REVIEW: Bangarang: Neverland (American Sour Collabo w/ Falling Sky)

When the guys at Falling Sky and I set out to do a kettle soured homage to my Best of Show Gueuze, I wondered if we would ever actually get it brewed.  Scheduling conflicts continued to get in the way.  But we made it, and I am sure pleased we did.  The beer is a hit at the pub.  A new member to our church was talking with another member over lunch about how great this sour beer was he had at Falling Sky.  That other member then introduced him to me, the guy across the table from him, as the brewer of said beer.  It has been a cool experience to have conversations with people about the beer and the vision behind it.  My head is getting a little big, but it is hard not to, the beer is that good.

Look:

Pours a slightly hazy deep orange with a decent head to it.  The head is low as the beer is carbed lower than it should be for a sour.  It also falls a little fast, but sticks around as a thick cap, which for a beer this sour is really good.  Some spotty lace clings to the sides, but not much.

Aroma:

The first thing to jump from the glass to the nose is a big sour bite.  Like lemons, but less citrusy.  Very clean for a kettle sour.  Most kettle sours I have had are easy to pick out, but not this one.  Tropical and stone fruits follow, mostly pineapple juice and Kern's Apricot Nectar.  The malt is dominated by sweet honey notes.

Flavor:

A blast of sweet tarts hits the tongue first, makes you pucker up for sure, like sour patch kids.  Mild fruity hops come in next but are pushed away quickly by honey and toasty malts.  It is definitely a sweet and sour punch.  When it was a little younger the hops came through more with the pineapple and apricot, with a finish of Lipton Iced Tea powder. 

Mouthfeel:

This is a sour beer for sure, suck your lips off your face, but then it releases to a sweet, but light and crisp finish.  Faint bitterness.

Overall:

Very clean and sour beer.  Sweet.  Hints of hops play with fruit up front.  Would actually like more from the hops, so I dry hopped my second keg with Mosaic and Simcoe.  It also need a higher CO2 level, which up until this past weekend I couldn't really do (I finally was able to hook up my dual regulator giving me 4 lines at normal beer levels, and one tap at a higher level for sours, wilds, Saisons, Belgians and Hefes).  You really have to be in the mood to have your lips removed to drink this beer though.  Wish we would have made it in May so I would have the kegs in July and August when it was really hot and this beer would have been super refreshing.

RECIPE: BANGARANG: Neverland (American Sour Collabo with Falling Sky)

Back in February I was able to watch the Best of Show unfold at a competition I had judged, and also entered.  It was completely humbling and shocking to see my 2.5 year old Gueuze advance to the top 6, top 5, top 4, top 3, top 2, Best of Show.  I still find myself at times wondering if it really happened.  The prize was to brew the beer on a full system at Falling Sky Brewing.  Issue is that they don't do sours, it would take 2+ years for the beer to be done, and I didn't have the exact yeast pitch used for primary as I had cultured it from Blackberries and Peaches almost 3 years ago.

Update: A Barrel, and A Brewer for A Day (Or Two)

It has been a busy past few weeks and in our world, it isn't going to slow down anytime soon.  Wanted to give a quick update for what is in the works since there is nothing completed at the moment to post about.

I was able to squeeze in a brewday just over a week ago for 16 gallons of Belgian Blonde which I had made 2.5# of Invert Sugar for.  This will be going into a 14 gallon wine barrel that I was given by a friend.  Trying to get a bone dry barrel to swell was not an easy task.  I started yesterday morning and it is still dripping today, but nothing like the waterfalls pouring out when I first added water.  I put a holding solution of Citric Acid (1g/L) and Potassium Metabisulfate (2g/L) in there to kill any acetobacter or mold that might have been inside, and to keep it swollen and ready for this weekend when I move the beer into it.

