Buxton
Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2012
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 12
- Recipe Type
- All Grain
- Yeast
- WLP320
- Yeast Starter
- No
- Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
- Wyeast 5335
- Batch Size (Gallons)
- 5.5
- Original Gravity
- 1.065
- Final Gravity
- 1.012
- Boiling Time (Minutes)
- 90
- IBU
- 25
- Color
- 18 (Red/Pinkish)
- Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
- 7 Days @ 68-72 degrees F
- Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
- 14 days @ 68
- Additional Fermentation
- Cold crash @32 degrees for 4 days before kegging.
- Tasting Notes
- Fantastic tart cherry beer!
I wanted to make a beer that was sour and cherry flavored without having to do all of the work of a turbid mash, or wait the year+ that Kriek Lambics take to age for tartness, so I decided to make a Cherry Wheat beer, using a sour mash method. It's not as difficult as it sounds but gives the tartness I crave, and the cherry flavor I love.
Recipe: All grain, 5.5 Gallon Batch
Grist:
-6 lbs. White Wheat Malt
-3 lbs. Pilsner Malt
-12 oz. Acidulated Malt
Hops
-Tettnang 1.5 oz. for 60 min.
Water
Moderate water, I used a 75% Carbon filter 25% RO water combination, the acidulated malt brings down the mash pH quite a bit so you don't want to go too soft.
***SOUR MASH***
This step is essential if you want a sourish beer, which I did. This step also MUST be done at the very least, 2 days before brew day although I recommend 3.
In any kitchen pot take 4 Qt. of tap water and bring it to 162 F., add 3 lbs. of milled Pilsner malt and keep it at 162 degrees for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes ramp the temperature up to 170 degrees F. for 10 minutes. After this is done let the mash cool down below 120 degrees F. When you are below 120 degrees F., move the mash to a small cooler, or pitcher that can be sealed off (you want to make sure you try to avoid any agitation of this sour mash the entire time during both rests). Then pitch the wyeast 5335 Lactobacillius packet to the mash try as hard as you can not to agitate the mash as you want to pick up as little oxygen as possible. When you have pitched the Lacto culture cover the mash in the container with sanitized plastic wrap to try to keep any oxygen from permeating into the sour mash. Let this sit in a warm environment, not to exceed 120 degrees F. I covered my sour mash vessel in a heating blanket for 3 days until brew day.
Brew Day
Brew like you normally would, I did a single infusion at 152 degrees for 60 min followed by a mash out at 170 for 15 min. The trick is to add the sour mash to your lauter. This way of sour mashing gives the most sourness to the final beer. Lauter for a good 20 minutes or so to allow all of the sour mash to get into your wort, then run off to the kettle for a 90 minute boil. Add the Tettnang hops for 60 min. I add 2 lbs of frozen cherries, found in my local grocery store frozen food section to the last 15 minutes of my boil when I also add Irish moss. At the end of boil cool your wort to 68 degrees F. and pitch the WLP 320 yeast. After it has gone terminal in about a week or so, rack to secondary and add 5 lbs of frozen cherries, but first pasteurize them by "boiling" them at 160 degrees F. in a ziplock bag for 15 min. Cool the cherries first of course, let the beer sit on the cherries for 2 weeks, follow that by a cold crash for 3 days and then keg or bottle as you normally would. You don't need to worry about contamination to any of your equipment either since the lactobaciillus is killed during the boil.
This beer is fantastic, has a great sourness, and delicious cherry flavor as well. It also doesn't take 1-3 years to ferment. Sour mashing is so quick and easy comparatively. Let me know if your batches turn out as well as mine. Keg was gone in a couple weeks.
Recipe: All grain, 5.5 Gallon Batch
Grist:
-6 lbs. White Wheat Malt
-3 lbs. Pilsner Malt
-12 oz. Acidulated Malt
Hops
-Tettnang 1.5 oz. for 60 min.
Water
Moderate water, I used a 75% Carbon filter 25% RO water combination, the acidulated malt brings down the mash pH quite a bit so you don't want to go too soft.
***SOUR MASH***
This step is essential if you want a sourish beer, which I did. This step also MUST be done at the very least, 2 days before brew day although I recommend 3.
In any kitchen pot take 4 Qt. of tap water and bring it to 162 F., add 3 lbs. of milled Pilsner malt and keep it at 162 degrees for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes ramp the temperature up to 170 degrees F. for 10 minutes. After this is done let the mash cool down below 120 degrees F. When you are below 120 degrees F., move the mash to a small cooler, or pitcher that can be sealed off (you want to make sure you try to avoid any agitation of this sour mash the entire time during both rests). Then pitch the wyeast 5335 Lactobacillius packet to the mash try as hard as you can not to agitate the mash as you want to pick up as little oxygen as possible. When you have pitched the Lacto culture cover the mash in the container with sanitized plastic wrap to try to keep any oxygen from permeating into the sour mash. Let this sit in a warm environment, not to exceed 120 degrees F. I covered my sour mash vessel in a heating blanket for 3 days until brew day.
Brew Day
Brew like you normally would, I did a single infusion at 152 degrees for 60 min followed by a mash out at 170 for 15 min. The trick is to add the sour mash to your lauter. This way of sour mashing gives the most sourness to the final beer. Lauter for a good 20 minutes or so to allow all of the sour mash to get into your wort, then run off to the kettle for a 90 minute boil. Add the Tettnang hops for 60 min. I add 2 lbs of frozen cherries, found in my local grocery store frozen food section to the last 15 minutes of my boil when I also add Irish moss. At the end of boil cool your wort to 68 degrees F. and pitch the WLP 320 yeast. After it has gone terminal in about a week or so, rack to secondary and add 5 lbs of frozen cherries, but first pasteurize them by "boiling" them at 160 degrees F. in a ziplock bag for 15 min. Cool the cherries first of course, let the beer sit on the cherries for 2 weeks, follow that by a cold crash for 3 days and then keg or bottle as you normally would. You don't need to worry about contamination to any of your equipment either since the lactobaciillus is killed during the boil.
This beer is fantastic, has a great sourness, and delicious cherry flavor as well. It also doesn't take 1-3 years to ferment. Sour mashing is so quick and easy comparatively. Let me know if your batches turn out as well as mine. Keg was gone in a couple weeks.