CB0002 Beer Styles I - Week 6

Question 1

Beer style:

Lambic (General)

Answer 1

• Ancient style from the senne valley (brussels), true lambics are from specified region
• Spontaneous fermenting ale (wild yeast/bacteria) during specific season (October through May; cooler climates)
• Bugs/Yeast: pediococcus, lactobacillus, saccharomyces cerevisia, acetobacter, brettanomyces – acid, ester, alcohol, funk
• Aged hops as preservative providing contribute to unique flavors/aromas
• Unmalted wheat 25-35%+ of grist, provides starches and dextrins (food for brett)
• Complex brewing process: involved step mashing with several rests
• Aged in oak barrels (sherry, wine, port, etc) for 2-3 years+
• Flavor can be acetic, sour, dry, cidery, barnyard, slightly vinous
  *

Question 2

Beer style:

Traditional Lambic

Answer 2

• Appearance: gold to medium amber color
• Hop Character: low bitterness, cheesy or floral, lavendar-like hop aroma
• Yeast Character: high to very high esters with bacterial and yeast-derived sourness and brettanomyces yeast flavors (horsey, goaty, leathery and phenolic)
• Mouthfeel: dry and light-bodied (not sweet)
• Variations: sweet versions do exist with additions of sugars and sweeteners
• Vanilla, oak, or barrel flavor not acceptable
• Lecture Notes: no to very little carbonation, wheat beer (unmalted wheat)
• Serving: Wine, Flute, Tulip, Chalice 50-55º (cellar temp)
• Examples: Cantillon Bruoscella Grand Cru
• Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.047-1.056 (11.8-14º)
• Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.000-1.010 (0-2.5º)
• Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 5-6.5% (6.2-8.1%)
• Bitterness (IBU): 9-23
• Color SRM (EBC): 6-13 (12-26)

Question 3

Beer style:

Fruit Lambic

Answer 3

• Appearance: color dictated by fruit used (cherry, raspberry, peach, strawberry, black currant, etc.)
• Aroma/Flavor: tart with residual (natural) fruit sweetness
• Hop Character: low bitterness
• Yeast Character: fruity/estery, sour, and acidic aromas and flavors, brettanomyces yeast flavors (horsey, goaty, leathery and phenolic )
• Mouthfeel: can be very dry or mildly sweet, can have fuller body, acidic
• Variations: some versions made cheaply with syrup and extracts and use other type of beer (non lambic) to produce “kriek” – “framboise”
• Serving: Wine, Flute, Tulip, Chalice 45-55º (depending on sweetness)
• Examples: Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek, Fou Foune, Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse, Hansens Oude Kriek
• Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.044-1.056 (11-14º)
• Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.000-1.010 (0-2.5º)
• Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 5.5-7% (6.8-8.6%)
• Bitterness (IBU): 11-23
• Color SRM (EBC): 6-13 (12-26)

Question 4

Beer style:

Geuze

Answer 4

• Appearance: gold to medium-amber color, cloudiness is acceptable
• Hop Character: low bitterness
• Yeast Character: fruity-ester, sour, and acidic aromas and flavors, brettanomyces yeast flavors (horsey, goaty, leathery and phenolic)
• Mouthfeel: very dry or mildly sweet, acidic
• Overall: mellowed, rounded version of unblended lambic
• Process: bottle conditioned old lambic (3 years old) blended with young lambic (1 year old)
• Variations: Faro – blended – added sugar, sweeter, less funk, caramel, orange marmalade
• Serving: Wine, Flute, Tulip, Chalice 50 -55º (cellar temp)
• Examples: Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze, Cantillon Geuze 100% Lambic, Girardin Geuze, St. Louis Geuze
• Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.044-1.056 (11-14º)
• Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.000-1.010 (0-2.5º)
• Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 5.5-7% (6.8-8.6%)
• Bitterness (IBU): 11-23
• Color SRM (EBC): 6-13 (12-26)

Question 5

Beer style:

