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Recipe: Soul Barrel Wild African Soul
Based in the wine-growing region about 40 miles northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, Soul Barrel brewed this funky riff on umqombothi in collaboration with Tolokazi—a team of predominantly women brewers making traditional African beers.
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At the 2023 African Beer Cup, this beer won the African Celebration Award, which goes to the highest-scoring beer that uses traditional African ingredients; it also won a gold medal in the Alternative Fermentables Beer category.
Wild African Soul starts as a batch of umqombothi, but after the initial fermentation it is blended in a wine barrel with saison for secondary fermentation and maturation. According to Soul Barrel founder-brewer Nick Smith, the idea is to explore the similarities between American-style mixed-culture beers and traditional sorghum beer—both often featuring spontaneously introduced yeast and lactic fermentation.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.055, base saison
FG: 1.012, base saison after primary, ~1.000 post-maturation
IBUs: N/A
ABV: ~7%
At the 2023 African Beer Cup, this beer won the African Celebration Award, which goes to the highest-scoring beer that uses traditional African ingredients; it also won a gold medal in the Alternative Fermentables Beer category.
Wild African Soul starts as a batch of umqombothi, but after the initial fermentation it is blended in a wine barrel with saison for secondary fermentation and maturation. According to Soul Barrel founder-brewer Nick Smith, the idea is to explore the similarities between American-style mixed-culture beers and traditional sorghum beer—both often featuring spontaneously introduced yeast and lactic fermentation.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.055, base saison
FG: 1.012, base saison after primary, ~1.000 post-maturation
IBUs: N/A
ABV: ~7%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
5.1 lb (2.3 kg) wind malt
2.6 lb (1.2 kg) wheat malt
1.5 lb (680 g) unmalted wheat
1 lb (454 g) pale ale malt
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
1.4 oz (40 g) aged Noble hops at first wort
0.35 oz (10 g) Cape Sorrel or other foraged flowers at whirlpool
1 batch (6–8 quarts/liters) umqombothi, fermented 2–3 days and strained, at secondary
YEAST
Preferred blend of lager, saison, and Brettanomyces strains
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash in at 100°F (38°C); raise to 113°F (45°C) over 15 minutes; raise to 126°F (52°C) over 10 minutes; raise to 144°F (62°C) over 15 minutes, and rest there for 20 minutes; raise to 154°F (68°C) over 15 minutes, and rest there for 10 minutes; and then, finally, raise to 165°F (74°C) and mash out. Recirculate until the runnings are clear of particles, then run off into the kettle with the first-wort hops. Sparge and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 120 minutes. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, cooling to about 176°F (80°C) if possible; add flowers and steep 20 minutes. Transfer to a coolship or clean, open vessel overnight, exposed to the environment.
After cooling, transfer to an open barrel (or other fermentation vessel) and pitch the yeast blend. Ferment at ambient temperatures. Once the gravity has dropped to about 1.012, rack into a secondary barrel with the strained umqombothi. Start tasting the beer after a few months, once the beer has dropped to about 1.000. When you like the level of Brett-driven dryness and lactic acidity, transfer and package for bottle conditioning, aiming for about 2.8 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Malt: Go with locally grown and malted if you can. With the wind malt, you may be able to make your own (see “Brew Like the Wind,” in our Summer 2024 issue)—or it’s often available online from craft maltsters such as Mecca Grade and Sugar Creek. Note that the malt will be less modified, so a step mash (as above) or decoction is recommended. The unmalted wheat also will provide some starch that the umqombothi will continue to convert and ferment.
Hops: How aged the hops should be depends on how acidic you want the beer to be. Longer-aged hops (with lower alpha-acid levels) will allow more acidity, while younger hops will inhibit the lactic-acid production.
Variations: This is also a nice one for blending with other barrel-aged beers or for dry hopping before packaging. We’ve also added chardonnay grapes to the secondary fermentation.