Some seepage from the top staves

Falling drip of water

Another Drip Shot

I also spent this past Saturday and Yesterday as a brewer for a day at Falling Sky Brewing.  It was my prize for winning Best of Show in February.  We weren't able to rebrew my beer since they don't do sours, but we did a mock of it which was fun.  We mashed and soured the wort on Saturday, then went back on Tuesday to finish it off with a boil and hopping.

Adding the grains to the mashtun

12oz Citra Mash Hops

Brunch at the brewery, Pork Benedict

Cleaning out the Lauter Tun

Simcoe, Galaxy, 291

Free wort for me to take home and play with

Surprise lunch visitor came to see me brew

The yeast is in

3 Beers, 1 Mash, Good Deal...

It might just become a yearly brew for me… A triple beer mash that is.  Last year I did a Bavarian Hefeweisse, an American Wheat IPA w/ pineapple, and a Session Sour from a single mash.  This year I did a single mash for 3 more beers.  This year the Hefe was switched out for a Witbier, the Wheat IPA for a clone of 3 Floyds Gumballhead, and the sour mashed Session Sour for a sour mashed “Saison” with oak and Pinot Noir juice.  Made for a great brew day, and hopefully, despite a few hiccups, some great beers.

Single Mash:

11# Flaked Wheat

9.6# Great Western Pale Malt

3# Rice Hulls (for good measure)

5/8 tsp Gypsum

3/8 tsp Calcium Chloride

Single Infusion: 151*F for 60 minutes

Ran off 13.5 gallons.

Split into 2 - 6.75 gallon batches

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Witte Comeback:

45 minute boil

FW 0.30oz Sterling AA% Unkown (home grown 7.5% estimated)

15   0.70oz Sterling AA% Unkown (home grown 7.5% estimated)

KO 1.00oz Sterling AA% Unkown (home grown 7.5% estimated)

10 mins 0.80# Flaked Wheat added to boil

KO zest of 2 Cara Cara Oranges, 0.12oz Coriander, 0.12oz Pink Peppercorn, 0.12oz Green Peppercorn (didn’t buy enough spices and missed each addition by half… oops)

Tea of: zest of 1 Cara Cara Orange, 0.20oz Coriander, .12oz Pink Peppercorn, 0.10oz Chamomile steeped 5 mins @ 190*F added to fermenter (1.5 cups)

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5.0 gallons 3726 Farmhouse Ale yeast slurry

0.5 gallons 3726 Farmhouse Ale + souring bugs/Brett

Fermented @ 83*F 2 days, 78*F for 3 weeks

Blended at bottling

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5.5 gallons

OG 1.050

FG 1.005

15 IBUs

4 SRM

5.9% ABV

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Gumballhead:

0.75# Caravienne steeped 35 minutes @ 150*F

45 minute boil

FW 0.50 oz Amarillo 9.3 AA%

45   0.30 oz Amarillo 9.3 AA%

15   0.50 oz Amarillo 9.3 AA%

5     1.30 oz Amarillo 9.3 AA%

KO 1.00 oz Amarillo 9.3 AA%

DH  1.40 oz Amarillo 9.3 AA%

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1056 American Ale pitch f/ Oakshire

Fermented @ 66*F for 2 weeks

DH @ 66*F for 4 days

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***Hit the 1.055 gravity perfect @ 5.0 gals but forgot to drain ½ gallon of StarSan from Better Bottle before racking so ended up with 5.5 gallons @ 1.050.  Added 1# sugar boiled in 1 pint water to the fermenter on day 2 to boost gravity back up making it 1.057, and FG hit low @ 1.007 making for a 6.6% ABV beer instead of 5.5%***

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5.5 gallons

1.057 OG

1.007 FG

34 IBUs

5 SRM

6.6% ABV

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Vino Cilurzo (Sour w/ Pinot Juice):

