Hello Homebrewers!
Today I would like to share my recipe and process for making a very tasty sour red ale. I was originally inspired to craft my own version of a sour red ale after drinking a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin’s La Roja. My goal was to make a beer based on a Flanders Red but with a few variations from the classic style. Unlike a classic Flanders Red, I wanted my version to have little to no vinegar character as well as having a greater Brettanomyces funk. Lastly, I wanted to ensure that my version had a good intense sour presence. It had been my experience that a lot of homebrewed sour beers would have all the attributes of commercial sour beers except for an intense sour character. It seemed that when using some traditional souring methods many beers would take several years to become properly sour or potentially never sour fully.
This led me to try out a somewhat different fermentation schedule which I can now report as successful after having tested it on multiple recipes over the past few years. The trick to this schedule is to allow the bacteria Lactobacillus time to fully establish itself and begin souring the wort before any species of yeast begins using up all of the sugars that the Lactobacillus need for growth and souring. I will explain this in more detail but first I will need to describe some of the equipment I use to make this process possible.
When brewing, I use a 3 vessel, 15 gallon, stainless system with a recirculating mash tun to produce the wort. This system is direct fired with propane and allows for multiple step mashing. In regards to sour brewing though the system used for wort production is generally not critical, and equally great sour beers can be made using a variety of brew setups including extract brewing. Great beer, including great sour beer, is made during fermentation. The system I use to ferment my beers uses a small top loading chest freezer, a heating element called a ferm-wrap, and an electric temperature probe which controls both devices. I ferment my beers in glass carboys and use a carboy-cap with a stainless steel dip-tube so the temperature of the beer can be read. The temperature controller allows me to dial in a setting and then turns on the heater or freezer as need be to hold the beer at that temperature setting while it is fermenting.
This equipment, or something with similar heating and cooling capacity, is necessary for brewing a sour beer using a Lactobacillus-first fermentation because Lactobacillus prefers to ferment at about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 45.8 % Pilsner Malt
- 27 % White Wheat Malt
- 13.1 % Caramel Wheat Malt
- 9 % Rye Malt
- 2.6% 60-L Crystal Malt
- 2.5% Special Roast Malt
- 1 to 2 ounces Crystal Hops (3.5% AA) added to Mash.
Mash:
- 130 F for 15 minutes
- 158 F for 45 minutes
- 168 F for 10 minutes
Boil:
- Boil for 90 minutes
- Whirlfloc @ 15 minutes until end
- Servomyces @ 10 minutes until end
- Original Gravity = 1.062
- Cool wort to 110 F and transfer into carboy.
- Pitch 1 fresh vial of Lactobacillus delbruckii (WLP677) per 5 gallons of wort.
- Ferment for 2 to 4 days at 110 F.
- Cool fermentation to 65 F.
- Pitch enough vials or an appropriately sized starter of Dry English Ale yeast (WLP007) & oxygenate for 1 minute.
- Ferment at around 65 to 67 F until fermentation complete. I like to turn my temperature up a few degrees toward the last 25% of fermentation to drive attenuation & promote healthy fermentation characteristics.
- Final gravity at this point should be around 1.018 (70% Attenuation).
- Transfer beer off of primary yeast & pitch 1 vial of Brettanomyces lambicus (WLP653) per 5 gallons. At this point I transfer from a 6.5 gallon carboy into a 5 gallon carboy and I fill the carboy up to the neck to reduce surface area.
- Age between 60 to 70 F.
- Brettanomyces characteristics will develop over 3 to 6 months on average.
- Over time attenuation will continue to increase to near 100%
The reason this process works well is because Lactobacillus is the organism which provides the lactic acid and sour presence in most sour beers. By allowing this bacteria to grow, feed, and properly establish itself in the beer before yeast is introduced, it virtually ensures that the beer will reach a proper level of souring. At this point a standard strain of brewers yeast can ferment the beer. After this, introducing Brettanomyces into the low-sugar, higher alcohol, and higher acid environment of the beer will make the Brettanomyces work hard to survive. In this environment the Brettanomyces will slowly consume the longer chain residual sugars in the beer and produce a variety of funky characteristics.
