Old Man Johnson’s Farm Catharina Sour

This is a really fun and easy kettle sour recipe. We have made it with different fruits (and some vegetables) but like the raspberry the best. When not brewing for NHC, we will generally split this 8-gallon recipe into two batches and add different fruits to each. We brew on a Spike Solo, so this is a brew-in-a-bag recipe. Start with RO water and build profile. Mash in at 149°F (65°C) and hold for 45 min. Raise temperature to 154°F (68°C) and hold for 15 min. Mash out at 168°F (76°C) for 15 min. Target a mash pH of 5.2. Boil for 10 min. Chill to 95°F (35°C). Use lactic acid to pre-acidify your wort to pH of 4.4–4.5. Pitch the Lactobacillus. Purge the kettle headspace with CO2. (We have a kettle lid with a camlock fitting on top, and we run a line from our CO2 tank to the kettle and connect to the camlock. We tightly wrap the junction of the kettle and kettle lid with cellophane to attempt to seal the vessel. We purge frequently with CO2 as the beer is souring.) Hold kettle at 95°F (35°C) for 24–48 hours for souring. Target a pH of 3.2–3.5 depending on desired sourness. Once wort has soured, heat kettle and boil for 15 min. Add hops at 10 min. Add whirlpool hops and salt and hold for 15 min. at 185°F (85°C). Chill to 95°F. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 95°F. As fermentation activity is slowing (usually within 24–30 hours), add the berries. We put the berries in mesh brew bags and drop into the fermenter. Hold for 2 weeks. Transfer beer to secondary. Add additional concentrated juice and salt to taste. Cold crash and add gelatin. After beer has cleared, rack to keg and force carbonate to 3.0 volumes.

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