Flanders Oud Bruin (Brown) and Red

Answer 5

• Appearance: copper to very dark color
  
  • West Flanders: red, usually barrel aged in oak
  • East Flanders: brown, usually aged in stainless steel
• Aroma/Flavor: sharp, tart, sour, fruity, woody?
• Malt Character: light/low cocoa/roast malt character may be present in aroma
• Hop Character: low hop flavor and aroma perception (cut by acidity)
• Yeast Character: brettanomyces is subdued or absent in Brown
• Bacteria Character: lactobacillus has a strong footprint with small to heavy lactic sourness, Flanders red has more vinegar (acetic acid) character from acetobacter due to oxygen availability via oak barrels
• Process: wood-aged (red), blended (young and old), no longer spontaneous fermented (since 1970s)
• Serving: Wine, Flute, Tulip, Chalice 45 -55 degrees
• Examples: Petrus Oud Bruin, Rodenbach, Duchesse De Bourgogne
• Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.044-1.056 (11-14º)
• Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.008-1.016 (2-4º)
• Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 3.8-5.2% (4.8-6.5%)
• Bitterness (IBU): 15-35
• Color SRM (EBC): 12-25 (24-50)

Question 6

Beer style comparison:

Flanders Red
vs
Flanders Brown

Answer 6

• Color
• Carbonation
  
  • Brown: low to low-moderate
  • Red: low to med
• Aroma/Flavor
  
  • Brown: caramel, roast, vanilla, toffee dark fruits
  • Red: intense fruit, honey, brett funk, white wine
• Mouthfeel
  
  • Brown: med to med-full body, sweet/tart finish
  • Red: med body, sweet, prickly acidic finish
• Brewing Tradition
  
  • Red: spontaneous fermentation, wood aging

Question 7

Beer style comparison:

American-Style Sour
vs
American-Style Brett
vs
American-Style Wood-Aged Sour

Answer 7

• American-Style Sour
  
  • Covers a broad spectrum
  • Key: Brett is subdued
  • Examples: Lost Abbey Red Poppy (flanders inspired), Green Flash
    Super Freak
• American-Style Brett
  
  • Covers a broad spectrum
  • Key: sourness varies greatly with brett balance being critical to other flavor components
  • Examples: Russian River Sanctification; Logsdon Seizoen Bretta, Green Flash Rayon Vert
• American-Style Wood Aged Sour
  
  • Covers a broad spectrum
  • Key: Balance to wood characteristics (woody)
  • Examples: Russian River Temptation

Question 8

Beer style:

Berliner Weisse

Answer 8

• Appearance: straw to pale color
• Aroma/Flavor: lactic, tart, acidic and dry
• Malt Character: low malt sweetness
• Hop Character: absent or extremely low bitterness and hop aroma
• Variations: often cut with woodruff or raspberry syrup when serving
• Serving: Tulip, Chalice, Stange 40-45º
• Examples: Professor Fritz Brien 1809, Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof Berlinner Weisse
• Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.028-1.032 (7-8º)
• Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.004-1.006 (1-1.5º)
• Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 2.2-2.7% (2.8-3.4%)
• Bitterness (IBU): 3-6
• Color SRM (EBC): 2-4 (4-8)

Question 9

Beer style:

Leipzig Gose

Answer 9

• Appearance: straw to medium-amber color
• Aroma/Flavor: lemony, moderately sour, with hints of spice, coriander, and salt
• Mouthfeel: crisp
• Process: spontaneously-fermented with lactobacillus (Germany’s Lambic)
• Serving: Tulip, Chalice, Stange 40-45º
• Examples: Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Banhof Leipziger Gose
• Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.036-1.056 (9-13.8º)
• Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.008-1.012 (2-3º)
• Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 3.5-4.3% (4.4-5.4%)
• Bitterness (IBU): 10-15
• Color SRM (EBC): 3-9 (6-18)

Question 10

Burgundy of Belgium

Answer 10

Rodenbach Grand Cru

According to Michael Jackson

(and Flanders styles in general)

Question 11

Brettanomyces Facts

Answer 11

• Turns yeast autolysis into pineapple, peach, tropical fruit flavor
• When it has no competition (other yeast), produces more fruity esters and is much less funky
• Can eat sugar that normal yeast can’t, including dextrines and cellulose