When aging this beer, it is a good idea to keep the carboy filled up as far as possible (into the neck of the carboy). This reduces the surface area and potential for the beer to pick up oxygen that leaks through the rubber carboy stopper and airlock. Reducing oxygen pickup during aging both prevents staling and prevents the formation of vinegar flavors.
If brewed and fermented well this recipe will produce a very nice sour red ale. The sour level will be fairly high and within 3 to 6 months the Brettanomyces will produce moderate to high levels of bready, leathery, and farmyard-like flavors and aromas. The crystal and carmel malts in the recipe will retain some residual sweetness to help balance these flavors and will still be present at the 3 to 6 month range along with a medium body and mouthfeel still present. If aged longer (the batch I am currently drinking is 18 months old) the body will thin out and the beer will become increasingly dry.
This is a recipe I have brewed multiple times over the years because I have found the beer to consistently turn out well and has always been an enjoyable one to drink. Hopefully you will enjoy it too! Please write in or comment with any questions.
Happy Brewing!
Matt
Hi Matt,
I was just curious as to why you chose Dry English Ale yeast for this beer… Is there something you like about how the specific ester profile works with the brett or do you think that other yeasts would work equally well?
Initially I chose this strain because I wanted a slightly less attenuative yeast to leave some more nutrients for Brett. I later tried the same recipe with WLP001. I do think that choosing a Sacc strain that produces fruiter esters allows the Brett to develop a slightly more complex profile later on and these batches seemed to yield those results. These were pretty subtle variations though. Also, mashing higher and choosing the less attenuative yeast gives this beer a bit more body and a little more sweet to sour balance early on (6 months) but the beer isn’t package stable until about 12 months. Depending on what your looking for and how the beer would be served should help determine whether to mash higher or lower. I think Brett strain selection , the precursor esters and phenols left by Sacc, and when the Brett is introduced into the process have far more to do with how the Brett will behave than the degree of complex carbohydrates left in the beer. Got a bit off topic there but wanted to through that in also.
Thanks!
Matt
Matt,
I am interested to try this recipe out. Question for you though, what do you find the Special Roast brings to the table here? Does the biscuit quality come out strong in the final beer? Also wondering how you think this compares to Flanders Reds? What do you feel the Carawheat brings to the table that a similar L of barley based crystal malt would bring?
Hi Steve,
The special roast is essentially a color adjustment. When I created this recipe I had used this malt in several Irish Red Ale recipes and enjoyed its deep red color and biscuit notes. One of the things that I enjoy about this recipe is that even after it becomes fully attenuated by Brettanomyces and very dry, the malt’s cracker, biscuit, caramel, and raisin flavors still remain vibrant. It’s this perceived sweetness that continues to add balance to an otherwise very sour and dry beer. The carawheat on the other hand was a decision I made because I wanted the recipe to have a 50% barley to 50% wheat ratio. I think that you’d have equally good results if replacing the carawheat with an equivalent crystal malt.
This beer ends up with a different balance than most Flanders Reds. The malt flavors are very similar but the acid profile is different being more intensely sour and also almost entirely made of lactic rather than acetic acid. Also the Brett aging in this recipe tends to produce a blend of leather, dough, and hay that isn’t typical in traditional Flanders Reds.
Cheers!
Matt
Thanks for the info Matt. I have made a couple Flanders Reds with Roeselare Blend from Wyeast which never really got sour enough. I am trying some other fermentation schedules with that blend right now too though. Trying to hold at a higher temp after initial sacc fermentation subsides. This weekend I will try your technique of letting the lacto have a head start. Pitching Lacto Brevis from Wyeast, then some sacc, then Brett Lambicus from Wyeast (which I hear is more cherry pie and fruit than the White Labs Lambicus).
I wonder what brett strain a Flanders Red should have if not pitching Roeselare. It would be interesting to find out.
You say that the Special Roast is essentially for colour adjustment, but it seems like you enjoy the biscuity/cracker notes that the special roast probably contributes. Do you get much raisin notes from the C60 or Carawheat? I wonder if an addition of darker crystal might be good. A touch of special B or C90L.
Hi Matt – just curious why you pitch multiple vials of yeast (sacc or brett) instead of pitching a starter?
Thanks for a great resource!
