Golden Roads Tart Mango Cart Clone

[AZBeer]

Hey all,

I am looking at getting a clone of this brewing before the summer heat runs out (and in AZ this year, it's been hot AF!). Honestly, it's not really my thing, but my wife LOVES this beer, it is without a doubt her favorite.

According to their marketing slick...

A series inspired by the iconic fruit cart vendors of LA. A light, refreshing Wheat Ale with lots of fresh mango and a pleasant, slightly tart finish.

ABV 3.2%
IBU 10

Malts:
2-row
Wheat
Carafoam
Acidulated Malt

Hops:
Bravo

Per Golden Roads it is a Wheat Ale
Per BA it's a Berliner Weissbier
Pours golden and hazy. Really strong mango aroma and flavor.

Any thoughts on where to begin with a recipe?
Also, not familiar with Acidulated Malt.

 

[delarob]

I'm your huckleberry...

I'm going to try and mimic this beer tonight. I'm using Goodbelly Mango pro-biotics to sour the wort and I may add fresh mango when I cold crash it. You can use acidulated malt to sour the batch if you like or, you could use lactobacillus capsules. I've done all three and I really like the Goodbelly method most. Acidulated malt is a type of malted barley which contains a small proportion usually 1-2% of lactic acid.

Recipe is simple too. 3 lb wheat, 3 lb pilsner or 2 row, oz of hops.... I ferment with so-5 .

 

[AZBeer]

Hmm...I guess I need to do some reading on goodbelly.

 

[AZBeer]

I am thinking of giving this a go, and this is my thoughts on it. I posted this on the Beginners forum (because I feel like a total noob with souring stuff). I am still deciding on batch size.

BIAB
50% American White Wheat
50% Pilsner

Mash @ 148 for 60 mins.
Cool to 100F and pitch Goodybelly Mango.


I will probably kettle sour. I'll probably just wrap the kettle in some heavy towels, and let it slowly come down to room temp. My thought is to mash on like Thurs night, then move it to the fermentor on Sunday.

-Think that will be enough time?
-Can I just use some pH strips to test?
-Do I need to mash for a full hour? Shorter? Longer?
-I have no way of purging with CO2, any concerns with that?

Mango Cart lists Bravo hops, but I am not sure if I will add them at all, and if I do, I am not really sure how.

-Add them during a short boil, or dry hop? That brings up another question...

-Should I boil after souring or just pitch my yeast?

For yeast, I was thinking about WLP001. Personally, I prefer that over dry US-05, but I'm not married to it. I'll probably go with a clean American yeast, but again, I am open to suggestions.

For the mango, any suggestions are welcome. I have heard/ read that mango additions can be tricky. I was thinking I would puree some mango, and add it after fermentation is done. I am looking for a pretty strong, mango forward aroma and flavor.

-Can I just add it into my primary?

I have seen a lot of recipes call for adding it to secondary, and then racking on top. Typically I don't transfer to secondary, not sure if I should.

 

[delarob]

I've had good luck with the Goodbelly souring within a day. That being said, I just did a batch Thursday and by Sunday it was still only sitting at 3.8/3.7% PH. I believe I started out too high a ph and I didn't get down to where I wanted (3.4 or lower).

PH strips should work ok, but amazon has some inexpensive meters that work very well. ($11/$12)

I mash and sparge just like normal. One of the best berliners I made I boiled first then soured. But you don't have to.

As far as purging, I know some people who don't and have made great beer. Lactobacillus is anaerobic (without air) and many spoiling organisms are aerobic (involving air). It is tricky to keep air away from the mash in the kettle. Oxygen can encourage growth of unwanted microorganisms that can contribute a nasty character to the souring mash. (vomit, feet, etc.)

I've not used Bravo hops. I've been using german tradition in mine. .35oz for 5 gallons. Don't add the hops until after souring. Hops are especially inhibitory to Lactobacillus, one of the two lactic acid bacteria primarily responsible for sour beer acidification. I usually add them in at the boil before I do fermentation. I forgot on Sunday. So they're dry hopping as I type.

You don't have to boil if you don't want to. You can just leave the Lacto to do it's thing right in the keg.

I'm at the other spectrum with yeast. I typically stay away form liquid yeast. A. I'm cheap lol, and B. Dry yeast has come a very long way over the years. I use 2 packs of so-5. Very active fermentation last night. Lot's of yeast poop in the blow off.

I add fruit after primary is mostly done. Frozen, right into the fermenter. I don't soak in vodka, puree, soak in star san or anything. I also don't use a secondary. I dump it in, and let the sugars from the fruit do their thing. You can get a nice secondary ferm with the sugars in the fruit. After that's all done, I cold crash the whole thing. Once everything drops, I transfer to the keg. Easy peasy.

Just a quick note on frozen fruit. Freezing does NOT kill bacteria. It only slows it down. That said, once yeast makes alcohol, it's a pretty inhospitable environment for bacteria and I have never had an issue with using fruit straight out of the freezer. We have an orchard over the DE/MD line. (Milburn Orchards) I pick blackberries, raspberries etc and freeze them in one lb packs. If I run out, I just go down to Shoprite and buy the already frozen bags of fruit for pretty cheap.

If you want, pm me your number. I'll shoot you my number and if you want you can text me if you have any questions during the brew/fermentation process.