Recipe: The Becca 2013: My Bruin Eyed Girl (Cherry Oud Bruin)

I was able to score a small slurry of Brett L and Lacto from a primary ferment of an unnamed source.  I immediately threw it into a starter of 500ml of 1.037 wort and 300 ml apple juice and put it on the stir plate for 2 weeks.  I thought about what I would brew, and came upon Oud Bruin.  Nice lactic twang, no vinegar, sweet and sour, big dark fruits, no Brett funk from a secondary ferment, no oak, not super attenuated.  Quite different from many of the sour, funky, bold, dry, oaky sours I normally do.  Though Brett as the primary strain would not be traditional, it would still work well as it will throw off big fruits, and Brett L should give a lot of cherry.  

Speaking of non traditional for Oud Bruin, neither is the grain bill.  I had been planning on doing a single mash split boil Munich Dunkel with the Oud Bruin, but decided 3 days prior that I didn't want a Dunkel for the Summer.  I switched it up and went with a big hoppy Imperial West Coast Red with a base of Vienna and touch of Munich (for rich maltiness w/o caramel).  I still wanted the Oud Bruin, and went with the same here - 26# of Vienna, 2# Munich II, maxed out mash tun for an overnight mash.  Of course, Vienna is not the traditional base malt for an Oud Bruin, Pilsner is, so this beer will be richer than a standard Oud Bruin would be, which I think will be good.  I added Caramunich 120 and Special B for dark fruits, raisins, plums, cherries, and Carafa III Special for color and a light chocolate background.  Give it 6+ months in the garage post primary through the Summer heat and it should make for a great beer this upcoming Fall and Winter (especially on a cold night @ ~8% ABV).

______________________________

Stats:

5.75 gallon 

OG 1.067

FG 1.003  

ABV 8.4%

IBUs 23

SRM 19

74% Extract Efficiency

71% Brewhouse Efficiency

______________________________

Fermentables:

13.0# Weyermann Vienna

1.0# Weyermann Munich II

0.75# MFB Caramunich 120 (steeped)

0.50# Special B (steeped)

0.13# Carafa III Special (steeped)

10 Hours @ 152*F (dropped to 135*F)

______________________________

Boil (60 mins):

60 0.70oz Columbus 17.5% (pellets)

______________________________

Kettle Additions:

Gypsum - 1/2t mash, 3/8t boil

Calcium Chloride - 5/8 mash, 1/2t boil

Whirfloc - 1 tablet @ 12 mins

Nutrient - 2 taps @ 12 mins

______________________________

Fermentation:

Chilled to 62*F

25 mins aeration w/ pump & stone

Yeast Pitch Brett L and Lacto slurry in 800ml starter (500ml 1.037 wort, 300ml apple juice)

3 days @ 65*F (6 gallon Better Bottle)

4 days @ 68*F

4 days @ 72*F

16 months ambient in garage

______________________________

04/05/13 Brewed by myself.  Mashed in 8:30pm @ 154*F.  Wrapped in heating blanket set on high and covered with sleeping bag.

04/06/13  Mash dropped to 142*F  by 7am (12*F over 10.5 hours).  Ran off and double sparged to get 14.75 gallons of wort (in a 15.5 gallon keggle).  Ran 7 gallons to HLT and added steeping grains for 30 minutes.  Allowed to sit for just over an hour while IPA boiled.  Brought to boil and had to control boilovers with Starsan spray bottle.  Chilled down to 62 easily with new chiller.  Pitched entire starter straight from the stir plate.  Affixed blow off tube.

12 hours - Foam beginning to form on top.

16 hours - Full krausen, blow off was a good idea.

76 hours - Upped temp to 68*F with heating blanket.

113 hours - Removed blow off tube and attached airlock as high krausen is passed.  Yeast is still churning away in the beer.  Looks like a great ferment for such a high gravity beer with the low pitch rate of Brett I had.  We'll see for sure one the primary is done.

04/13/13 Upped temp to 72*F for a strong finish.

4/16/13 Fermentation seems to be winding down a bit, beer starting to clear up some.

4/19/13 FG down to 1.011 after only 2 weeks.  Nice and fruity, clean, light lactic twang in the finish, which should increase over the course of aging and heat.  Great color.

8/3/13 Racked to secondary and flushed with CO2. Added Lacto from a grain culture in Apple Juice.  Set in garage to bulk age.

01/10/2014 Tastes like apples from the juice added with the Lacto, still no Lactic Acid profile.

04/27/2014 Pellicle formed on top, gravity down to 1.003.  Light Acetic acid bite I believe is from the Brett and not acetobacter.  Added 100ml of Cascade Lacto starter cultured on DME, and purged headspace with CO2.

7/14/14 Added more Cascade Lacto to fermenter and 4 fl oz of Organic Tart Cherry Juice.  Fermented remaining 28 fl oz of juice with pure Lacto in garage at ambient temps (90+*F).

8/2/14 Racked Lacto Cherry Juice and Oud Bruin into bottling bucket with priming sugar and 2ml Lactic Acid.  No new yeast added.  Bottled 42 12oz brown bottles, 2 750ml and 6 375ml green Champagne bottles.  Champagne bottles received wax dipping and labels.