Gauging interest in sour-bourbon barrel project

[Charles Brands]

Hello Sangres,

I am reaching out to see if there is any interest in converting the club's 25 gallon bourbon barrel into a sour beer project. I've currently got it filled with some barrel holding solution at a pH of 2.7, so it's ready to be filled with beer once I know if (and how many) people are interested in contributing to this project.

The barrel still imparts quite a bit of bourbon flavor, so after looking through Michael Tonsmeire's 'American Sour Beers' book, I found some recipes which he suggests go well with "a bourbon barrel that has already aged a couple of beers." I've attached pictures of those recipes below. There is also this link to some of Jester King's recipes that we could just as easily go with. Also worth mentioning that we could go in a completely different direction (i.e. dark saison/etc) if anybody has a sour-beer idea they'd like to run with.

I guess the plan would be to collect sour beer dregs after each of our monthly meetings, which I would then pitch into the barrel on an on-going basis. After a couple of months, we'd start sampling the beer.

So, if any of you are interested in contributing to this project, and/or if any of these recipes seem particularly interesting to you, then please let me know!

Cheers,

Charles

[Ben Keough]

Just to clarify, it's not a bourbon barrel. It's a single malt/scotch-ish barrel. Very different flavor profile.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sangre de Cristo Craft Brewers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to nmsdccb+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nmsdccb/CADs%2BqzDqW_wuzUBwkjg%2B2bszzSzagffYVaOiswu6f4csWXUgkA%40mail.gmail.com.

[brandon obrien]

I'd be happy to brew to help fill the barrel.  Hopefully that scotch style flavor has faded enough to not dominate it.  I have to say it may not go as well with a sour beer than a bourbon or wine barrel would (at least for my tastes). Maybe with enough souring bacteria / fruit thrown in there you wouldn't know though.

-Brandon

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nmsdccb/CAP6CqJy32GzT8BcNvHNQFVMbFALoMdbQSUXw820uuMr8H2nCAA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Eric Heinrich]

I will obviously pass on this project.

Eric J. Heinrich | Realtor

Heinrich Realty P: (575) 706-1248 W: eriche...@heinrichrealty.info  E: Eric.H...@exprealty.com

   

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nmsdccb/CAOsRieh9CaHmwgSOWyJzGNJvhTP2vCNPs6h89iub7gnSZn-_iA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Michael James]

I'm willing to brew something as well. Does one of your recipes play better with the scotch flavor (actually mesquite smoke in this case)?

Michael 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nmsdccb/CABCxi2tnzNt_kj0qn_D1ExRZdU4pdGoDXrkJEXQt_hs50p28gw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Charles Brands]

It's hard to come across examples of sour beers that were specifically barrel-aged in peaty, whiskey/scotch barrels, but I found a few commercial examples:

Here is an example of farmhouse ale

Here is an example of a saison

Here is a blended rauchbier

Here is a scotch-ale 

If I had to guess on a particular style, I'd say potentially some higher ABV dark sours like tart of darkness, pentagram, nightmare on brett, or black metal might go well with some scotch-smoky oaky flavors. Then again, I;m not super familiar with dark sours in general, so maybe others who have tried some in the past might be able to chime in a bit better. 

I haven't tried the double brown barley wine/wee heavy since our last meeting, but I'll do so tonight to try and see how the barrel contributed its signature flavor/character to the beer. Maybe it'll spark some ideas.

I'll also bring Tonsmiere's book to the next meeting, since it has many other recipes we could think about.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nmsdccb/CADqq%3DnfQGZN%2BWC-2fEK0o%3DSV8Pptjs25auPjGrjo7oD%3DsNwPhw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Charles Brands]

Hi guys,

I tried the barrel aged double brown barley wine/wee heavy last night and couldn't really detect anything smokey//peaty/mesquite-flavored in it at all. I also found the scotch flavor to be very subtle - sort of like a hint of an aftertaste, and definitely not prominent or overbearing. I probably only detected a scotch-like aftertaste because I knew to look for it.

I then asked Letty to taste the beer and name as many flavors that came to mind. Besides chocolate and caramel, she said she could taste oak, but nothing smokey or peaty. She only detected a scotch-like flavor after I specifically asked her about it.

So, based on that robust sample size of two, I can say we might not need to be as concerned about peaty, or smoky flavors dominating whatever beer style we decide to go with. And as for the scotch-flavor, (for our palates at least) unless we decide to go with a very light beer, I think it would most likely be quite subtle.

Anyway, some food for thought.