A few months ago while preparing to brew a Lambic, I incorrectly ordered a pack of Wyeast Roselare instead of the Lambic Blend. Since a Flanders Red had been on my To Brew list for awhile anyway I decided the Roselare was an omen and that I should not put it off any longer. And so this beer was born.
I followed the Flanders Red Ale recipe on page 257 of Wild Brews very closely, employing the Flanders Mash Schedule on page 143 as it advises. I then boiled for two hours with a minimal hopping of Saaz and Styrian Goldings. Finally the wort was cooled and aerated with pure O2 for about 15 seconds. The starting gravity was 1.048, just a couple points lower than planned.
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| Primary fermentation at 68 degrees |
I pitched the single swelled smack pack into the wort with no starter. With a yeast/bacteria blend like this starter can throw off the balance of the bugs and yeast unpredictably resulting in a blend that is not what the manufacturer intended. I was surprised to see visible fermentation and krausen in less than 12 hours given the small pitch and limited aeration.
After three weeks in primary at 68 degrees the beer was at 1.019 and fermentation had visibly ceased. I attributed the high gravity at this point in the process to the large quantity (~18%) of crsytal malt in the recipe. It helps to ensure there is plenty of residual sugar and carbs for the bugs to go to work on for the next several months to a year.
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| After three weeks in primary the beer was racked to secondary |
I haven't check on the beer since racking it about seven weeks ago. I 'm trying to stay pretty hands off with this one. The amount of time I keep it in secondary is going to depend on how samples taste. I'm aiming for something on the moderately sour end of the spectrum. Its stowed away in a dark corner of a closet inside at 68°F-70°F right now.
For the most part I prefer the American versions of Flanders reds like New Belgium's La Folie and Jolly Pumpkin's La Roja. I like the more dry aggressive sour and funk character of these beers. Although I still enjoy them sometimes, I find a lot of the popular imported Belgian beers of this style to be either too sweet or too worcestershire saucey for the ideal target beer I'd like to brew.
Recipe Specifications--------------------------Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 galBoil Size: 7.13 galEstimated OG: 1.049
Estimated Color: 13Est IBUs: 10.4 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 % Boil Time: 120 Minutes
--MASH--AMT Name Type # %15.9 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 5 8.9 %5 lbs 10oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 1 50 %15.9 oz Carahell - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.9 %15.9 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.9 %5.4 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.02 lbs 4oz Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 2 20 %
--HOPS-- 90 mins -- 0.39oz Styrian Bobek [5.4%AA] 7 IBUs 90 mins -- 0.39 oz Saaz [2.40 %] 3.2 IBUs
--YEAST-- 1.0 pkg Wyeast Roselare Blend - 1 Activator pack no starter
--MASH SCHEDULE--
Rodenbach Mash (From Wild Brews) Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 2.6 oz ---------------------------- Name Description Step Temperat Step Time Mash In Add 13.95 qt of water at 155.6 F 145.0 F 40 min
Mash Step Add 0.00 qt of water and heat to 162.0 162.0 F 30 min Mash Step Add 0.00 qt of water and heat to 169.0 169.0 F 10 min Notes ---
16-Oct-2011 Brewed 02-Nov-2011 Racked to secondary, carrying over a small amount of trub. Gravity 1.018. Racked onto .5oz medium+ toast oak cubes (pressure cooked and drained).
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| 5 gallons of Flanders Red aging in glass with .5oz medium+ toast French oak cubes |
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