STORY
During my brief tenure as a beer snob, I have developed a love for sour beer. Luckily, I live close to Jolly Pumpkin, a brewery specializing in wild yeast and sour beers, so I can get my fill whenever I desire. Living close to such a brewery is nice, but naturally I have been considering creating my own sour beers. However, after some research I don't think its worth my while.
Brewing sour beers comes with a lot of baggage. First of all, souring yeasts like Brettanomyces and Lactobacillius can contaminate your brew house, and many brewers recommend having dedicated transfer and fermentation equipment that is strictly reserved for sour beers. The last thing you'd want is for the horse-blanket Bretts to leech into your seasonal pumpkin beer. Secondly, these beers take a long time to mature, and often require blending of young and old batches, which is an art in and of itself. Lastly, if I really want a nice Flanders Red, or Lambic I can pick one up from the beer market fairly easily. For these reasons, I have abandoned the wild yeast idea, at least for the short term.
Fortunately, there is another way. Instead of using wild yeast to sour beer, you can simply add lactic acid to a finished beer without running the risk of a brew house infection. And that is precisely what I did to brew this beer.
Gose ("goes-uh") is a slightly sour and slightly salty beer originally brewed in Goslar, Germany one thousand years ago. I'll save you the history lesson, but if you are interested you can read up on it yourself. This beer is a great way to get your feet wet in the sour beer game.
RECIPE (PRINTABLE VERSION)
Grains (11.25lbs)
5.5 lbs German Wheat Malt
5.5 lbs German Pilsner Malt
1.0 lbs Acidulated Malt (Mill Separately)
1.0 lbs Rice Hulls (Do Not Mill)
Hops (4.5 AAUs)
4.5 AAUs Spalt (1oz | 4.5%)
Yeast (1 Packet)
German Ale / Kölsch WLP029 (White Labs)
(Medium | 72-78% | 56-70°F)
Misc
.65 oz Salt
.50 oz Coriander Seeds (crushed)
~3 tbsp Lactic Acid (88%)
STATS
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.008 (should aim for ~1.003)
ABV:
ABV:
SRM: ~7
IBU: ~25
MASH SCHEDULE
Strike (60min)
Add Wheat Malt, Pilsner Malt, & Rice Hulls
16.0 qts water @ 162°F
Should settle to 152°F (140-152°F)
Aim for 150-152 initial mash temp (for body)
Let temp fall naturally to 140-145 range (for dryness)
Infusion (45min)
Add Acid Malt
Add water to maintain 140-145°F
Sparge
Prep water @ 175F
Continue until >6.5 gallons gathered
*PreBG should be 1.040 (Temperature adjusted to 159°F)
BREW SCHEDULE
1 oz Spalt @ :60.65 oz Salt @ :15
.50 oz Coriander Seeds @ :15
Yeast Nutrient @ :10
Irish Moss @ :10
Rapidly cool to 60°F
FERMENTATION SCHEDULE
Transfer to secondary after 2wks
Bottle after another 2wks
Carbonate to 3.1 vol CO2 (~1.2oz/gal) - the more effervescent the better
Add lactic acid (13-16ml/gal) to taste (see sessions & notes below)
Condition at room temp for 1wk
Cold condition for 1wk
DRINK!
Bottle after another 2wks
Carbonate to 3.1 vol CO2 (~1.2oz/gal) - the more effervescent the better
Add lactic acid (13-16ml/gal) to taste (see sessions & notes below)
Condition at room temp for 1wk
Cold condition for 1wk
DRINK!
SESSIONS
May, 2015NOTES
I sampled a few Goses before brewing this beer and decided that they were all to thin. As a result, I boosted the OG. Feel free to dial back the recipe a bit if you prefer lighter beers.
You could save the salt addition for bottling to better control the taste
When adding lactic acid, bottle multiple batch using different amounts of lactic acid
Bottle a few weaker ones, a few average ones, and a few sour bombs
Save some of each so over time you can see how the lactic acid profile ages
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