Serendipity and the Art of Homebrew

Nosybear

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Some time last year I brewed a really crappy Wit. I mean, so crappy I intended to dump it. But i never got around to it. Fast forward over a year. I stumble over this carboy full of beer with this beautiful cream-coloref pellicle on it. Curious, i take the top off and sniff. Smells good. I pull a sample. Notes of bourbon, not too tart, no diacetyl to speak of, a wonderful funk...

Of course I'm calling it "Wit du Funk." And I normally don't do funky beers.

Note to new brewers : This is taking the notion of time fixing beer to a ridiculous extreme.
 
Maybe it's a medal worthy funk? I gotta admit I have forgot about bottled beer stashed away in a closet or two but a whole carboy?
 
Maybe it's a medal worthy funk? I gotta admit I have forgot about bottled beer stashed away in a closet or two but a whole carboy?
It is a very unusual funk. I was pleased with it and I'm not a fan of funk, usually.
 
Do you think you could save the yeast trub and replicate it? Would have to brew it again then reintroduce the funk after fermentation, wouldn't you? Kind of a lot of trouble for a funky beer but Wit du Funk, right
 
Do you think you could save the yeast trub and replicate it? Would have to brew it again then reintroduce the funk after fermentation, wouldn't you? Kind of a lot of trouble for a funky beer but Wit du Funk, right
If i can figure out how, I plan to do that. But the bacteria are in the beer. I may find some small bottles and put the funk in them for future pitching.
 
If i can figure out how, I plan to do that. But the bacteria are in the beer. I may find some small bottles and put the funk in them for future pitching.

I wasn't going to admit it but the stout that I brewed recently with water salts adjustments was pitched with WLP-01. On the 3rd day with no yeast activity I began to worry. It was trub from a cake and was a large pitch so should have gone bonkers. While scratching my head I looked up the yeast specs and found 68-73f temp.Duh I was at 64f . Warmed it up and it took off like a rocket. But it was too late it was already a sour stout, drinkable with a good tart but sour non the less.
 
I've been fighting my little wild friends in the brew house and mostly winning...though sometimes just barely. :)
I've saved a couple of pitches that are definitely contaminated and intend to culture them and see what happens.
In the meantime, I have a keg full of corn/rice lager that I fermented in a haunted bucket. It's actually a blend of the first pitch batch and the remains of the second pitch batch. The second pitch went definitely but subtly Belgian/brett and was really good, though it bore little resemblence to the W34/70 lager it should have been. The first batch had retained a very light medicinal taste...not offensive, but not clean lager, for sure. Now that they're blended, I've let the keg sit out at room temp and it's turning into a beautiful little beer. Still a little medicinal tang, but starting to get slight tartness and retaining some of the spice/funk that the second batch added along with light tobacco/barnyard funk.
I'm sure an open fermentation in my garage would yield something interesting. :cool:
 
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I wont drink true sour beer it always gives me the craps but its easy to make, Ive done it by accident just by adding my carboy to the fermenter without yeast for a week, it will sour but again I prefer artificial sour taste, lactic acid works
 
I wont drink true sour beer it always gives me the craps but its easy to make, Ive done it by accident just by adding my carboy to the fermenter without yeast for a week, it will sour but again I prefer artificial sour taste, lactic acid works
Try kettle souring - makes a nice clean sour (and the only kind of sour I'l normally drink). My accidental wild is not sour at all.
 
Been asked to do a raspberry Berliner for the wives of our collective...oh dear gods what have I become
I gotta tell ya...I would drink that beer. That is if it was anything like the medal-winning Berliner that one of the brew club guys makes. When it's done right, a Berlinerweiss is a thing of beauty. When it's overdone, it's puckering and not enjoyable at all.
 

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