Roselare Yeast

[brewinhard]

You said it man! It is like starting all over again. Especially when researching and gathering info on everybody's experiences. Brewing with Brett as a primary seems so untouched by the masses that there needs to be more info (Babble Belt) exchange going on than what there is regarding aeration, starters, and fermentation temps. Have you ever delved into 100% Brett beers at all?

[jamilz]

Yes, but not nearly as much as I would like. Perhaps if we start a Can You Brew All Brett Beers show, I'll have the time.

[brewinhard]

Hmmmmm....a wise idea that is! These beers do take a bit longer to brew compared to a regular saccharomyces beverage. Any thoughts on where to start with that one? I really don't know of many 100% Brett only beers out there, do you?

[HopRunner]

I finally got this party started. I brewed my first "official" batch of Flanders.

This recipe was straight out of BCS and is the Oud Bruin. I decided to pitch the Roeselare pack directly into the primary. No starter and no initial fermentation with a neutral yeast. My though is that it will be easy for me to blend to reduce sourness. I am not targeting a competition beer so if it is too sour for style, I can live with that! I might even brew a neutral batch and have some sort of "mix your own" party when it is all done.

I have all the fixin's for the Flanders Red so I am going to try to get that in the tank next weekend.

**Beer Nerd Alert!!**
Check out what I found on Amazon:


I ordered one and it came in on the Flanders brew day so fuck yeah! I wore it (straight out of the bag) while brewing the Flanders, and while listening to JZ's Oud Bruin episode...

[HopRunner]

What? No props for the beer nerd shirt? This place is slipping.

Anyway, the short primary is completed and the batch is now sitting in its long term carboy. I added one ounce of Medium toast French Oak cubes. I boiled some water and soaked the cubes before putting them in the carboy. I did that to sterilize the oak but that water was brown and smelled like burnt wood. I think there is more than one good reason to do the hot water treatment on the oak.

[aleguy]

That burnt wood is part of the flavor profile that oak brings to the party. That's why I never soak or boil my oak chips. If I want to sanitize them I steam them, though I lose some flavor that way too. Don't worry about the burnt wood taste. It blends in well with the other flavors. If it bothers you, use a lighter toast.
Of course, now that you have oak innoculated with all those nice little bugs, you can just drop them into your next batch to kick start the souring process.
Why was it you sanitized oak that you were putting into a beer that already had a bunch of bugs in it? Habit?

[HopRunner]

It is my understanding that traditionally old barrels are used. I suspect that all the burnt wood dust would be gone at that point. I sterilized the oak because it was a partial bag and for some reason the vacuum seal didn't actually seal. The bag was sitting on the shelf partially open.

Anyway, I think it was a good idea and I'll do it again.

[aleguy]

I think you're right about the old barrels. I also know that some brewers will save their oak chips from brew to brew and just pitch them in instead of yeast (or Roselare) cultures. It doesn't seem to matter if they dry out. Anyway good luck with your Flanders. I've started experimenting with a sour mash, so I don't have to worry about super attenuation. My first attempt was disappointing. I let the sour mash sit too long and all the sugars fermented, so when I boiled my wort, all the alcohol from 30% of the mash boiled off.
I'll crack it though. If I can get a good culture of souring organisms going, I can put that in my mash and hopefully get enough Lactic acid built up before the wild yeasts can get much of a foothold.