Gose Brewday III

The tipping point for another Gose was the delicious flavor of the first one as it went into the bottle on Tuesday—soft bready malt mixed with a saline perfume-y sourness that has certainly increased since last week. I also tasted the second one when I moved it over—it is slightly tarter, and the tangerine is hiding in the background. In this one, the grapefruit was hidden by the bready wheat when I tasted the wort, so we’ll see if it shows up once the yeast works its magic. Oh, and I ramped up the salt here to 14 grams a gallon. I know, crazy.

84. Gose the Gozerian III
Mash:
4 lbs. Breiss White Wheat
2 ¼ lbs. Weyerman Light Munich
2 ¼ lbs. Weyerman Bohemian Pilsner
½ lb. Weyerman Acidulated Malt
½ lb. Unmalted Organic Spelt
¼ lb. Dingemans Cara 20

Mashed w/ 3 gallons of RO water @ 150° F for 90 minutes
Batch sparged with 2 ½ gallons RO water @ 163° F for 15 minutes

Added to brew kettle, brought to a boil (90 minute) and added:
w/90 to go: ½ oz. Hallertauer Leaf 4.1% AA

w/10 to go: .60 oz. coriander

w/2 to go: peel and juice of 2 pink grapefruit

@ removal from heat: 70 grams Kosher salt

Chilled, racked to carboy, and pitched on Safale US-05 and Wyeast 5335 Lactobacillus cake from the last two batches

Brewed: 3/3/2011 @ 73° F; began bubbling within 20 minutes; 1 ½ inches of krausen and up t0 75° F after an hour
Secondary: 3/15/2011 @ 1.012
Bottled: 3/27/2011 w/ 4.5 oz. table sugar @ 61° F

OG: 1.044
FG: 1.011

Tasting Notes: 4/18/2011: Gose the Gozerian III pours a hazy yellow gold; it is dusky gold in lower light, but held up to the light it is brighter and certainly more yellow. The head is white and has decent staying power—the middle third of the center falls out, but the rest hangs around and even offers a small amount of lacing. Wheat, salt, and breadiness dominate the nose, coupled with just a touch of sourness in the back—it blends in well with the salt, however. Flavors are sweet and bready in the front—the wheat structure of the beer is clear and present, with a bit of a tang from the salt and lactobacillus. The middle is lightly gummy and salty—the initial sweetness drops away, leaving behind more of the wheat. The finish is dry with biscuit and low levels of graininess, and more of the salt and sour with the same lingering sourness you get in a Berliner Weisse coupled with an extra salt kick. With a soft, chewy mouthfeel that is also cleansing and brisk, there is a pleasant mix between substance and refreshment in the overall palate sensations created by the beer. I understand that the salt component will turn off some people, but I just don’t see it—I find it delicious, crisp, and refreshing—it’s like a bready alcoholic version of your favorite energy drink, only better. I’d call it the perfect lawnmower beer, but something tells me I’m just gonna get shouted down on that one. Let’s call it the beer nerd’s lawnmower beer. This is probably the best of the three versions, although I am personally partial to the Fruity Pebbles flavor in the second version. Still, this one is probably the closest to an authentic gose. I’m looking forward to trying this again when the weather gets warm and I can ferment it really warm to let the sour lactobacillus character shine. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted.

128. Brasserie de Blaugies Saison D’Epeautre

From the Brasserie de Blaugies in Blaugies, Belgium.

Saison D’Epeautre has a banana and bubblegum nose that also has a good dose of general yeast esteriness. It pours a clear gold with a rocky white head. Saison D’Epeautre opens with a light soft sweet malt flavor, and moves into some tartness and ester flavor in the middle along with a bit of skunkiness, and finishes rather clean and dry. A light grainy sourness does linger, but it is not unpleasant. There is a light body with tiny, sharp bubbles that help highlight a clean and crisp feel on the palate, although there is also a bit of creaminess in the beer’s texture. Overall, an excellent beer. The nose and body don’t match as well as they could, and we weren’t sure if the skunkiness was an intentional component of the beer or a product of age, but pleasant and enjoyable otherwise, and very refreshing. We’d also like to know more about the relationship of the spelt to the lightness and brightness of the beer—if that is in part due to the spelt, here’s to more spelt beers.

From the Blaugies website: “Origine du nom: L’épeature est un froment rustique contenant un exhausteur de goût au pain mais aussi à la biére.”

From the Shelton Brothers website: “Saison D’Epeautre is a saison beer made in a unique traditional style, using spelt and barley malt in the mash. Very dry and light in body, with a hint of wheaty tartness and a hardy texture that expresses the character of spelt, a primitive strain of wheat. It is one truly feisty brew, with an outrageous pop and a natural long-lasting head. And ah, the aroma! It’s a wonderfully heady, musty, cellar character that is unmistakably Belgian and a lot like champagne. The taste delivers on the promise of the nose. Very enjoyable, and perfect for summer, but wonderful at any time of year. D’Epeautre is hand-brewed in small batches by the impassioned, gifted Blaugies brewers, a husband, wife, and son team. They’re very adventurous in recreating traditional beer styles - and are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. The family enjoys good food and beer, and consumes a lot of its own product for cooking and drinking. We like the rougher, grainier malt texture of all their beers. They give you the feeling that the brewers put this beer in a bottle just a few days ago, especially for you.”

ABV: 6.0%
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.002
Attenuation: 95%
Malts: Belgian Pilsner (67%) and raw dehusked Spelt (33%)
Hops: Styrian Golding
Primary Fermentation: 77-80°
Secondary Fermentation: five days @ 41°

(11/5/2009)