Last week, we kicked off a three-part series with an article on skilled home brewer Doug Brainard, and his award-winning raspberry lambic. Last Monday’s post narrated a fair amount of the initial lambic brewing process. But never having fermented one myself, I didn’t have pictures or first-hand experience on the life stages of this rather long-lived style. But Doug did. Today, we have a guest post from him, showing the development of his first framboise into the beautiful, delicious libation that has become his specialty.
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten that I promised tasting notes on the batch that I got to try, and also his lemon ginger mead. We’ll wrap up this lambic series next week with a comparison between Framboise Boon and Doug’s version, Waiting for Framboise. Also, some notes on his mead. For now, check this out. Thanks, Doug!
In the beginning…
(Sunday, October 26, 2008) {0 days}
- 50% Pilsner malt
- 50% Un-malted wheat
- 1 oz. of Saaz hops
- Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast
- 1.052 OG and 11 IBU
Transmogrification
(Sunday, November 09, 2008) {+14 days}
- Racked, and added Wyeast 3278 Lambic Blend
It’s Alive! a Lambic!
(Sunday, March 01, 2009) {+126 days}
6 1/8 pounds of raspberry puree later…
A pellicle grows…
(Sunday, March 22, 2009) {+147 days}
Intermediary milestones:
- Rack (Wednesday, December 23, 2009) {+423 days}
- Keg (Saturday, January 30, 2010) {+461 days}
- Bottle (Saturday, February 06, 2010) {+468 days}
The Final Destination [A Frambois in Sue Ann’s glass]
(Sunday, February 14, 2010) {+476 days}
If you’re keeping track, that’s 68 weeks without a beer.
Gotta hand it to those Belgians…
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[…] Wild, mixed-culture, sour, and barrel-aged beers can be a tough investment from a business perspective. They generally take a long time to become drinkable. Where an IPA or stout can be ready to sell in a few weeks, the stuff Connor makes takes years to mature (for a detailed look at one long-aged style, lambic, see How long would you wait for a pint?). […]