Funky Barrel I - Flanders Red 2008
- Details
- Parent Category: Club Activities
- Category: Club Brewing Projects
- Created on Friday, 01 February 2008 00:00
- Last Updated on Friday, 06 January 2012 13:23
- Written by Bobby Mierzejwski
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Note: There are more pics in the photogallery.
The recipe was borrowed from Jamil Z as was discussed on his Brewing Network podcast. We did this prior to the availability of "Brewing Classic Styles" so we found someone who compiled a list of Jamil's recipes on a website called Beerdujour.com. Brad Jones rebuilt the recipe in promash (.rec file) and made the file available on the Whales Yahoo site for all to use. Bobby also rebuilt it in Beertoolspro (.btp file). Both files are attached
Flanders Red17-B Flanders Red Ale
Size: 11.06 gal Original Gravity: 1.059 (1.046 - 1.054) Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.008 - 1.016) Color: 14.65 (10.0 - 16.0) Alcohol: 5.76% (5.0% - 5.5%) Bitterness: 13.2 (15.0 - 25.0) |
Ingredients:8.47 lb Pilsen Malt Schedule:Ambient Air: 70.0 °F 00:37:46 Mash In - Liquor: 6.53 gal; Strike: 174.91 °F; Target: 154 °F Noteshit 154 mash temp. |
Bobby extracted about a liter sample from the barrel in time for the May 2008 club meeting to let people taste how it was progressing;
| We just held the May Whales meeting and as those in attendance found, the Flanders batch is progressing nicely. Even though it's quite young, it is beginning to take on a subtle oak flavor and is certainly beginning to sour. When pulling the sample out of the barrel, I noticed a full pellicle: pel·li·cle (pl-kl) n. A thin skin or film, such as an organic membrane or liquid film. In any case, we know that Brett forms this coating so we can be sure it's active. Assuming most contribution batches went in somewhere between 1.010 and 1.020, we can also note that the Brett has further attenuated down to 1.005 already. It's likely this will be finishing down in wine territory. There is substantial headspace in the barrel. I pulled a quick sample with a sanitized turkey baster and it just made the surface. One of our new members Jay DeSimone will be brewing a batch as a top up contribution. The neat thing about Jamil's no-blend method is that adding a batch that has been mostly fermented out with traditional ale yeast can be added to the larger bulk should not introduce any new sugar or oxygen. If you added a sweet wort now, the Brett would overly sour it. I'm psyched to think we'll be sipping this one over the coming winter. - Bobby |
January 3rd, 2009 marked the end of the Flanders Red Sour project as most of the contributors made their way over to Bobby's house for the rack-out. After the two top-up contributors were accounted for, all involved ended up with around 4.5 gallons. The beer ran clear for the entire racking and having the barrel and cradle up on cinder blocks allowed us to rack via gravity.
There was plenty of tasting going on during the racking. We had a bottle of Rodenbach Red sitting on the floor under the barrel for a few months that we used as a comparison. The Whales Flanders is a little less sour, but also more dry (1.000 FG measured) so it's even more approachable than commercial versions. We also sampled the Unionville Vinyard's Cabernet Savignon which was the exact batch that was originally in the barrel we used. It didn't have all that much resemblence, but it was a commemorative gesture if anything. In any case, the project was a success.
Incidentally, we also brewed a Cherry Lambic (Kreik) on the same day which will take advantage of the lambic blend that already has a foot hold in the oak.