Last runnings from mash 6 gallons @ 1.011 soured with 0.10oz of Pale Malt in bucket @ 98*F for 50 hours, smell of yogurt, not much sour, light twang, somewhat astringent.  Went to boil and my burner caught on fire resulting in no boil.  Racked back into the same bucket less grains.  Pulled 1 quart of wort and brought to just under a boil on the stove.  Added hops and steeped for 5 minutes.  Strained into bucket.  Pitched ¼ cup slurry of 3726 Farmhouse + souring bugs/Brett slurry.  Added 3 pieces of French Oak blocks.  Didn’t take OG, estimated @ 1.030.  On day 2 added 3000ml of Pinot Noir concentrate that I scored for free when it was broken in transit to Falling Sky, estimated new OG 1.050.  Smelled of sulfur so I added 3726 Farmhouse slurry for more yeast activity and also added yeast nutrient per recommendations from a fellow brewer.  As of 4 weeks the sulfur smell is gone and a pellicle has formed.  Looking forward to how this one turns out... it will be bottled in early July since I need the bucket for my Flander's Red, and I don't have another fermenter (unless I pull it off to 1 gallon jugs).  At this point FG is 1.010.

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1.00 oz Cascade (home grown)

1.00 oz Challenger (home grown)

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~ 6.5 gallons

~ 1.050 OG

~ 1.002 FG (unkown, assuming low FG with bugs, Brett, juice)

~5 IBUs

~ 6% ABV

2nd Place Saison... And Broke Down Brown: Now With Brett!

The KLCC Brewfest was this past weekend, and I was quite bummed when they announced the winners and my name wasn't called at all. Kind of put a damper on the night. I got hopeful that maybe I took Second Place in the categories I entered. I rushed to the home brew shop on my break to get my score sheets to find that my Saison took 2nd in the Belgian and French Ale category. 2nd place out of 12 entries. I was very overwhelmed. Comments included: "Spicy hop aroma, nice golden color, big head, Brett flavor up front, spicy, great [mouthfeel], great beer, no major flaws, like the hint of Brett"; "distinctly tart, citrus fruit aromas with some 'funk' and peppery phenols, hint of Brett?, light straw in color, brilliant clarity, frothy lasting head, good fruity flavor, pear-lemon, with a gentle spiciness that finishes dry & refreshing, a hint of tartness and complexity, a great example of a Saison", and "spicy fruity, some hop, spice profile clean with sweet finish, very refreshing Farmhouse Ale." The criticisms all seemed to revolve around low hop and malt flavor and aroma, and a possible boost in fermentation temp. But all in all, very good.

And then comes the bitter-sweet moment. My other two beers (which I entered for fun) tanked. All three score sheets on my Brown Ale had very low scores and bad remarks: Brett! I had been concerned about a possible infection in a few of my beers that I had reused yeast on and had seen a small slick on top of the beer in the bottles. I had talked to others and had a few BJCP judges try two of the other beers and they said there is not Brett. But the remarks on my Brown were unanimous. One said that the Barrel quality is dominant on the beer, but I hadn't wood aged it. Another, Jamie Floyd, Brewmaster for Ninkasi, stated "Phenolic, Brettanomyces, cheesy hops... Brett flavor hides the nice caramel and chocolate... sweaty socks". The third judge, who owns the home brew shop I use and just opened a brew pub stated, "musty & cheesy... super foamy pour... horse blanket, old cheese, seems like a wild yeast infection... tightening up sanitation protocols would seem to be in order." 3 BJCP certified judges, all hit infection. If that doesn't take the wind out of your sails quick, I don't know what else would.

Live and learn. Trying hard not to let it tear away from the placing of the Saison, but it sure is hard.

EDIT: I took another bottle of the Brown into the shop today and had the same judge taste it again. Before he was able to pour it the foam was rising up through the neck, and after he poured 2 tasters worth, the space in the bottle filled with foam that overflowed the top. The body was very watery, and the taste was muddled and off as well. Looks like I definitely have a few things living in at least a few of these bottles. Brett on one. Pedio in another. Guess Broke Down Brown turned out to be the proper name after all.