Lallemand WildBrew

Source: lallemandbrewing.com

My copy of Zymergy showed up yesterday, and as I am want to do, I pay close attention to the ads.  Yes, I admit it...well, the recipes and the ads.  I've come across some interesting items, including but not limited to new yeast strains available, and this time was no different.  This time, I saw an ad that immediately caught my eye, for Lallemand Brewing's new dry WildBrew Sour Pitch sachet.

I've read the data sheet for the yeast blend, and it will be interesting to see how my process for making a sour beer would change/need to be modified to use this product.

Also, I'm a fan of NE-style IPAs, and there's apparently a LalBrew New England yeast available now specifically for this style of beer.

Hhhmmm...so what happens if I want a sour NE IPA?  ;-)

Watermelon Sour

I picked up a watermelon in May, and saved some of the juice left over after cutting it up, chilling it, and sharing some of it with the horses and donkey (some love it, others not so much).  I made a sour saison last year with an addition of watermelon that turned out really nice, so I thought I'd do it again, with different hops, etc.

Brew Day: 26 Jun 2018

Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

After the boil has completed, cool the wort in an ice bath to 80 deg F, and add it to a fermenter with 2 GoodBelly Straight Shots.  Wrap in a towel and place on a warming plate for at least 48 hrs.

Boil #2 (20 min): 29 Jun 2018

Something of note; I had been downstairs yesterday, around the time the wort had been souring for 48 hrs or so, and everything looked fine.  I have the fermenter wrapped in a towel and I usually just slip the palm of my hand under the towel and press it against the fermenter to check the temperature.  When I went to retrieve the fermenter today, there seemed be indications of fermentation...the airlock had bubbles in it, and there seemed to be some of the same material I usually see during fermentation pushed up into the tube of the airlock.

The wort smelled fine as I poured it into the kettle, and whatever was apparently growing is going to be killed off by the boil.

Hops:
Azacca (AA: 9.8%) and Citra (AA: 13.2%) are both from BSGHops
7 g Azacca, 7 g Citra (FWH)
7 g Azacca, 7 g Citra (whirlpool, 20 min)
7 g Azacca, 7 g Citra (whirlpool, 10 min)
7 g Azacca, 7 g Citra (dry hop)

Yeast: US-05

Chill wort to 80 deg F in an ice bath, aerate and pitch yeast.

Addendum, 30 Jun: Checked on the fermentation early this afternoon; apparently, some of the hops and trube had collected in the blow-off tube and backed up the gas which then built up and rather explosively pushed the end of the tube out of the fermenter cap.  The force of the explosion was enough to send material not just all over the walls of the shower, but also on the ceiling.  I put a fresh blow-ff tube in place, and the fermentation continued, so I think maybe I got to it in time.

Following the first boil, I cooled the wort and racked it on to the Straight Shots.  I was able to fill the fermenter almost to the top, as there's no fermentation activity that takes place.  After placing the fermenter on the warming plate, I was able to collect another whole Gatorade bottle of wort, which I placed in the fridge, to await the second boil.  Even with the full fermenter and the additional bottle, the effect of the boil (evaporation) and the amount of liquid absorbed by the two post-flame-out hop additions left just enough of the hopped wort in the kettle such that a good amount of the first addition of hops was deposited in the fermenter.

For future brews, when following this process, the ideal method would be to add not just the additional collected wort to the second boil, but also some additional water.  This would allow me to rack the hopped wort into the fermenter and minimize the additional materials added.  This isn't necessarily something I face with other brews.

Addendum, 11 July: Dry hopped today.

Addendum, 16 July: Racked beer on to 12 oz of watermelon juice.  Prepared the juice by squeezing it out of watermelon chunks, placing it in a sealed container and freezing it.  This morning, I placed the sealed container in a warm water bath, until the juice got to room temperature.  I then measured out 12 oz into a sanitized fluid measuring cup, and then added that to a sanitized fermenter.  I then racked the beer on to it.

