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Recipe: Destihl Dill Pickle Sour Beer
We’re grateful to head brewer Alex Albers and the team at Destihl Brewing for sharing this homebrew-scale recipe for their pickle beer—a kettle-soured gose blended with a customized version of SuckerPunch’s flavorful brine.
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.010
IBUs: 20
ABV: ~5.2% (after blending)
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.010
IBUs: 20
ABV: ~5.2% (after blending)
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
5.3 lb (2.4 kg) two-row
4.3 lb (2 kg) white wheat malt
1.1 lb (500 g) flaked oats
1 lb (454 g) rice hulls
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
0.5 oz (14 g) Magnum at 60 minutes [20 IBUs]
0.3 oz (8 g) coriander seed at 5 minutes
2+ quarts (1.9 liters) SuckerPunch or other favorite or homemade pickle brine
YEAST
Lactobacillus; Omega OYL-021 Hefeweizen Ale
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains, mix in the rice hulls, and mash at 150°F (66°C) for 35 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 5.5 gallons (21 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Use your favorite Lacto culture or souring method to sour overnight. The next day, boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and coriander according to the schedule. After the boil, chill to 68°F (20°C), aerate well, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 68°F (20°C) until complete and gravity has stabilized. Cold crash, then blend in pickle brine to taste. Package and carbonate to about 2.6 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
On this scale, it’s probably best to skip the typical salt addition for gose and rely on the brine for salinity. Mix the pickle brine with the finished beer to taste; we recommend starting at 10 percent and working up from there.
EDITOR’S NOTES
SuckerPunch pickles can be purchased directly from suckerpunchgourmet.com, or you can simply save up brine from your favorite store-bought pickles. However, making your own pickle brine is cheap and simple, and recipes abound in books and online. We suggest a 1:1 ratio of water to white or cider vinegar, add salt and sugar to taste, and spice it however you like; then boil and chill. We reckon the flavor improves if you first use your brine to make actual cucumber pickles.
