East Coast Yeast Experiment

[FredTheNuke]

Anyone had the pleasure yet of sampling a side by side comparison of Bug Farm (ECY01), Bug County (ECY20) and Flemish Ale (ECY02) with relatively the same base beer?

 

[MileHighBrewer]

01 & 20 yes. I much, much prefer 01. It was a split batch of the same beer. The 20 is possibly coming around but it's going to be a while. The 01 already tastes really good and with some fruit, to my tastes, could be served. Not real complex but still good

 

[FredTheNuke]

How long? I have 3 five gallon batches of ECY20 started in March 2014. I am going to start 3 more five gallon batches in August 2014. Same exact base beer as the ECY20 batches except one will be ECY01, one ECY02 and one Roeselare. The ECY20 will be roughly 6 months ahead of the other 3 but it should be a good comparison of these 4 yeast formulas. If i can snag the Wyeast 3203 Private Collection De Bom Sour Blend I will use it instead of the Roeselare.

 

[hirschb]

01 & 20 yes. I much, much prefer 01. It was a split batch of the same beer. The 20 is possibly coming around but it's going to be a while. The 01 already tastes really good and with some fruit, to my tastes, could be served. Not real complex but still good

Can you be a bit more specific about why you like 01 better? I (finally!) was able to order some today, and am thinking about what to do with it. I'm assuming an oud bruin would work well with it, but if anyone thinks another beer style is best with Bug Farm, I'd be interested to hear their opinion.

 

[mnick12]

I brewed a lambic style with ecy20 about 6 months ago, it was pils and flaked wheat. Now it is tart, lemony, and kind of "melon flavored" - a weird descriptor I know. Anyway it is a good beer, but not very lambic like to me. It lacks that assertive brett flavor, the potent funk that makes a lambic so wonderful.

About 3 months ago I brewed a sort of old bruin with ecy01 and the same base recipe, plus some crystal and chocolate rye for color. This beer is already much more brett dominant, and has that great lambic aroma. While it is lacking on the sour side, it is only 3 months old so I expect that to improve. Overall I think I like ecy01 more, it has that classical funk and the acidity is there as well.

 

[hirschb]

About 3 months ago I brewed a sort of old bruin with ecy01 and the same base recipe, plus some crystal and chocolate rye for color. This beer is already much more brett dominant, and has that great lambic aroma. While it is lacking on the sour side, it is only 3 months old so I expect that to improve. Overall I think I like ecy01 more, it has that classical funk and the acidity is there as well.

Oud Bruin it will be! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

FTN I don't have my notes with me but I'm pretty sure it was right around new years. It's an extract lambic based recipe (pils dme/wheat dme tiny bit of crystal hops)

The 01 has more....character, hard to pin down. It has some decent funk, and more then a hint of sour, actually fairly sour for its age. The 20 for the longest time just tasted flat and VERY sulphury. It's starting to develop some of that European sour notes but again, I think this will be a long haul beer before it really comes together.

I think an oude brune could work well with 20

 

[TriggerFingers]

I thought last year's 01 and 20 were the same?

 

[FredTheNuke]

I hope not.... LOL. 20 is supposed to be a mix of EVERYTHING in the kitchen. 01 has most of it but not all.

I tried a Brett only beer (The Bruery's Saison Rue) and I'm not a super big Brett fan. There is nothing bad about it but The Bruery's Oude Tart is my target. This brings me to my fork in the road. I can make a clone of Oude Tart (3 five gallon batches is my standard size) and add ECY01 to one, ECY02 to the next and Roeselare to the 3rd. That would allow me to see which one hits Oude Tart closest. OR I can continue with my 40% wheat experiment..... Tough choice - We gotta get Al Buck to EXPAND!!!!! He has a rock solid product just needs to make that jump over to full time production.

Here is my Oude Tart base recipe:

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Oude Tart
Brewer: The Bruery
Asst Brewer:
Style: Flanders Red Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 20.68 gal
Post Boil Volume: 17.68 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 16.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 15.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.076 SG
Estimated Color: 16.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 53.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 56.3 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
19 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 29.9 %
18 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 28.3 %
17 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 26.8 %
6 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 9.4 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.9 %
1 lbs Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 6 1.6 %
4.00 oz Saaz [3.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 15.1 IBUs
3.0 pkg Roselare Belgian Blend (Wyeast Labs #376 Yeast 8 -
1.0 pkg American Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WL Yeast 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 63 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 87.38 qt of water at 168.3 F 157.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 8.46 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------
Ferment Primary at 72F. Rack to secondary at 65F. Add Roeselare and 2 oz Oak Cubes per 5 gallons soaked in Cab Sav let sit on oak for 1 year.



Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[FredTheNuke]

And yes my efficiency sucks per Beersmith. But I think it has to do with the way I entered my setup into the software (you can't select 25 gallon SS pots - only Kegs) and the fact that using that exact recipe will yield me 16.5 gallons of beer when I set the volumes to be 16 with the water and grain volumes exactly as listed and a spot on boil time. I like that extra bit of liquid at full O.G. of 1.076. No sense in making a batch on not FILLING 3 Cornelius kegs right up to the air dip tube.

 

[masonsjax]

Bugfarm IV is Bug County. Bugfarm changes each year though, so it depends which one you used.

 

[FredTheNuke]

How would you know you have Bugfarm IV? Mine dated February 13, 2014 (Al one day before Heart Day working hard) does not differentiate on the label.

 

[masonsjax]

It goes by calendar year. Bugfarm IV was the 2010 version. By my calculations, the 2014 version would be #8. I'm not sure if any years since #4 were the same as Bug County, but from the descriptions on Al's site, it looks like Bugfarm is different for 2014.

 

[Vikings]

I've got an ECY01 Supplication clone sitting at around 3 months. I added 4lb of dried tart cherries about a month ago. It's pretty damn delicious right now. Fairly sour (with some help from the cherries) and a little funk.

 

[masonsjax]

I saw an old Facebook post from Al where he said the 2013 version of Bugfarm is Bug County, so there ya go.

 

[TriggerFingers]

Yeah thats what I remember....I made my sour with the 2013 blend....and Joe said the same thing. However, its changed a little since then....

 

[FredTheNuke]

Cool. So my 2014 is BugFarm should be different than my 2013 BugCounty... Either way I may target the Oude Tart clone with my current vials of Flemish Ale and 2014 BugFarm instead of expanding my 40% wheat Lambicesque (currently running with BugCounty and a 60 gallon conical of Roeselare).

So many options so little space to continue SOURING!

 

[MileHighBrewer]

So many options so little space to continue SOURING!

Welcome to my world lol seriously considering renting controlled temp storage space or just starting a blendery

 

[BzurkoBrews]

Thought this was relevant, just took a sample of my ecy01 and ecy20 beers from January. Both beers are about 6 months old. It was 10 gallons split between each culture. 65% pils 35% flaked wheat. A few IBUs from baked spalter. Mashed at 156. Ecy01 batch is at 1.002 and ecy20 batch is at 1.005. Both a very sour. About equal. They are both in that kind of musty funky stage. Lots of citrus notes from both. They a very very similar. Hard to pick out differences but they are there. Hope this info is useful to you guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[FredTheNuke]

Good info that they were already sour at 6 months!

 

[smokinghole]

Its been my experience that most of the souring for me happens fairly quickly. Hell sometimes my beers are bracingly sour at 3-4 months and then it softens quite a bit in another 3-4 months. A brew might sour a little more past the one year mark but it will be negligible acid production.

 

[FredTheNuke]

It's that waiting part that sucks. Most of my sours are only a few months old with my oldest (60 gallon solera) bugged in December 2013. First 15 gallons will come off of it this December and go onto fruit (mainly from being such young beer). I may bottle 5 gallons of it straight up.

 

[FredTheNuke]

Hot Damn! Just added some La Roja dregs to one of my BugCounty ECY20 carboys with a 1.061 OG 40% Wheat beer in it. Took a sample while I was at it. Brewed on 3/15/2014 so only 6 months old but already as sour as La Roja and at this point very drinkable. Still needs another 6 months before adding cherry juice and another year before kegging, though. I can't wait to pitch onto these ECY20 yeast cakes!

 

[505-Brewer]

Hot Damn! Just added some La Roja dregs to one of my BugCounty ECY20 carboys with a 1.061 OG 40% Wheat beer in it. Took a sample while I was at it. Brewed on 3/15/2014 so only 6 months old but already as sour as La Roja and at this point very drinkable. Still needs another 6 months before adding cherry juice and another year before kegging, though. I can't wait to pitch onto these ECY20 yeast cakes!

Any updates on how the different blends turned on your Oude Tart recipe? Thinking of brewin a Flanders inspired bruin or red this weekend. Found this thread.........