Addendum, 21 July: Bottled, on less than an ounce of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. boiling water.  I figured the fruit juice contributed some sugar, and after sitting for a bit, there was likely some left for the yeast to dine on while in the bottle.  Got 9 good bottles, and one re-purposed soda bottle that was almost completely full.  That one will be sample bottle in a bit more than 2 weeks.

Zythos IPA

I was at my local homebrew supply shop the other day, picking up some supplies for some upcoming brews, and I ran across Zythos hops.  I had been researching hops earlier that would impart pineapple, and had been looking for Denali hops for possible inclusion in a sour IPA with watermelon, but I had also read about Zythos.  So, I picked up 2 oz of the hops, and decided to give it a shot.

Brew Day: 23 Jun 2018

Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich I
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops: Zythos AA: 9.2%   Beta: 5.2%
7 g Zythos (FWH)
21 g Zythos (whirlpool, 20 min)
14 g Zythos (whirlpool, 10 min)
14 g Zythos (dry hop)

Yeast: US-05

I followed all of my usual procedures for the boil, cooling, and pitching the yeast.

Addendum, 4 July: Dry hopped on 14 g Zythos hops.

Addendum, 9 July: Bottled today, on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water.  Got 6 good bottles, and 2 re-purposed soda bottles out of it.

Tasting Notes, 19 Aug: Beer pours easily with a soft, pillowy head, without becoming too much.  Mild lacing all the way down the glass, throughout the time enjoying the beer.  Faint sweet fruit in the nose, with an up-front fruitiness, followed by a mild resin on the back.  Very enjoyable beer.  Color and flavor puts it up there with a Bell's Two-Hearted, but with less bitterness.

Abbaye

Time for another abbaye ale!  Actually, I went to my local homebrew supply store a bit ago, and they didn't have some of the yeast I was looking for in stock, so I got a sachet of BE-256, and figured I'd go ahead and put another abbaye ale in the mix.

Brew Day: 22 May 2018

Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich 1
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
8 oz table sugar

Hops: 7 g German Perle, @ 20 min

Yeast: BE-256

I followed all of my usual procedures for mashing, boiling, chilling, aerating and pitching the yeast.

Addendum, 6 Jun: Racked to secondary.

Addendum, 29 Jun: Bottled today, on 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. boiling water.  Got 8 good bottles and one partial fill in a re-purposed soda bottle, which will be used for the initial tasting in about 3 wks.

MAC Sour

I really like hopped sours or sour IPAs, and as such, I'm going to try something a bit different, in that I'm going to try a combination of hops.  Most of my previous hopped sours have been really good, the most notable of which was the Huell Melon-hopped sour.

This time, I'm going to use a combination of the following hops:
Mosaic (AA: 10.8%)
Azacca (AA: 9.8%)
Citra (AA: 13.2%)

I'm sure you can see where the "MAC" comes from. Something I'm going to do with this brew is create an IPA without the sour, and try it side-by-side.  So, I'll make the following recipe again, albeit without the souring.

Brew Day: 21 May 2018

Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich 1
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Once wort has cooled to 80 deg F, pitch on to (2) Good Belly Straight Shots, then set fermenter on warming plate for 48 - 72 hrs.

Boil #2 (20 min): 24 May 2018
Boil for 20 min to kill the bugs, hop and pitch the yeast.  First whirlpool pitch of hops sits for 20 min, second sits for 10 min, then place kettle in ice bath to cool to 80 deg F, to prep for pitching the yeast.

Hops:
4 g of each of the hops (FWH)
8 g of each of the hops (20 min whirlpool)
8 g of each of the hops (10 min whirlpool)
4 g of each of the hops (dry hop 1)
4 g of each of the hops (dry hop 2)

Yeast:  US-05

Addendum, 7 Jun: Dry hop #1

Addendum, 10 Jun: Dry hop #2

Addendum, 16 Jun: Bottled today, on 2 1/2 T of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. boiling water; got 6 regular bottles, a 22 oz flip top bottle, and a repurposed Dr. Pepper bottle out of it.

Addendum, 2 Jul: First taste of this beer tonight, and WOW, is it good!  The very first thing I noticed was the aroma...I got some sweet fruit aroma with just a hint of citrus.  The first taste was amazing!  The body was nice, not too heavy, but good.  Definite fruity sweetness with a mild tartness on the finish.  There is very little bitterness, if any at all.  Very enjoyable beer!

