Nearly a year and a half ago, I brewed up a fairly standard
Flanders Red. Having never brewed one before, I started with Jamil’s
recipe and modified the grain percentages based on my preference for a few of
the malts. Since it’s fairly common for homebrewed beers to lack the
desired, intense level of acidity when they undergo a primary fermentation with
a basic saccharomyces strain of yeast, I pitched in the Roeselare mix right from
day 1 hoping that without having to compete against a primary strain of yeast,
the bacteria can replicate faster and in the end, yield a more highly acidic
ale.
Since the Flanders Red style is really the only one where
it’s acceptable to have moderately high levels of acetic acid present, it’s
common for homebrewers to try to replicate this by using a wooden oak dowel in
the neck of the carboy. In theory, the contact surface-to-volume ratio is
supposed to be similar to that of the Foudres that Rodenbach uses and the
permeable oak is said to allow a similar transfusion of oxygen into the beer.
This all seems somewhat gimmicky to me and although I’ve tried a few that
employed this technique, I’ve never been impressed enough with the results to
go through the trouble of using it myself. Instead, I plan on cheating a
bit. While the main batch of beer has been fermenting and maturing in a
standard carboy with bung and airlock, I kept about a quart in a separate
vessel covered only with tinfoil. With the excessive levels of oxygen
present, the acetobacter should be having a field day and basically turning the
small amount into malt vinegar. When the time is right, I’ll be able to
blend this back into the main batch until I reach my desired level of acetic
acid.
After 15 months of aging, the beer was developing nicely but
still lacked both the lactic punch and complexity that I was hoping
for. I probably could have let it continue on its own, but I decided that I’d
experiment with this batch and age it on some fresh Sangiovese grapes from
Walla Walla, Washington. While domestic versions of this grape tend to
lean more towards the fruity side than those of Tuscany, the Washington state
Sangiovese grapes are known for their spicy, tart cherry flavors with
supporting background notes of tobacco, all of which seem like highly
complementary flavors to a Flanders Red. Additionally, although the grapes
themselves have high levels of acidity, adding the sugar-laden fruit to a batch
of beer with a high level of bacteria and wild yeast should help to amplify the
overall acidity of the batch in a relatively short order.
Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 6
Total Grain (Lbs): 14
Actual OG: 1.059
Final Gravity: 1.006
Anticipated SRM: 13
Anticipated IBUs: 15
Wort Boil Time (Mins): 90
Grain Bill
43.0% - 6.0 lbs Vienna Malt
21.5% - 3.0 lbs Munich Malt
21.5% - 3.0 lbs Pilsner Malt
4.5% - 10 oz. CaraMunich 40
3.6% - ½ lb Special B
3.6% - ½ lb Wheat Malt
2.2% - 5 oz. Aromatic Malt
Hops
33 grams Liberty (pellets, 3.0% AA) @ 90 minutes
Yeast
Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Blend
Cantillon dregs starter & East Coast Yeast brett blend
#9 (Added at 15 months along with grapes)
Water Profile and Additions
Charcoal filtered Seattle Water
Mash Additions: 0.25 g/g Chalk, 0.6 g/g Calcium Chloride,
0.25 g/g Epsom Salt, 0.5 g/g Baking Soda, and 0.2 g/g Salt
HLT Additions: 1.2 g/g Calcium Chloride, 0.25 g/g Epsom
Salt, 0.5 g/g Baking Soda, and 0.2 g/g Salt
Mash Schedule
60 minutes @ 155°
15 minute mash out rest @ 168°
Sparged with 170° water
Notes
11/6/2010 – Brewed with Blake.
Apparently I didn’t have my water adjustment methodology
down back then based on all the additions I made…both to the mash and sparge
tanks.
Collected 7 gallons of 1.051 wort and topped off to 7.5
gallons. Boiled 90 minutes and then chilled down to 65 degrees.
Ended with 6 gallons of 1.059 wort.
Did not oxygenate and pitched in straight Roselare
pack. Fermented at 66 degrees.
12/5/2011 - Racked off yeast cake and into secondary (keg w/
airlock) along with ½ oz of French Med + oak stave. Placed down in my
basement where depending on the season, temp shifts between 58 and 70.
1/25/2012 - Defrosted grapes and mashed into
carboy. Flushed with CO2 and then racked over Flanders
Red. Added about 1 cup and a half of a starter made from the dregs of
various Cantillon beers as well as a bit of the East Coast Yeast blend
#9. Left down in basement with current temp of 59°.
Sounds like a great beer you have going there. And I agree that red wine grapes have a lot of similar flavor components as a Flanders Red, so that should help with adding complexity. I'll be interested in your final results.
ReplyDeleteA couple questions:
How did you go about getting the grapes?
How did you acetic acid starter work?
For sure, it'll be interesting to see how it develops. As for the grapes, a buddy of mine and I went in on a 25lb. box of grapes that we ordered through Mountain Homebrew and Wine over in Kirkland, WA. We didn't know exactly when they'd come in, but once the growers determined they were at their peek, we got the call.
DeleteI haven't actually sampled the acedic acid starter yet, so I'll have to update you on that once it comes time to package this beer. Hopefully this theory will prove true and work out well.