Belgian Red Ale(fruited/DHed Sour)

[Bigbre04]

Not another strange sour...

So i was just casually wasting time and i stubbled across Belgian Red Ale. From my brief reading on it i came up with a basic concept.

Tart fruited red/brown ale 12-20ibu(not possible for my souring)
basic ingredients: 2R, Red x, some caramel, and sugar
generally a sour ale done with a blend of belgian funk, i am not doing that, but i will do sour pitch.

SO this is where i am so far.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1641328

I would dryhop instead of adding hops during the boil as the Sour pitch wont survive over 7ibus. I was thinking a mix of Mandarina bavaria, Krush, and Cashmere all post fermentation. I could also add in some fruit. Maybe some cherry or blackberry?

I would pitch my normal 50g sour pitch and give it 24-48hrs to work and then cool it down to fermenation temp for Apex Trappist yeast. This would likely be brewed ahead of time and given some time cold/carbed/kegged before it was served.




I am also looking at making a Strawberry/Rosemary Sour soonish. Apricot sour next though.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1641324

Thoughts??

 

[Bigbre04]

Maybe instead of cherry i could do Blood Orange? Just dig down into the citrusy dryhop???

 

[Brew Cat]

I'd see what you get without the fruit
I've had sour brown ales that were very good
Also had some sour IPA also good. You don't need to add fruit to a sour though many people do. I think you will need to sour with lacto before the boil if you try to sour an IPA

 

[Minbari]

Belgian red sour ale is Soo good!

 

[Donoroto]

Go easy on the rosemary.

 

[Bigbre04]

Go easy on the rosemary.

I will. i am gonna get rosemary flavoring as i dont wanna deal with boiling it...far far more predictable

 

[Bigbre04]

my only concern for this style in the summer on the beach is whether it will sell without fruit. most of the people drinking sours are really people who dont actually like beer so that is not really gonna satisfy your average non beer drinker.

 

[Brew Cat]

A brewer once told me he always saved one tap for himself and brewed what he liked or wanted damn the customer

 

[Bigbre04]

A brewer once told me he always saved one tap for himself and brewed what he liked or wanted damn the customer

Man if i had 12-16 taps i would totally do that, but with only 8 taps i have to stick to things that sell, i dont have a ton of freedom to play.

I have one tap that i will toss a hefe on once the Italian pils gets depleted further.

 

[Donoroto]

my only concern for this style in the summer on the beach is whether it will sell without fruit. most of the people drinking sours are really people who dont actually like beer so that is not really gonna satisfy your average non beer drinker.

Does it have to be sour to be fruited?

I once had a blueberry IPA from Jackie O’s in Ohio, it was relatively low-key on the bittering (20-30 IBUs) and hops (fruity, maybe tropical), with enough blueberry to get the smell (and some flavor) and IIRC they had a small dose of lactose for some sweetness. Wasn’t cloying, wasn’t too beery, was a bit extra fizzy.

I’m very partial to blueberries so I really liked it.

 

[Minbari]

my only concern for this style in the summer on the beach is whether it will sell without fruit. most of the people drinking sours are really people who dont actually like beer so that is not really gonna satisfy your average non beer drinker.

I don't think a really good Belgian sour is gonna be good for any non beer drinker

 

[Brew Cat]

Maybe instead of cherry i could do Blood Orange? Just dig down into the citrusy dryhop???

citrus goes nice in an IPA sour
my favorite fruit is black currant great in a sour or wheat beer also I use it for wine
its a great fruit because it has the tannins you need in wine
I've used it in Saison as well

 

[Bigbre04]

so i think that the real answer is just using the redx in the strawberry/rosemary and leaving it just for color. not adding any extra crystal other then maybe a little midnight wheat??? Maybe when/if i ever get more draft lines i can get that recipe done and have space to not worry about it.