonation.  not much funk, sour -cherry/lemon.  light body
     4/23/11 - Finished Keg.
          Final Taste - Sournes approaching puckering.  Little hint of metallic.  Some cherry, but not much else.
           OK beer, but really could have been done better.  I really did rush it too much.  I needed the carboys for other beers..
   9/10/11 - Tasting - Kriek .vs. Blend
     Tasted both with Mike.  Best after 9/1/11 bottles.
     Kriek - Red, medium clear, little head, tart, some cherry sediment.
     Blend - light red/pink, mediam clear little head, mild tartness, some funk
     Both liked the blend better, but kriek was good too.
      Got some brett funk from the blend.  Kriek was more just sour cherry.
      Both light and drinkable. 
   3/6/12 - Tasting - Kriek .vs. Blend  (This blog entry)

Big lambic brew day

 Today was a busy day. After taking the kids hiking and starting the garden, I completed my first 15 gallon brew day.
 I converted 22# of grain into the wort that will eventually become 10 gallons of lambic and 5 gallons of wheat beer. The wheat being ready MUCH sooner.
You can find the recipe here.

 I seem to always want to push a little bit more out of each brew session. On other brew days I have done two 5 gal brews, partigyle and a 10 gallon batch. Today combined 10 gallons and partyigyle (2 different beers from the same mash)

 With the day already so busy, I didn't want to do a full traditional turbid mash, so I came up with a simpler schedule that should yield similar results. Protein rest at 125, then drained 2qt of very milky looking wort. I boiled this in a separate pot while continuing with the main mash, which I did a sach rest around 155. After draining and sparging to get the first 9 gallons, I even did a mini decoction for the wheat beer. 

This is where you scoop out some of the grains (1/2 gal in this case) and boil those separate from the mash. Similar to the turbid part, but done after the sacc rest, so there shouldn't be any starch. Also, boiling the grains brings out some more malt flavors.

    What comes next?
For the lambic, I am pitching 1 pack of Wyeast lambic blend, slurry and a few oak cubes from last years bath and a bit of a sour starter I have been keeping. This has dregs from a number of commercial sour beers. Sometime over the summer, I will blend with last years to get 6 gallons. This will be split in 3. The first third will age on local peaches; the next on wild Croton raspberries; the last will remain unflavored gueuze. This should leave ~6 gallons from this years batch for longer aging and future blends
The wheat beer gets a pack of wyeast 3068 and should be ready in a few weeks.

My little helper

Dumping a failed beer

It is always a sad day when you have to dump a beer, but for this one it is time to say "good bye". 5 months ago, I got impatient while waiting for ingredients for my barleywine, so I brewed a quick extract batch of English mild.
Numerous things went wrong and in the end, I was unable to save it. I now need the keg space for another beer, so this one goes down the drain.

What went wrong?
  1. Purchased expired wlp002 yeast at a slight discount
  2. Did not use a starter
  3. Had a massive boilover - lost 1/4 of the wort
  4. Ferment took 3-4 days to start. (Probably from #1&2)

The smell out of primary was way off. I would say phenolic. It was sort of medicinal plastic. The flavor matched the off smell and left a plasticky aftertaste. After secondary, the off flavor was not as strong, but it was clear it would not go away on its own. I decided that since this batch was probably ruined anyway, it was time for an experiment.
The wild bugs that ferment lambic and flanders type beers might be able to turn this into something good. They produce other flavors that could cover it up and possibly even metabolize the esters or phenols causing the off flavors. I moved it to my 'sour' keg and pitched the dregs from a couple sour beers. Fast forward 2.5 months and we have...not much better...You probably wouldn't die drinking it, but it is better to dump bad beer than to force yourself to drink something you won't enjoy.

9/39/11. Brew og=1.035
10/9/11. Secondary. G=1.010
10/22/11. Kegged. G=1.005
11/3/11. Moved to new keg and added souring microbes
2/17/12. Dumped keg

Flanders Red - Tasting

It has been 16 months since I brewed this beer. While still young for the style, it has been bottles for almost 4 months now and I thought it was ready for review.  (See recipe at bottom)

Pours with almost no head. Reddish brown with medium clarity.
Fruity brett like mild wild yeast aroma.  Maybe some cherries.
Mild tartness, fruity and refreshing with a hint of malt.  Some Cherry and citrus.
Light and refreshing, with a little carbonation.
It goes down easy. Goes well with a meal, but could also be a summer thirst quencher.  Everyone who has tried it so far says they like it.  I would have liked it to be more sour, more carbonation and higher original gravity.
Lauren says: she liked this one, it wasn't too hoppy or too syrupy, but still has a little sweetness.

About the beer:
I brewed this beer back in September 2010 based off of a recipe on themadfermantationist, which is based from someone else's beer inspired by Roddenbach.  Still early in my all grain days, I came in a bit low with the gravity, but it still came out good. After 1 month in primary, it aged for another 11 months before I bottled.

Flanders red is a Belgian beer fermented with a variety of wild yeast and aged in large oak vats for many months. As home brewers, we can purchase this yeast as the wyeast Rosselear blend. Similar to the organisms used in brewing lambic beer.

Recipe:
  3lbs Rarh pilsner
  3lbs German Vienna
  3lbs German Munich
  1lbs Rahr white wheat
  1lbs Briess Caramel 60L
  1/2 lbs Belgian Special B
Mash @ 157 for 60 min
  1oz German Hellertau (60 minute)
  WYeast Rosalere blend

Notes:
   9/12/10  Brewed   OG=1.045  (poor efficiency)
    9/24/10  G=1.011
   10/10/10 Secondary  G=1.011
    4/16/11 G=1.08
       'Wild' aroma+taste.  Not much sour.  Reminds me of La Roja
       Hazy reddish-brown
    6/22/11 G=1.005 + 1/2 oz med toast french oak
       Cherry pie?  good clarity.  Reddish brown.  not much sour
    9/18/11 - Bottled 4gal + 4oz sugar  G=1.005  ABV=5.25%
       Reddish brown; medium clarity
       Smells of a sour beer.  Taste of sour but not too tart.