Hohe Feuchtigkeitssäure Donner Braunbeir

I made this recipe up this morning. I need something to rack onto the yeast cake of my last roeselare brew, a flander's red.  It was concocted after reading several posts about sours and many questionable sour brown recipes that I have found scattered across the internet.  The rye substitutions were inspired by The Mad Fermentationist's Funky Mild Rye and my inability to brew things that do not include rye.  Ever since I have switched to all grain I have put rye in just about all of my beers.  I've done a couple american ryes, a rye pale, and a rye ipa.  I have a stout that has some chocolate rye in the grist in queue.  I have a hard time passing up the opportunity to use rye in anything I brew, and really wanted this sour brown to be unique and not a copy of someone else's recipe as I did with my first sour.  All or part of this will be aged on top of cherries, variety to be determined when I find some at the farmer's markets.  Heres the recipe.

I am still learning a lot about brewing sours and brewing in general so as always, with all of my posts, please feel free to comment and give feedback. Thanks!

Hohe Feuchtigkeitssäure Donner Braunbeir

Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 8/3/2010
Batch Size: 5.50 gal	Brewer: Raymond Wagner
Boil Size: 6.91 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: Brew Pot (6+gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (5 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 10 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.92 % 1 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 7.69 % 12.0 oz Caramunich III (Weyermann) (71.0 SRM) Grain 5.77 % 8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3.85 % 8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3.85 % 4.0 oz Chocolate Rye (Weyermann) (245.0 SRM) Grain 1.92 % 1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 23.0 IBU
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.09 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 23.0 IBU	Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 20.0 SRM	Color: Color
This was a really fun brew night.  A couple days ago my little brother moved in with me and it was the first time he has ever been around for a brew session, which was very nice.  Also present were his girlfriend Alli and a fellow brewer and friend, Adam. On the way back from the brew store we stopped by home depot and Adam picked up a piece of maple for .53 that was quickly made into a mash paddle to replace the plastic spoon we had been using.  I can't believe for .53 we hadn't done this already. The locusts are out in force here in Iowa.  A few beers into this brew, we were under attack so Adam went after one with the mash paddle to no avail.  Fate, however, had other plans for this particular locust.  This bug was destined to burn for its attacks on humanity.  What happened next was one of the most disturbing things I have ever had to listen to/witness.  The locust flew into an open porch light and got caught between the bulb and the glass where it proceeded to screech for a good 10 minutes before it stopped and we assumed it was dead.  I would have turned the light off but it was the neighbor's and she was gone.  Ten minutes later it started screeching again.  Our level of intoxication made it laughable but everyone was still a little disturbed by the unfortunate demise of the screeching, burning locust. All in all it was a great brewing session.  Everything went relatively smooth and I had probably the most fun I've had brewing in a while.  Thats what happens when you're with good people tho I suppose.  I live in a college town and have met a lot of great people here.  After ten years, however, most of my good friends have gone.  Lately its been becoming more and more of a bummer to see them leave.  Our numbers are diminishing and it kinda makes me feel like I'm spinning my tires and not getting anywhere in life, seeing them all starting families and doing the things they have always dreamt about doing.  Oh well.  I'm happy to have my brother living with me.  He's an awesome dude and I'm looking forward to the trouble we'll get in over the next year.  I also realized tonight that Adam has gone from a friend of a friend to a friend of a friend who wants to learn how to brew to good friend.  He has renewed my interest in brewing and pushes me to brew more and further my knowledge.  I'm really looking forward to brewing all of the crazy beers we have talked about doing. Brew Notes: Mashed in a little high @ 157.  Stirred till 155, was aiming for 154. 11:16 pm.  Pre-boil gravity measured @1.048.  Humidity is very high, I'm sweating bad, skeeters are biting, thunder is rolling in.  All the locusts have left for now or are dead heh.  Blog post and beer re-named to Hohe Feuchtigkeitssäure Donner Braunbeir.  (Don't ask.  We thought then, and still do think now, that german is funny :) ) 12:35 AM Chilling the wort.  Its raining now pretty good now.  I had to borrow a hose from Adam so I could chill under the awning.  Racked the flanders red to a secondary to make way for the brown.  I forgot to take an sg reading or a taste...oh well.  I've been spending too much time brewing so one of the reasons behind making this beer and future sours is to be like ronco is to turkey/chicken/hams.  I want to just set it, and forget it...for at least a year.  Having drank the Goose Island Fleur, which I know nothing about but the homebrew store guy said something about it being fermented with a kombucha scoby??? (Looked into this, it is blended with kombucha tea, something I drink often.  It was good IMO and I would like to get a bottle or two to cellar) and the New Belgium Lips of Faith La Folie 2010 this evening, my palate would probably not discern any minor sourness or funk that is developing in the brew.  (<---This is beer snob talk for "whoops i drank too much beer and forgot to do something I should have") 1:10 AM OSG = 1.055. my efficiency is waaay down recently.  the last few batches have ended up about 5-7 points below where i was shooting. 2 ish AM.  "Pitched" wort onto cake and gave it about 30 mins on the aerator.  I've never pitched onto a cake before and I swear the fermentation was well on its way before all the wort was racked.  Also, I added the dregs of the Fleur and the La Folie. Edited on 9-1-10 to note:  The new bomber style La Folie's have been pasteurized so nothing was gained by pitching it's dregs. 08/04/10 6:30AM.  Time for work.  The carboy is rockin'.  Full ferment going in under 4 hours. 11:30 pm  Time for bed.  Ferment is going strong and is sitting around 68 degrees. 08/06/10  I'm starting to wonder if pitching onto that cake was a good idea.  It seemed like a very violent fermentation and its damn near done.  Krausen has subsided and yeast are dropping out.  Theres still definately some funky stuff going on on top of this brew :)  My main concern is that it smells really really boozy and that fermented real quick despite me keeping the temp around 68.