Redbach similar attempt

[pkalder]

I remember tasting Brouwerij Rodenbach Redbach back in 2007 and I loved it. It is no longer made and I'm trying to clone it, or at least create a similar tasting brew. I keep thinking about this recipe, and I wanted to post my methods for criticism and documentation. I have the base wort boiled, and I'll keep posting my results. Here is my recipe thus far. Tell me what you think,

Flemish bastard
(Redbach attempt)

(Red ale base 5g)
6lbs light LME
1lbs CaraRed malt, crushed
0.5lbs Crystal 60L malt, crushed
2 oz black roasted barley malt

Wort soured with about 1 oz whey drained over night from 1 cup of Greek yogurt

About 3 days soured, tasting intermittently

Pasteurize and reboil with hops
Tettnang 1 oz 55 min boil
Tettnang 1 oz 5 min boil
Cold break
Pitch US-05 yeast

2 weeks after fermenting, rack with 1.25 gallons (or 25%) sour cherry juice and bottle
After carbonation level achieved is desired, bottles are pasteurized to prevent bottle explosions from over carbonation.

Please post your comments. This is actually my second batch of home brew, which is a big undertaking for being new, but this recipe keeps calling to me. I can't sleep because I keep wondering how it is going to turn out.

 

[pkalder]

I should also add that I am souring the concentrated wort before bringing it up to the full 5 gallons, so the lactobacillus isn't diluted and has plenty of sugars to eat. Unfortunately I have no easy way to keep the wort at the 110* for the lacto to work so I had to drain the wort to a sanitized insulated cooler to keep it as warm as possible. Doing this I aerated the wort fairly well, and I hope the oxidation doesn't pull through to the finished product.

 

[pkalder]

So I tasted the concentrated wort daily after pitching the whey, I was a little ocd and couldn't let it run its course and pitched lac to each day. The fourth day it finally had a decent powdery pellicle. It tasted pleasantly tart, almost cider like. In my impatience I boiled with hops and put in the primary. After tasting the wort with volume brought up to OG of 1.048 the tartness was lost. In hindsight I think it would be better to do one of the following,

A. Culture lacto in a starter to grow strains that utilize maltose
B. Culture lacto in primary 1 week before bottling (ferment in bottle later)
C. Do a sour mash
D. Consider a kombucha souring

 

[pkalder]

Its been bubbling for about 1.5 days so far, slow and steady. When I pitched the yeast, I also pitched about an ounce of unboiled sweet wort and pellicle. Being curious I tasted it and it may get to the sourness I'm looking for! It was pretty astringent, but I think this is all proteins and alpha acids that haven't settled and rounded out because of active fermentation. My fear now is if it goes to far and over does it on sourness. This is fantastic!

 

[pkalder]

PS I made my wife try it, and she slapped me because it was so grainy.

Oops.

 

[pkalder]

After fermentation finished with the sacc I pitched two dregs of jolly pumpkin and sofie all on different days. I actually did sofie right before bottling to stress the brett out in the bottle. I bottled half plain and the other half with sour cherry concentrate. I added the concentrate to what 25% reconstituted would have been. So for 2.5 gallons I added enough concentrate that would make 0.625 gallons of juice (i didn't add any water, just concentrate only). I bottled this in addition to priming sugar and pasteurized about 9 days later. (pasteurization is necessary)

Amazing! This stuff tastes pretty good for only 1.5 mos fermenting! People think you need a whole year to make a good sour, they are flat wrong. I wish I could send a bottle to everyone to show how great it turned out but it is so good I don't have enough.

Plain- Aroma: can sense some brett, definite cherry (none added to this batch), and sour
Taste: Similar to jolly pumpkin la roja, a little thin and definitely simple
Kriek- The better out of the two. Amazing taste and mouthfeel. Still young and a little cloudy, but
fairly complex. I can't taste too much sweetness.

I am so happy. I'll have to post some detailed notes later.

 

[Vestal81]

I need to make an ag version of this sounds great. Would love to have one of those bottles