This morning I cracked the lid on my fermenting Belgian Brown Ale and pitched an installment of lactobacillus, a bacteria found in some lambics. I got the 500 ml starter put together yesterday, and it fermented out very quickly, leaving a nice and healthy population of bacteria to work with.
With the lactobacillus, the goal is to complement the sweet malt and aromatic hops with a nice balance of both traditional Belgian yeastiness (from the initial strain) and a slight sour acidity. Add on top of that the oak chips currently soaking in port that will be dropped into the secondary, and this one is sure to be a very unique, complex ale.
I also checked in on my Furious clone that’s been in primary for almost two weeks now, and while the bulk of fermentation has taken place, I can still smell a bit of diacetyl coming out of the air lock. I’ll give it another few days to rest so the yeast can clean things up, then rack to secondary where I’ll dry hop for a week with a couple ounces of Simcoe and one ounce of Amarillo.
April 20, 2010 at 11:45 am
Just wondering how the Oak-aged Port Brown turned out. I will be giving it a try this coming weekend, and wondered if there was anything you wish you had done differently. Does is age well? I’m doing about 20G…
April 20, 2010 at 11:58 am
The beer turned out pretty well, very drinkable. But not exactly as I’d hoped up front. Two things I’d change:
1. Pitch the lactobacillus a week ahead of the yeast. Lacto is slow to develop, and it needs time to work on the sugars in the wort. The regular brewer’s yeast ends up dominating if you pitch too soon, and you don’t get the sour quality you’re looking for.
2. I probably went a little too heavy on the oak chips when I aged it, I think a 1/3 pound for 5 gallons. So I’d dial that back a little.
But otherwise, like I said, it’s a pretty good beer. Very unique.
June 7, 2010 at 9:36 am
You mentioned you used carapils – you just steeped the grains, correct? You didn’t do a partial mash with any fermentable grains?
I was confused when you mention “Pitch the lactobacillus a week ahead of the yeast”. Would you be adding lactobacillus prior to the start of the fermentation process (after you brewed and cooled down the wort), wait a week, then pitch the yeast?
June 7, 2010 at 10:01 am
Hi George, yes, I just steeped the grains for about 30 minutes at 152.
Regarding when to pitch the lacto, were you looking at my other post on the berliner weisse? Your description is the way that I would approach it…cool the wort, pitch the lacto, wait a week or so, then pitch the brewers yeast.
My experience using lacto is relatively limited, but what I have found is that lacto tends to be very slow in consuming fermentables compared to brewers yeast…so if you pitch lacto and yeast at the same time, the yeast are inevitably going to win out and not leave enough sugar for the lacto to contribute its souring characteristic…thus, I’d pitch lacto well ahead of the yeast. Some guys will pitch lacto when the wort is at 100 degrees or so, then let the wort naturally cool to room temp over a period of time before adding yeast. I believe the higher temps give the bacteria a better environment to grow.
June 21, 2010 at 6:04 am
Thanks for your response. How long did you keep it in the secondary with the oak chips? Did you follow the original recipe? I’ve read that oak chips can overwhelm the taste if you keep them in the beer for too long.
June 21, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Yes, I followed the original recipe. I believe I aged the beer on the oak chips for about five days. It wasn’t overwhelming, but you definitely got the port flavoring. And in fact, I just cracked a bottle of this that I’ve had sitting around since Feb 2009, and it’s held up very well.
June 21, 2010 at 5:03 pm
5 days seems to make sense based on what I’ve read. Some sources say 2 weeks is the max. I didn’t get a clear indication from my reading of the recipe as to how long the beer should be exposed to oak chips. It seemed to imply that you should keep it on the oak for 3-4 months which sounds pretty bold. I’m thinking about putting the chips in a sanitized bag, pulling it out after a week and letting the beer for another 3 months. Thinking about just using 2 oz. of chips…