Rouge Flamande Deux (5-gal)(AG)

[russki]

Today is exactly 12 months since I have brewed my first sour ale - Rouge Flamande by Jamil Zainasheff (courtesy of Brewing Classic Styles). It's a Flanders Red Ale, fermented with a combination of Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus - tart, fruity, and complex. Today, I will be transferring that beer out of the primary, and brewing another batch to pitch on its cake - a Rouge Flamande Deux! For now, I will keep the first one in a 5-gallon PET carboy for additional aging, and to potentially blend with the second batch.

Here's the recipe (pretty much straight from the book):

Rouge Flamande Deux
an All Grain, Flanders Red Ale by russki

Predicted Stats
1.057 OG
1.011 FG
12 IBU
6.0% ABV
12 SRM
0.23 IBU/OG

Efficiency: 70.0% Batch size: 6.0 gal

Fermentables

Vienna (US) 5.0 lb
Pilsner (DE) 5.0 lb
Best Malz Munich 1.0 lb
Aromatic (BE) 0.5 lb
White Wheat (US) 0.5 lb
Special B (BE) 0.5 lb
CaraMunich III (DE) 0.5 lb

Boil time: 90 min

Hops

East Kent Golding (UK) 0.8 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 5.6%

Yeast

Wyeast Roeselare Ale Blend Wyeast 3763 - Repitch on a cake

Extras
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.0 each 10.0 min Boil
French Oak Cubes (Medium Toast) 1.0 oz 1.0 yr Primary

Mash steps
Saccharification Rest Infusion 154.0 °F 60 min

[mashani]

SOUR POWER!

[yankfan9]

Awesome! Thanks for the recipe, I can't wait to hear how it turns out. I've been bit by the sour bug, and ever since I have been itching to brew one!

[Inkleg]

russki, what size primary fermenter did you use for the 5 gallon batch with the Roeselare yeast? (head room required using that yeast during fermentation) and did you transfer to a secondary?
Do you think it makes a difference using all grain vs DME?

Reason I ask is because I've run across this recipe. I was thinking of doing the 10 gallons and splitting it between two fermenters. One with the Roeselare yeast the other with their Lambic blend.

[russki]

russki, what size primary fermenter did you use for the 5 gallon batch with the Roeselare yeast? (head room required using that yeast during fermentation) and did you transfer to a secondary?
Do you think it makes a difference using all grain vs DME?

Reason I ask is because I've run across this recipe. I was thinking of doing the 10 gallons and splitting it between two fermenters. One with the Roeselare yeast the other with their Lambic blend.

I used a 6 gallon Better Bottle - it's been in there ever since I pitched Roeselare. It was very active - I had a blow-out a couple days after pitching. If you are using a more oxygen-permeable vessel, I would definitely transfer to secondary. The recipe you linked to looks like it would make a tasty Lambic - extract or AG. I think that with sours it matters much less, since most flavor development comes from the bugs.

Definitely keep us posted if you decide to brew it!

BTW - I'm 20 min into the boil!

[russki]

I hit my numbers spot on - OG: 1.058, wort is beautiful red color, and as an added benefit, 1/2 gallon of leftover wort that didn't fit into the carboy made great starter wort for WY1007 for my planned Altbier!

I checked about an hour ago, and there's absolutely zero activity since pitching last night - I know, it hasn't even been 24 hours, but usually, when pitching on a cake, there's almost immediate fermentation. I added a pack of US-05 to help it along - there's probably almost no viable sacc left from the prior pitch.

And now we wait....

[Inkleg]

Thanks, that's just the answer I needed. Going to get two 6 gallon better bottles, do the extract 10 gallon and keep everyone informed from start to tasty finish.