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Recipe: Sunny Sunday Catharina Sour
Josh Weikert prowled his local produce aisle following a simple principle: Buy what looks best, and go with the freshest fruit you can get. That led him to guava and passion fruit, a dynamic for this Brazilian-inspired tart fruit beer.
Photo: Matt Graves/mgravesphoto.com
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For much more on this brightly flavored style, see Catharina Power: Fruit Beer, Brazilian-Style.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.049 (12.2°P)
FG: 1.010 (2.6°P)
IBUs: 6
ABV: 5.1%
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For much more on this brightly flavored style, see Catharina Power: Fruit Beer, Brazilian-Style.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.049 (12.2°P)
FG: 1.010 (2.6°P)
IBUs: 6
ABV: 5.1%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
4 lb (1.8 kg) pilsner malt
4 lb (1.8 kg) wheat malt
1 lb (454 g) flaked wheat
8 oz (227 g) rice hulls
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
0.9 oz (26 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 15 minutes (6 IBUs)
1 pint (473 ml) freshly juiced and strained passion fruit
2 pints (946 ml) freshly juiced and strained guava
BACTERIA & YEAST
Wyeast 5335 Lactobacillus buchneri and Wyeast 1056 American Ale
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains, mix in the rice hulls, and mash at 152°F (67°C) for 75 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort. Allow the wort to cool to 110–120°F (43–49°C), pitch the Lactobacillus, flush with CO2, then cover tightly. Hold at or near that temperature for about 24 hours—or to taste; it should be tart but not sharply sour. Boil for 15 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. Cool to about 68°F (20°C) and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 68°F (20°C) for 7 days, then add the fresh fruit juice. Once the secondary fermentation is complete and the gravity has stabilized, package and carbonate to about 2.75 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Step mash: This is optional, but I recommend it if your system makes it convenient. A typical regimen might include steps at 113°F (45°C), 15 minutes; 144°F (62°C), 30 minutes; and 162°F (72°C), 30 minutes, before ramping to 172°F (78°C) for mash out.
Gravity: I aimed high to give a solid background to the intense fruit; if you go with less assertive fruits, you could reduce to about 4.5 percent ABV as a target.
