Sour Blonde

My recent love for sour beers has been quickly increasing.  I can’t get enough of tart, funky beers on fruit and other things.  One problem with brewing them is that they take so dang long.  I managed to speed up my Sour Brown with good results, but I need more, and quickly.  I’m going to dedicate my 3 gallon better bottle to quick sour/funky beers.  If breweries like Wicked Weed and others can put out endless sour beers, so can I.  As good as beers that have been aged for 2 years in oak are, I believe I can make good (not necessarily great) beers in 2 or 3 months. 

This is the first test of that theory, a Sour Blonde.  I’m going to take a light blonde ale and sour it using my sour wort method, then pitch The Yeast Bay’s Brussels Brett into it for a 100% fermentation and let it ride.  I hope since this is solely being fermented by Brett that it’ll go quickly, funk it up a little to add to the already sour blonde base.  I might add part of it on a summer fruit (peaches?) and maybe part on oak to get something different out of it.

Sour Blonde

3.5 Gallons

9 lb Pilsner

0.5 lb White Wheat

0.5 lb C10

1.25 oz Saaz (60 min)

OG 1.068

FG 1.013

IBU 32.2

The Yeast Bay Brussels Brett

Mash at 148F.  Sour for 2-3 days at 100F.  Ferment at 66F ambient.

7/7/14: Mashed inwith 3.5 gallons at 162F.  Missed target temperature high around 151F.  Mashed for 60 mins, mashed out with 2.25 gallons.  Collected 4.15 gallons of 1.058 wort.  Put in souring bucket with heating pad on Medium and saran wrap on top.

7/10/14: Boiled, hopped with 1.25 oz Saaz.  3 gallons of OG 1.068 wort.  Pitched 1 vial of The Yeast Bay Brussels Brett yeast.  Fermented at 68F.
7/15/14: Gravity reading 1.050.  Bumped to 70F.
7/20/14: Removed from fridge and put at room temp ~78F.
7/22/14: Gravity reading 1.022  Some brett funk and fruitness coming through.  Sourness is becoming more sharp.

Won Best in Show at 2014 KFB Beer Fest