Trimming Old Black Currant Bushes (BD)
Decided to not waste the runoff from (BC). Pitched dregs from Beatification.
Brewed 4.5 gallons on 2018-06-16
Preboil gravity: 1.029
Original gravity: 1.031
Final gravity: 1.007
ABV: 3.2%
Apparent Attenuation: 77.4%
Parti-gyle first beer was Oaky Seas (Vanilla BCBS Clone) (BC)
Process notes
2018-06-16
Ran off ~4.75 gallons from previous beer in ~15 minutes. Wort is 5.34 pH.
2018-06-20
Active fermentation noticeable by nighttime.
2018-09-04
Threw in he oak cubes and fruit puree. Good clarity, brown, ruby red. Chocolate, coffee, toast aroma. Not very funky and nothing off. Water, chocolate, a bit minerally. Slight tartness, but not much yeast/bacteria complexity. Some astringency.
2018-12-18
Good clarity. Brown, garnet color. Pleasant dark berry aroma. Slightly tart, dry, not too astringent. This is drinking well and way different than the previous tasting. Some extra funk/complexity would be nice, but this is pretty good as-is.
2018-12-25
Kegged. Same tasting notes as previous note. Nice tart, fruit balance.
Yeast
2018-06-17
Pitch starter (started on 2018-06-13 with 150mL water, IntermittentShaking, 15 grams DME, 0.13 tsp FermaidK) made from 1 pack of Russian River Beatification 021517 Dregs at 68°. (Pitched in the morning after letting the wort cool on its own.)
Dry additions
2018-09-04
2 ounces of Oak Cubes (American Medium Toast) (CellarScience). (These oak cubes have been sitting in a mason jar for a long time. They were originally used in a malbec we made.)
2018-09-04
3.1 pounds of Black Currant Fruit Base (VintnersHarvest). (Dumped directly into fermenter.)
Tasting notes (4.00/10; 1 rating)
2019-05-11
[4/10] Purplish/brown head. Some lacing, thin layer of bubbles persists. Kind of a musty aroma, but there's a big black currant character. Low mouthfeel, lots of fruit in the flavor, it definitely dominates the beer. Some astringency. The aroma and finish are both undesirable, it's some kind of funk; maybe from the old oak, but maybe from all the black currant as well. The fruit flavor isn't too bad, though.
Beer competition results
Scored 25 in 2019 California State Fair.
Scored 26 in 2019 NHC.
Scored 31 in 2019 Saison Fest.
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