{"id":1808,"date":"2018-12-17T12:51:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T12:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suigenerisbrewing.com\/?p=1808"},"modified":"2018-12-17T12:51:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T12:51:57","slug":"coolship-homebrew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suigenerisbrewing.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/17\/coolship-homebrew\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Wild – Coolshipped Beers in the Home Brewery"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article on brewing coolship beers first appeared earlier over at the Canadian Homebewers Association<\/a> \u2013 Canada\u2019s equivalent of the AHA. This article takes a deep-dive into how to collect and brew with wild yeasts using a coolship approach.<\/p>\n

I am re-posting this article below for those who are interested, although\u00a0I encourage you to check out the original over at the CHA. And while you\u2019re there, if you are a Canadian homebrewer, why not\u00a0join the CHA<\/a>\u00a0and help them in their mission to promote the hobby of homebrewing in the great white north.<\/p>\n

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Hot scotchy’s are essential because these beers are brewed when its cool.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In October I posted an article on how to capture and brew with yeast isolated from your environment<\/a>. This method allows you to produce a “house” yeast culture unique to your brewery. However, it is also a complex and time-consuming process that deviates from traditional, time-tested wild-brewing methods. In this article I’m going to describe a method similar to that used for traditional sour beer production, which can easily be used by any homebrewer to create Belgian-inspired but uniquely Canadian wild beers.<\/p>\n

This process mimics parts of the traditional Belgian method but makes use of modern brewing techniques to simplify the brewing process. This includes eliminating turbid mashing, which is difficult to do with many homebrew setups (you need to be equipped to decoction mash) and is unnecessary given the level of control we have with modern infusion mashing techniques.<\/p>\n

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Overview<\/h2>\n

Brewing wild beers by coolshipping is simple, but these beers take a long time (8-36 months) to ferment so you need to be planning months or even years ahead when starting a wild brewing program. Key to this long ageing is the use of a very hot mash; this will create a wort with lots of dextrans, which will feed the wild yeast and bacteria over the months and years of the fermentation. These beers are typically lightly hopped in order to avoid suppressing the sour activity of wild bacteria. You brew these beers much the same as any other beer, but rather than cooling them with a chiller, you simply leave the pot outside, uncovered, and allow nature to cool your beer. At the same time, yeast and bacteria in the air will fall into the beer, inoculating it and starting the ferment.<\/p>\n

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Sample Recipe & Brewing Process<\/h2>\n
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Letting nature chill the beer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can brew many styles of beer using this method \u2013 from traditional Belgian sours (e.g. lambic-inspired beers), to modern recipes<\/a> such as black rosemary saisons flavoured with caramelised raisins deglazed in port. While many styles can be brewed, I would suggest a simple golden sour recipe for beginners. This is a great starting point for a brewer new to wild brewing as it produces a beer which is interesting on its own, but which also works well with fruit, with spices, and can be blended with other beers. This beer is minimally hopped (1.5 IBUs), which will ensure that your wild bacteria will sour the beer. The amount of hops can be increased in future recipes if your beer gets too tart, but be careful, as most wild bacteria cannot tolerate more than 5 IBU. Lastly, a very high mash temperature is used to provide dextrans for the long fermentation. You can also make this recipe with a traditional turbid mash, but this is an advanced and long process that I personally prefer to avoid. I use this recipe for many purposes \u2013 it is the basis of my Everybody in the Pool<\/em>\u00a0solera, where I dump all of the interesting sour\/wild bottle dregs I find. But I also use this for fruited sours and as a base for blending with other beers.<\/p>\n

There are a few other factors you need to consider other than a recipe when brewing wild beers. Weather is an important factor \u2013 you want the cooling period (usually overnight) to be cool; 12C or cooler, and without snow or rain in the forecast. Some wind is good as it\u2019ll speed cooling and deliver more yeast, but it isn\u2019t required. If brewing in weather below freezing it is a good idea to brew in the morning so that the beer can be brought in before night. That said, I\u2019ve had a few batches freeze solid, only for the beer to start fermenting a few days after being thawed and transferred to a fermenter. Location also matters – you need to select a cooling location where there is a good chance of collecting wild yeast. Luckily, this is pretty much any place outdoors, but a location with trees or other plants nearby is preferred. Lastly, it is best to brew in the location where you plan on chilling the beer in order to avoid lugging a pot of near-boiling wort around.<\/p>\n

Recipe – Everybody In The Pool Golden Sour<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Coolshipping was successful.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ingredients:<\/em><\/p>\n