Jeff’s sour stout won the June 2015 in-club sours competition. He shares his recipe and some thoughts here.
A few years ago, I had The Bruery’s Tart of Darkness a few times within a short period of time. I remember thinking how smooth and clean it was and how well the acidity paired with such a dark beer.
Last year, I finally got around to trying to create a beer in a similar vein. This was also the first time it had occurred to me to utilize a kettle sour, followed by a 100% Brett fermentation. This would allow for a more complex beer, yet still keeping it as a quick turnaround sour.
I’m calling this a sour stout, mostly for lack of a better descriptor. However, there isn’t as much roast character as I would normally expect for a stout. While gathering the grains, I became worried about the level of roast and cut my dark malts in half. I am happy with the result and would brew it again as is. But if you would like the deeper roast character of a proper stout, this beer would definitely hold up to it.
Sour Stout recipe
Brewed 9/30/14
Kegged 10/29/14
5.9% ABV
14 IBU
37 SRM
13.0P – 2.9P
1.056 – 1.012
6 lbs 2 Row – Rahr
2 lbs Flaked Oats
1 lb C60 – Briess
1 lb Golden Naked Oats – Simpsons
8 oz Chocolate Wheat – Weyermann
8 oz Carafa II
Mash @ 148 for 60 mins
5g CaSo4 + 5g CaCl2 added to beginning of mash.
Kettle sour for 24 hours. Chill to 120F, pitch a handful of uncrushed grain and hold between 100-120F. (I wrote a more detailed kettle sour primer on Brooklyn Homebrew’s blog ‘The Boilover’.)
Boil 60 mins. 1 oz Styrian Goldings – 60 mins
100% Brett Trois pitched at ale pitching rates.
Ferment at 65F for 2 days, then ambient (70-73F) for remainder of fermentation.
*You could lower the pitching rate and/or raise fermentation temperature if you prefer more funk than fruit from your Brett.