re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

So for you sour beer drinkers, had an idea for a sour. It came about after having a conversation with someone who was a wine drinker, but never really had sours. And i consider some sours closer to wine than beer, in terms of taste and character. In addition i saw a box of Opus One wine, which is highly acclaimed, and highly priced ($257/bottle). It got me thinking, could you brew a sour that mimicked the notes of wine. What i mean by that are the descriptors used. I picked Opus just as a starting point but the descriptors are fairly common among wines such as chocolate, earthy, blackberries, red currants, etc...

So i was thinking, what if i formulated a grain bill for a sour, that included a chocolate malt. Age it to a noticeable but not overbearing amount of acidity. And then let it sit on top of blackberries, aged hops, red currants, cherries, etc... then age on some french oak. I know the ingredients themselves aren't unique to sours. However, i haven't come across a sour that had some chocolate malt, but was then aged on fruit. Usually it's just a sour stout. So, i think with my next mixed ferm sour, i will try to formulate a recipe to mimic some of the descriptors from some opus one bottles.

quote:

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The 2014 Opus One exudes subtle aromas of fragrant florals, fresh garden herbs and forest floor that give way to a concentrated blend of red cherry, blackberry and black currant. Fine-grained tannins offer a velvety texture and complex structure that builds to a long, vibrantly fresh finish with a touch of mocha.

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So for example, i'd do this, with a grain bill made up of anywhere from 8-20% of roasted malts like chocolate, carafa 3, etc... Add about 5-10 IBU's of hops to prevent it from getting too sour. Then ferment with a good sour strain, probably some propped up Wicked Weed and Jolly Pumpkin dregs. Once it's tasting right, i'd add 2 lbs/gallon of tart cherries, and .5 to 1 lb/gallon of blackberries. Maybe split the batch and do one with blueberries.

Just thought this would be something fun to do with my sours. Right now i'm just trying to keep a steady pipeline going so i have new sours ready every 3-6 months.