Latest Batch (De Dolle Still Nacht "inspired" ale with bugs)

Hey all, Well I mentioned I was going to be getting back into doing some more beer with Brettanomyces and some other bugs. Well I just racked my De Dolle, Stille Nacht inspired ale out of the primary into 2 different carboys and pitched a vial of Brett claussenii (WLP 645) in one and a vial of Belgian Sour Mix I (WLP655) in the other. I'm not expecting a lot of sourness from the B. claussenii, just more of a pineapple-like aromatic quality hopefully. I'm going to see what I can do with both of these as far as blending them when they are all done. I'm very anxious to try these as it has been a couple years now since I have played with any wild yeast or bacteria. Here is the recipe I came up with for this beer. This is a 90 minute boil to try and volitize dms precursors.

Stille Nacht inspired

16-E Belgian Specialty Ale

Author: Brian Richards

Date: 4/13/2012

Size: 10.5 gal

Original Gravity: 1.082 (1.026 - 1.120)

Color: 7.58 (1.0 - 50.0)

Bitterness: 20.8 (0.0 - 100.0)

Ingredients:

23.0 lb Belgian Pils

8 oz Honey Malt

8 oz Special Aromatic Malt

8 oz German CaraFoam

8 oz Belgian Biscuit

8 oz Belgian Caravienne

2 lb White Table Sugar (Sucrose)

.75 oz Bravo (14.2%) - added during boil, boiled 60 m

0.5 oz Styrian Goldings (3.4%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 m

0.5 oz Styrian Goldings (3.4%) - added during boil, boiled 3.0 m

1.0 ea Fermentis T-58 Safbrew T-58

1.0 ea Fermentis S-33 Safbrew S-33

I transfered from primary fermenter into 2 5 gallon carboys carrying over a decent amount of yeast from the primary and I pitched 1 vial of WLP645 (Brett. claussenii) and 1 vial of WLP655 (Belgian Sour Mix I). When I transfered the beer my gravity was at 1. 022, not sure how much character I'm going to get with this being the starting line for souring agents. I'm a little rusty.

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Well, my and my bro-in-law are thinking about brewing a batch of our O.T.A.S. (One Ton Axle Swap) Imperial Porter today for a festival in Portage, IN. (Porter's Perfect Pint sponsored by Leroy's Hot Stuff and Pat's Liquor) We want to age some of it in a recently dumped whiskey barrel that should be arriving this week. If you live in the area you should come check us out. I believe it is in late Sept to early Oct. sometime. I'll definitely be posting about it as it approaches.

Mikkeller (Black) "Chinese Character for Black"

Brewed at De Proef Brouwerij, Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium
Mikkeller 黑 is Mikkellers strongest and wildest beer to date. Mikkeller Black Stout has the Chinese character for black on the label. Black is an imperial stout at no less than 17.5% alcohol, making it Denmark's strongest beer ever.
Ingredients :Water, malt, roasted barley, dark cassanade, hops and champagne yeast.
Alc : 17,5% Volume : 375 ml.

I need to get my hands on some of this. If you see it, buy it, send it to me with an invoice, I'll move next door to you and be your bitch for life. Well, how about I just send you a check.

Funky Little Brotha

I just kegged up my beer that I'm calling "Funky Little Brotha" and it is on tap in my living room. Life is good. FUNKY-because it went through a primary fermentation of all Brett Claussenii and then I pitched a starter of Al's Bugfarm at 1.020. Al's Bugfarm consists of the following.

Al's Bugfarm Inoculated Oak Cubes (batch # 01)
brettanomyces lambicus (Wyeast)
brettanomyces lambicus (White Labs)
brettanomyces bruxellensis (White Labs)
brettanomyces claussenii (White Labs)
brettanomyces sp. (Fantome)
brettanomyces sp. (Jolly Pumpkin)
brettanomyces sp. (Russian River Wood Chips)
lactobacillus sp. (Russian River Wood Chips)
pediococcus sp. (White Labs)
oenococcus oennii (Wyeast)
saccharomyces fermentati (Sherry yeast)
kombucha yeast (oxidative yeast)

LITTLE BROTHA-because it is a partigyle brew off of a Belgian Dark Strong Ale that I did. Funky Little Brotha seemed like the perfect name to refer to this brew as. It is very easy drinking because its original gravity was only 1.042 but it did finish at 1.001. It doesn't have that acetic acid twang to it like a Flanders Red does; it is more of a lactic sourness. It reminds of me a Berliner Weisse more than anything. I think I am going to try and bottle some of this from my keg and see what the judges think of this one...just for fun.

Brettanomyces Claussenii WLP645 Beer

Well I just brewed up my first funky beer, a 10 gallon batch of Flanders Red, now it's time to get a starter going for funk monster #2. I am getting a starter going tonight using the Brettanomyces Claussenii strain from White Labs. Before I can use this to ferment a whole 5-6 gallon batch of beer I need to grow up the amount of yeast I have. The vial that you can order from White Labs isn't intended to take care of your entire primary fermentation. It is meant to be used in conjunction with another yeast, more than likely of the Saccromyces variety. I am going to get a pint starter going tonight and in about 10 days I will pour off most of the wort trying to leave as much of the yeast behind as I can and then I will pitch another fresh pint of wort. I will repeat this a few times until I have a large enough amount of cells to take care of a 5-6 gallon batch of beer.


DO NOT SWIRL AN ERLINMYER FLASK FULL OF BOILING HOT WORT!Son of a bitch! I knew that too and I still did it. I've burnt my hands so many times that I think I am starting to get immune to it.

48 HOURS LATER
It has been two days since I made my starter and I haven't seen any real activity going yet. I was hoping to see an obvious sign that everything was going smooth because I am going out of town for the weekend and I don't want to have to worry about it. I added a little bit of servomyces earlier today to help it on its way. I was glad to see that someone on the BBB website was posting about their experience with their WLP645 starter at the same time as I was doing mine because I can learn from all his posts. Everything seems to be sitting on the bottom right now.