So I myself am not a huge lover of kettle sours, but my wife loves them. Especially the fruited ones.
But there’s a fine line between fruited kettle sours and those gloopy smoothie sours that have fruit puree added after fermentation. Those are gross. We don’t make those in our house.
The idea is nice, but the execution is just over the top.
The goal with our kettle sours here is to get a nice tart beer with some leftover sweetness and flavor from the fruit to complement.
This one turned out great. Super tart, lots of fruit flavor to complement. Not too much in either direction.
Unfortunately because of the process of mashing one day, pitching the lacto, boiling in the next few days, I didn’t really document this one. Just ending pics.
Here’s the recipe.
| Basics | ||
| Batch Size (fermentor): | 6 gallons | |
| Boil Length: | 60 minutes | |
| Mash Temp: | 154F | Single Infusion |
| OG: | 1.055 (estimated) | 1.054 (actual) |
| FG: | 1.013 (estimated) | 1.012 (actual) |
| ABV: | 5.25% (estimated) | 5.25% (actual) |
| Note: | Lactose added later, not reflected in these measurements | |
| IBU: | 16 | |
| SRM: | 4.5 | Doesn’t factor the fruit color! |
| Fermentables | ||
| 2-Row | 59% | |
| Malted Oats | 21% | |
| White Wheat | 20% | |
| Total | 100% | |
| Hops | ||
| Yakima Hop Shot | 1 ml | FWH or 60 min |
| Iadho 7 | 2 oz | Flameout |
| Total | 2 oz + 1 ml extract | |
| Yeast | ||
| WLP001 | 1 pack | Pitch at 68, let free raise to 72ish after a few days |
| Extra Goodies | ||
| Frozen Fruit Mix – Costco, 4lb bag Side note: I found one of these in my freezer and threw it in too. | 2 packs | Added after fermentation finished |
| Vanilla Beans, split, scraped, chopped | 2 beans | Vodka Tincture, about 4 days, added with fruit. |
| Lactose | 1.75 lbs | Added at packaging. |
| Water | ||
| I forgot! | No adjustments on this batch, oops! | |
| Souring | ||
| Pre-Acidify | Lactic Acid | Mash as per normal. Lauter wort. Use Lactic acid to bring ph down to 4.4. |
| Goodbelly Probiotic | 1 Carton | Pitch at 100-110F. Let it work it’s magic for a few days. PH gauge 3.5: Kinda Sour 3.4: Getting there 3.3: Just right for most people 3.2: Nice and tart, my favorite. This is where we landed on this beer. 3.1: Warhead lip puckering! If you don’t have a PH meter, don’t sweat it. Just let it ride for 48 hours and boil away. |
| Finish the brew process | When desired PH is achieved, boil as per normal and ferment as normal. |
Packaging Pic 2/18/21
Gravity sample with the Lactose coming in at 1.019. Smells and tastes delicious. Deep red from the fruit gives it a beautiful color. I wonder what color the head will be, my guess is a pink.
Tasting 2/24/21
This beer turned out fantastic. The tartness is on point, the fruit and lactose rounds it out with some sweetness, but not too much.
Like I mentioned before, I’m not a huge fan of fruited kettle sours – but my wife is. And she can’t get enough of this one. In fact, my promise to her years ago was to start brewing sours she would drink, and she wouldn’t worry about what I spent on this hobby. I’m glad I’ve been able to hold up my end of the bargain.
PS. I did clean the drip tray right after this picture. I saw the pic and got grossed out. But was too lazy to take another picture for the post. Oh well.
Cheers!
Simple Homebrew 