When topping up the carboy during secondary fermentation to minimize oxygen exposure, what are you using to top up? Do you save some wort or is it sterilized water?
Very much enjoyed this article. Thank you.
Hi Hugh,
When I age this recipe I usually brew enough so that after primary fermentation I can fill a carboy up to the neck at the time of pitching Brettanomyces. This reduces surface area and minimizes the risk of oxygen exposure. After that when sampling I take small amounts and flush the carboy headspace with CO2. I don’t think topping up is necessary, but if you do plan to top up you would keep a reserve of cleanly fermented beer to do so. Thank you for reading and writing in!
Cheers!
Matt
Thanks for stating your information that can feel overwhelming at times in a simple and understandable way.
Really fantastic blog. Maybe I missed in , do you bottle or keg? I’m sure gravity will dictate when it’s time but would you say a year ?
Thanks again
Joe
Thank you Joe! I keg all of my homebrews including sours, then counter-pressure bottle fill if need be. For this recipe and process, the beer tends to hit stable gravity between 12-18 months. I wouldn’t recommend bottling it until you see a gravity that stays stable for 2-3 months.
Cheers!
Matt
Thanks for making your blog such an awesome resource. Do you take any additional precautions to avoid off flavors developing during the pre-souring phase of this recipe? For sour worting and sour mashing, I’ve read advice including minimizing headspace, lowering the ph with food-grade lactic acid, purging with CO2, keeping the temp above 112 or laying plastic wrap on the wort’s surface. If I’m reading the recipe correctly, you have 5 gallons of wort and a lacto culture at 110 in a 6.5 gallon carboy for a few days before pitching the ale yeast. Thanks! – Jason
Thanks Jason! When I ferment this recipe in glass carboys, my preferred precautionary step is to pre-acidify the wort to pH 4.5. Beyond that, I keep the wort held at the preferred temperature for whatever Lacto strain I am using. I think oxygen avoidance is mostly unnecessary when dealing with pure strains of Lactobacillus.
Cheers!
Matt
Absolutely love your website as you have done your research and it gives me a treasure trove to dive into. I plan on trying to give this beer a whirl in the next couple of weeks and wanted to try and get some advice/pointers. First, do you have a good description or show how you have your keezers setup to hold at a temp of around 110 degrees? I have a couple of ideas how I am going to try and build it out, but figure you have a working method why not look there first. Also, for this recipe, do you think adding fruit would add a different dynamic? I plan on using a wine barrel that I bought online and still need to clean and get ready, but figured why not go all out and give it a shot. Its a 55 gallon barrel but figure im shooting to get around 20-25 gallon of wort in there which I hope doesn’t hurt it with the headspace
Hi, what volume of wort is this recipe for? To adjust your hop additions for my system I wasn’t sure what the volume of wort production is for this recipe. Thanks
Hi Phil, This recipe was originally scaled to a 6 gallon batch. The idea of adding hops to the mash is that they really won’t impact the wort composition much in terms of IBU or flavor addition. It would be just as applicable to eliminate them from the recipe completely.
Cheers!
Great blog! I have a similar ferm chamber setup. Do you find any issues with the ferm wrap holding initial temps at >100F? Would this process work for a sour blonde recipe?
Thanks Chris!
I’ve found that these ferm-wraps in an enclosed space have no trouble holding temps upwards of 110 F. I’ve also used mine to raise the fermentation from room temp into temps which are then held stable anywhere from 85-95 F. They’re quite versatile and produce a good amount of heat when needed.
You can apply the same fermentation process to a blond sour as well.
Cheers!
This is great stuff ! I was hoping to bottle after 3 months but I guess that’s out. What precautions do you take with your keg and taps? My self , I have a tower and of course tubing. Dedicated car boys and hose with syphon are no problem at all. Just wondering what you do with your keg system as far as sanitation or dedication.
Thanks again.
Hi Pat,
I don’t dedicate specific tap lines to sour or non-sour beer. On my home draft system I would clean the lines between each keg with a PBW soak followed by an Iodophor soak. At Mellow Mink we do a weekly caustic soak, rinse, PAA soak, and rinse. Have never encountered line issues using either process. The second method is overkill for a home draft system in my opinion but certainly does the job.
Cheers!