Vital Statistics:
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Recipe: 8 lb 2-row pale malt 8 oz Crystal 60°L 2 oz chocolate malt 3 AAU (16g @ 5.1% AA) Fuggles @ 60 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 Wyeast 3522 - Belgian Ardennes (Primary) Wyeast 3763 - Roeselare Ale Blend (Secondary) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General Notes: First sour ale. First beer long-aged in the secondary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tasting Notes: Tasting notes taken 21 March 2013, 15 days after kegging. Dispensed from tap into a tulip. Appearance: medium brown hue with a light haze and not much in the way of apparent effervescence. Head poured about three fingers of soft ivory-tan foam, which has slowly reduced to about one finger over a few minutes; retention is pretty good. I would like to have seen more effervescence, but generally this is an attractive oud bruin. (4) Smell: aroma is malty with a definite biscuity/bready character. There is a moderate-to-mild lactic sourness and just a tiny hint of phenolic character. Overall, this is pretty successful for the style. I do find, however, that the biscuity character of the malt bothers me just a little bit. I think, next time, I'll use a different primary yeast; 1214 or something like that. (3.75) Taste: mild malty flavor with a hint of the breadiness from the aroma. Sourness is nice, but perhaps half of what I really wanted; perhaps I should have let this guy ferment in the secondary longer than 8 months? The finish is of a pretty clean bready flavor which I do like. Overall, though, the flavor is toned-down and a little watery. Nicely composed, but too mild. (3.75) Mouthfeel: I feel like this beer perhaps over-conditioned, but this mostly results in an overabundance of head rather than a truly creamy texture. I think the beer is just a little bit too astringent and highly attenuated to really develop a good creaminess. Not bad, but really nothing special. (3.5) Drinkability: mild though it may be, this is a quenching and highly quaffable brew. The ratio of its drinking time to its production time will probably be set a new all-time low record. Want more! (5) Overall score 3.9 (B+). I think a shorter primary fermentation would have given the bugs a little more to work with, which is exactly what I did for batch #68. I definitely want to be able to have a sour on at all times -- this is wonderful! Also homemade sour beer is possibly the most cost-effective of homebrews. Figure $5-6 for 330mL of most brews like this, so 17 liters would be in the neighborhood of $250-300. Cost of ingredients here: $23-24. 91% off -- not bad. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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