Mosaic IPA

I picked up some Mosaic hops recently and based on the description, I really wanted to try an IPA using this hop variety.

Brew Day: 14 Apr 2018

Partial Mash:
20 oz Munich malt
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar
7 g Mosaic hops (@ 20 min)
21 g Mosaic hops (@ flameout)

Yeast: T-58

Addendum, 19 Apr: Replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock. During the process, got a whiff of some of the hops, wow!

Addendum, 30 Apr: Racked on to 14 g of Mosaic hops for dry hop #1.

Addendum, 4 May: Dry hop #2, 14 g of Mosaic hops.

Addendum, 7 May: Bottled today, got 8 good bottles.

Sour Summer IPA

I picked up some Summer hops a bit ago, and after the success I had with sour IPA hopped with Huell Melon hops (for the strawberry essence), I wanted to try the Summer hops.  This hop is described as having aromas of stone fruit and tropical fruit, with other descriptions mentioning apricot and melon.  I thought that would be a very nice aroma profile to go along with a light-bodied sour beer.

Brew Day: 10 Apr 2018

Partial Mash:
1 lb Vienna malt
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil #1 (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

After the boil is complete, cool the wort to 80 deg F, and fill a fermenter on top of 2 Good Belly Straight Shots.  Place the fermenter on a heat plate, wrapped in a towel, for 3 days.

Boil #2 (20 min): 13 Apr 2018

Hops:
7 g Summer  (AA: 5.8%, @ 20 min)
21 g Summer (@ 0 min)

Yeast: BE-134

Boil and pitching of yeast, followed my usual processes.

Addendum, 14 Apr: Checked in the beer this morning, because I'm superstitious that way.  Anything brewed on Friday the 13th needs constant supervision.  Actually, that isn't true...I was returning some of my cleaned equipment to the shelf, and caught a some-what hoppy whiff coming from the fermentation area.  In last night's brew, I hadn't placed the late hop addition in a hop bag; rather, I'd added it directly to the boil, at flameout, and as such, there was a good bit of hop material in the kettle after I chilled the wort and began racking the wort into the fermenter.  There was a good bit of fermentation activity overnight, but not a lot of the wort had been pushed down the blow-off tube into the bottle.  There was, however, some hop material in the tube and bottle, as well as a very interesting, fruity aroma with a bit of hoppiness.

Addendum, 19 Apr: Replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock.

Addendum, 30 Apr: Racked on to 14 g of Summer hops for dry hop #1.

Addendum, 4 May: Dry hop #2, 14 g of Summer hops.

Addendum, 7 May: Bottled today, got 8 good bottles.

Addendum, 20 May: Tried one bottle tonight after chilling.  Mild tartness, full body, fruity, juicy flavor.  Definitely a delicious hopped sour; going to let this age just a bit more, maybe another week, before trying another one.

Addendum, 20 Jun: Had another one of these last night, very good! There was a slight tarty-sharpness to it, and also a sweetness at the same time.  I believe that some of the characteristics imparted by the yeast (as opposed to the US-05 that I usually use for these beers) subdued the sour aspect of the beer, but not to an overwhelming level.  I definitely liked the effect imparted by the hops, as well. 

Sah'ti

My last sah'tea turned out pretty well; my wife liked it a lot, I thought it lacked a bit of juniper-ness.  With this brew, I added a bit of crystal rye, and went back to adding the crushed juniper berries to the second half of the boil.

Brew Day: 7 Apr 2018

Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
5 oz rye
4 oz English crystal rye
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian Wheat DME
4 oz table sugar
14 g Styrian Goldings Hops (@ 20 min)
14 g crushed juniper berries (@ 10 min)

Yeast: K97

I followed all of my usual processes.

Addendum, 19 Apr: Racked to secondary.

Addendum, 7 May: Bottled today; got 9 good bottles.

