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Rationalité Poison d'Ereeeek

Brewed: 09/09/2012   Kegged: 09/27/2012

The 2010 GABF, really opened the SheppyBrew brew-master's eyes to sour beers, and now he loves to try sour beers of all kinds. His favorite sour style is probably Flander's Red, and he has been planning on trying to brew one of his own for quite some time.

Unfortunately, he is not really sure that he is ready to purposely introduce bacteria or other types of wild bugs to the SheppyBrew brewery. that are generally used to produce sour flavors in beer. Luckily, there are other techniques that can be used to create sour flavors.

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The SheppyBrew Brew Master decided to try a sour mash.

The recipe of the beer is more or less the Flander's Red recipe from Jamil's book, Brewing Classic Styles. At one point I decided to age the beer on cherry puree to compliment the tart sourness. When I brewed batch 1, I decided to try it without cherries first and see how it turned out. Batch 2 might age on cherries, or maybe not. We will see.

I did end up adding ultra-ferm in secondary to try to dry the beer out a bit. I probably would not have used it except I had some that I bought accidentally instead of clarity-ferm one time.

I am thinking of making a small batch of this recipe using Weyermann Acidulated Malt to achieve the sourness instead of a sour mash.

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I have used this sour base a few times to blend with other beers to create something completely different. It is sort of cool to sour up some of my standard beers.

For more information on Rationalité Poison d'Ereeeek, take a look at my blog label Rationalité Poison.

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Rationalité Poison d'Ereeeek --- batch 1

Style
Flanders Red Ale
Batch Size
5.50 gal
Type
All Grain
Boil Size
7.00 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency
70.00
Boil Time
90 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity
1.052 SG
Estimated FG
1.012 SG
Recipe Bitterness
14.4 IBUs (Rager)
Alcohol by Volume
5.3 %
BU : GU
0.274



Recipe Color
12.7 SRM
Color


Measured OG:
1.052

Measured FG:
1.006
ADF:
88

Measured ABV:
6

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 39.1 %
4 lbs 8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 39.1 %
12.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.5 %
7.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.8 %
7.0 oz Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.8 %
7.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.8 %
7.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 7 3.8 %
0.25 oz Magnum [15.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 14.4 IBUs
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 9 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 10 -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Other 11 -

Mash Profile

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash Step Add 14.38 qt of water at 176.0 F 154.0 F 120 min
Mash Step Add 6.90 qt of water at 135.4 F 120.0 F 120 min

Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.50gal) of 168.0 F water

Recipe Notes

A couple days before brew day, mash All but a handfull of the malt. Cool to around 120 and add a handful of malt to inoculate the beer. Keep the mash at 100 to 120 for 24 to 48 hours by adding boiling water as needed. Note the amount of water added.
On brew day, perform the sparge. Make sure to subtract the amount of water from the sparge that has been used to keep the mash warm.
Boil as usual.
Ferment at 60 to 65 until main fermentation is done and then rack into secondary fermentor. Age to taste.
Bottle or keg as desired and carbonate to taste.

Brewing Record

Brew Date:
9/9/2012

Strike Temp:

Mash Temps:
see comments
Pre-boil OG
1.049 (1.049 SG)
Pre-boil Vol
7 (7.00 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency
83

Pitch Temp
66
Fermentation





Day 1: Nice kraussen going 62
Day ...
Day ...



 
Brewing Notes:
09/06/2012 esheppy
Bought ingredients today, so I guess this weekend is going to be the sour mash. Decided I am going to leave out the cherries this time and probably not use the Champagne yeast. Will most likely start the sour mash Friday night. Based on podcasts I've heard recently, I might sour the whole mash rather than part of it. Have not decided.
09/07/2012 esheppy
Doing mash. Been about 2 hours and temp is constant at 156ish. Not sure how to handle cooldown.
09/08/2012 esheppy
Well, at about 4AM, I got up and checked. The temp was still not at 120, so I added some cold water and then put in the grains. "Purged" the headspace of the tun with CO2 and then covered the grains with foil. Will let the mash sour now. I hope I am giving it enough time before brew day tomorrow.
09/08/2012 esheppy
Monitored temperature all day. Got down to 100 around 7:30 I added 2 quarts of boiling water. Earlier I tasted the liquid and was pleasantly surprised at the nice clean lactic sour. The aroma off the top isn't too bad. Am pleased with how this is going so far.
09/09/2012 esheppy
The mash held its heat overnight. Still like the taste. About to heat up water for the sparge.
09/10/2012 esheppy
Brew day went pretty well (yesterday). Think I taste a bit of vinegar in the wort, which probably means I let it get oxygenated. I am letting it ferment out anyway to see if that goes away. Got a full 6 gallons. Put in blow-off tube this morning.
09/11/2012 esheppy
Still bubbling away and at about 64. Have not needed the blow-off-tube yet.
09/11/2012 esheppy
By the end of the day, temp up to 68 and lots of blowoff.
09/12/2012 esheppy
I think the kraussen is actually settling down. May take out the blow-off tomorrow and replace it with the airlock.
09/14/2012 esheppy
Replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock last night. Before I went to bed, checked on it and the airlock had krassen in it, so I added the blow-off tube back in.
09/15/2012 esheppy
Took a sample. SG at 1.010. The sample tasted very nice. Still some residual sweetness. Might add ultraferm to secondary in hopes to future dry this out.
09/16/2012 esheppy
Racked into secondary. Added ultraferm to see if I can get this a bit drier. Also filled about 3/4 of a growler primed with sugar.
09/18/2012 esheppy
There are little bubbles coming up through the wort. It is not enough to reform any kind of kraussen. I don't know if this means that that ultra-ferm is slowing doing its thing or if this is just carbon dioxide coming out of solution.
09/27/2012 esheppy
Moved to a keg to continue aging. Gravity was at 1.006, which makes this a 6.0% ABV beer. Sour flavor was nice, but probably not as intense as other Flanders Reds I have had. Probably didn't have the depth of complexity either. I am sure I'll still enjoy it. Not sure how long I will let it age in the keg. Eventually I will probably bottle this.
10/18/2012 esheppy
Took a little sample. Lots of carbonation, which sort of surprised me. Tastes about the same as I remember. I will certainly have to try this next time I try a La Folie.
12/07/2012 esheppy
Blended with the Wetta Raspberry and thought it was really good.
12/08/2012 esheppy
Took another gravity sample. Still 1.006. Really clear. Tastes pretty good. Will have to chill this and start drinking. So far it has just been samples and blends for this beer.
12/11/2012 esheppy
Has been outside for the past few days. Got a bit slushy, so it is now down in my basement.
12/13/2012 esheppy
Had my first "official" taste today. I am actually really liking this beer.
01/16/2013 tracyshep
Had the beer in the growler. Very nice. Extremely carbonated.
Comments:
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