Mad idea? Use champagne yeast and Crystal Malt?

[Matt12398]

You're looking at between 30 and 40% simple sugar which most likely going to make something truly hideous and undrinkable. I'm all for experimentation but if you're moving into barley wine territory you want a bit more barley in there than wine.

[Manngold]

HI, not sure if this has been posted.

I recently had a pint of something called Sorachi Ace at the Brew Fest 2014 in Greenwich. Apparently this pint is only served in one pub in London at £14 a go. It used the Sorachi hop and Champagne yeast. It was very strong, I want to say about 7.5% (will check my brew log later).

In terms of the beer itself it was extremely pale and very fruity. A real pleasure.

Will find more info for you later.

[far9410]

HI, not sure if this has been posted.

I recently had a pint of something called Sorachi Ace at the Brew Fest 2014 in Greenwich. Apparently this pint is only served in one pub in London at £14 a go. It used the Sorachi hop and Champagne yeast. It was very strong, I want to say about 7.5% (will check my brew log later).

In terms of the beer itself it was extremely pale and very fruity. A real pleasure.

Will find more info for you later.

Yes give us more info, got some sorachi to use up

[seymour]

It sounds like a clone of this highly sought-after masterpiece, actually:

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace Saison: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/brooklyn-s ... ce/107007/

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace is a classic saison, a cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale, but featuring rare Sorachi Ace hop.Fermented with our special Belgian ale strain, we add Sorachi Ace hops post-fermentation. After 100% bottle re-fermentation with Champagne yeast, the beer emerges with a bright spicy lemon zest aroma. It tastes like sunshine in a glass, and that suits us just fine, especially with seafood dishes and fresh cheeses. ABV 7.6%

[far9410]

Wow, could I re use my wlp 500 from a Belgian blonde then add champagne yeast at bottling stage?

[seymour]

Wow, could I re use my wlp 500 from a Belgian blonde then add champagne yeast at bottling stage?

Absolutely yes. That's exactly what the geniuses at Brooklyn Brewery are doing. I'm not being sarcastic, they brew some awesome beer.
Not at bottling stage, though, or you'll have some bottle bombs. Allow WLP500 primary fermentation to settle-down, then rack to a secondary fermentor and add the Champagne yeast and Sorachi Ace dry hops for more lengthy bulk-aging.

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace
Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, New York, USA
Style: Saison
OG: 1064
ABV: 7.6%
Grainbill: Pilsener Malt, a little White Sugar
Hops: Sorachi Ace (90 min, 15 min, flame-out, and dry-hopped)
IBU: 34
Colour: hazy golden
Yeast: Belgian ale strain in primary, Champagne strain in secondary

[far9410]

Wow, could I re use my wlp 500 from a Belgian blonde then add champagne yeast at bottling stage?

Absolutely yes. That's exactly what the geniuses at Brooklyn Brewery are doing. I'm not being sarcastic, they brew some awesome beer.
Not at bottling stage, though, or you'll have some bottle bombs. Allow WLP500 primary fermentation to settle-down, then rack to a secondary fermentor and add the Champagne yeast and Sorachi Ace dry hops for more lengthy bulk-aging.

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace
Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, New York, USA
Style: Saison
OG: 1064
ABV: 7.6%
Grainbill: Pilsener Malt, a little White Sugar
Hops: Sorachi Ace (90 min, 15 min, flame-out, and dry-hopped)
IBU: 34
Yeast: Belgian ale strain in primary, Champagne strain in secondary
Colour: hazy golden

Ok are the hops for this added dry to a blonde ale, or should I concoct a brew using sorachi?

[far9410]

Ok this is the plan, brew a "leffe" lookalike to about 6.5%, then pitch onto yeast cake with a "radieuse" clone ( which worked well last year), then re use the yeast to brew a Belgian blonde, Seymour to assist with the final recipe , then dry hop with sorachi and champagne yeast to finish.

If all goes well that's Xmas sorted!

[seymour]

...Ok are the hops for this added dry to a blonde ale, or should I concoct a brew using sorachi?

If I understand your question correctly, to clone Brooklyn's brew you'd simply mash a bunch of Pilsener malt to about 1057 or so, add enough white sugar to the boil to reach an OG around 1064. Use only Sorachi Ace hops, added at the beginning of the 90 minute boil, more at 15 minutes remaining, more at flame-out to steep until chilled, then primary ferment with your Belgian yeast. Then rack to secondary with Champagne yeast and Sorachi Ace dry hops.

Ok this is the plan, brew a "leffe" lookalike to about 6.5%, then pitch onto yeast cake with a "radieuse" clone ( which worked well last year), then re use the yeast to brew a Belgian blonde, Seymour to assist with the final recipe , then dry hop with sorachi and champagne yeast to finish.

If all goes well that's Xmas sorted!

Sounds all-around festive!

[far9410]

Once again "nice one Seymour ".

[Manngold]

Seymour has this one.

This is the extract taken from the brew guide itself.

Brooklyn brewery
Brooklyn Sorachi Ace 7.6% Abv (USA)
Brooklyn Sorachi ace is a classic saison style, a crackingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale, but featuring the rare Sorachi Ace hop. Fermented with our special Belgian ale strain, we add Sorachi hops post fermentation. After re-fermentation with our champagne yeast, the beer emerges with a bright spicy lemon zest aroma.


In my opinion it was a great craft beer. The Brooklyn brewery had some classic beers that were great. However the show stealers for me were the Greenwich meantime brewery and the beavertown brewery.


Hope this is useful.

John

[seymour]

...However the show stealers for me were the Greenwich meantime brewer...

Oh my god, did you taste Meantime Coffee Porter? So very delicious.

[Capn Ahab]

I agree that to clone this beer you should have a nice simple saison grist (pils + white sugar + maybe a little wheat or flaked corn) then hop it to a bu/gu of around 0.7 with plenty of late hops, but I gotta disagree with this:

Then rack to secondary with Champagne yeast and Sorachi Ace dry hops.

Leaving aside the fact that yeast activity is going to reduce the hop aroma, surely the point of the champagne yeast is to drop the gravity a couple of points in bottle to give it high carbonation, which in turn will boost the hop aroma when you pour?

I would have thought there is no need to add priming sugar as the champagne yeast will chew through some remaining long chain sugars to give it fizz. I would also try to get the beer well attenuated before bottling so that it doesn't have too much to get through, but then I would also bottle it in reinforced champagne bottles, as Brooklyn do, for safety.

Dry hop in secondary after dropping the primary yeast out, before adding champagne yeast at bottling I reckon.

[Manngold]

...However the show stealers for me were the Greenwich meantime brewer...

Oh my god, did you taste Meantime Coffee Porter? So very delicious.

I can't say that I have. I am not a fan of porters, but I do love the stout. If you can, try to find a pub that serves Yakima Red. It is one hell of a tasty beer. The brewery do a fantastic tour as well.

[Hanglow]

It's amazing to think that Meantime is London's second oldest operating brewery at the moment and have only been around for 14 years or so, yet there are now around 70 breweries in the london area