Addendum, 20 May: Opened one bottle tonight after chilling.  Carbonation was very light, not mature enough at this point.  Even so, Terri liked the flavor.  The beer pours with a medium brown color, with some light bubbles around the edge of the glass.  I didn't try enough of it to really get a sense of the flavor, going to let this one rest for at least another week. 

Belgian

I recently read about a new dry yeast available, BE-134, and wanted to give it a shot.  My wife likes Belgian style beers a bit more than I do, and I like to make her beer that she likes.  This particular yeast seems to have some really good characteristics, and I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Brew Day: 31 Jan 2018

Partial Mash:
1.5 lb Munich malt
2 oz Carapils

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops: 14 g German Perle (@ 20 min)

Yeast: BE-134

I followed all of usual procedures in prep, boil, cooling the wort, and pitching the yeast.

Addendum, 7 Feb: Transferred to secondary today; due to my schedule, this is going to sit for just over a month before I do anything more with it.

Addendum, 28 Mar: Bottled today, on 2 1/2 T of sugar dissolved in 1/2 c of boiling water.  Got 9 good bottles out of it.  During bottling, this one smelled as if it might be pretty close to the Belgians that Terri likes!  Can't wait to see what this one tastes like!

Addendum, 20 Jun: Finally, after a couple of months, my wife stopped reaching for her Leffe's in the fridge and grabbed one of these, and she was glad she did!  Her first comment, after her first sip, was how much this one tasted like a Leffe!  Later in the evening, she wanted another beer, but only a half pour, so I split a bottle with her, and I have to say, this one is very close to a Leffe.

Another Brown Ale

The first brown ale I made turned out pretty well, and I wanted to kick it up a notch with a little something extra.  So, this time, I'm going to make a similar recipe, but add a little something special in secondary...

Brew Day: 29 Jan 2018

Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
4 oz Special B
4 oz flaked oats
2 oz chocolate malt
2 oz Carapils

Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops: 14 g Styrian Goldings hops (@ 20 min)

Yeast: DanStar Nottingham Ale

With this beer, I'm going to try something new (for me)...shortly after brewing this beer, I'm going to start soaking 1 oz of French oak chips in American Honey. I'll put the oak chips in a small, sanitized glass container, and just cover them in American Honey.  As they sit, I'll check on them to ensure that all or as much of the chips are soaking as possible.  After primary fermentation, I'll rack this beer into secondary, and let it rest on the oak chips.  My hope is that this will give the beer an "aged in bourbon oak barrels" flavor.  If it works, I'll continue to use this process with some sour beers in the very near future.

Addendum, 31 Jan: Fermentation of the beer is going very well.  Began soaking 1 oz of French oak chips in American Honey, by putting the chips in a sanitized glass container and just covering them.  I'll be checking on them regularly to see if they need any more added.

Addendum, 7 Feb: Transferred to secondary today, racking on to the soaked oak chips (which smelled incredible!).  Due to my schedule, this is going to sit for just over a month before I do anything else with it.  I should be able to try the first bottle of this around the end of March.

Addendum, 17 Feb: Decided, due to the weather, to bottle the beer today.  I figured that resting on the oak chips for 10 days would be a good start to see how this turned out, and from there, can adjust the timing.

Addendum, 11 Mar: Tried the partial bottle tonight, after chilling the beer.  The bottle opened with a noticeable fizz, but the beer itself was not carbonated.  There was no noticeable vanilla in the nose, and the beer itself was flat and sour, with a very noticeable flavor of tannins.  I'm thinking that the soaking of the oak chips in the booze did nothing to sanitize the oak chips, and bacteria was introduced.

Doing a bit of research, and asking a friend who's a professional brewer (thanks, Phil!), I've decided to update the process to include boiling the chips first, for at least 10 min, to kill any bugs and also remove some of the tannins.  The American Honey whiskey is only 35% ABV (70 proof), and that may not have been enough to kill any bugs.  Maker's Mark is 45% ABV (90 proof) which might be better, but why chance it, right?  Given the volume I'm brewing, letting the chips sit in the booze for 7-10 days, and then letting the beer sit on the chips for 7-10 days should be enough, and longer can only be better.