12.19.2011

Flanders Red finally on Cherries! Weird ass dream!

I had a really weird dream on Friday night.   In my dream, I went to my fermenter to take a look in at my first sour beer (still in carboy) and it was completely clear like water.  Not so much like water, but more like that clear Crystal Pepsi.   Also (in my dream) it had half a pumpkin and some other random vegetables floating in it that presumably soaked up all of the color.  Anywho...I realized upon awaking that Saturday morning that I should probably do something with that beer.

My first sour beer I ever brewed was an American Style Flanders Red Ale that I brewed 11 months ago.  It's been in secondary (an Ale Pale) for the last 6 months and has been getting more and more sour, at least as far as I could tell from sniffing the air lock.   After my weird ass dream,  I decided to take a taste and figure out how it's doing and where I want it to go from here.   The sample was a nice ruby, brown color.   Smell was nice and tart with caramel and cherries.   Taste was a little tart, malty, oaky,  not sour on the end but actually a little sweet.   I don't exactly know what the different acids taste like, but I don't get a lot of vinegar at all (which I believe is acetic acid).  The bottom line is, it tastes good!

I decided that now was the time to split it up. 
3 gallons to Rest -
I siphoned 3 gallons into a 3 gallon better bottle for longer term storage.  I'm hoping that this will get nice and acidic over the next year or longer.  If not, I'll end up bottling this portion as is.  It definitely tasted pretty damn good right now, but not as acidic as I'd prefer.
3 gallons on Tart Cherries -
The second 3 gallon portion was sitting in the Pale and I dumped 4 lbs of Tart cherries into that mix!   I tasted  a tiny bit of the cherry juice and it was definitely very tart.  I think this will complement the beer very well as I don't think it's going to be as tart and sour as I want on it's own!   The first pitch of Rosealare tends to not be extremely acid.   Should be ready for bottling in about 6 months.   June is the perfect time to be drinking a Flanders ale with Cherries!

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