Michael Tonsmeire - American Sour Beer: Innovative Techniques for Mixed Fermentations

AMERICAN SOUR BEERS

Innovative Techniques for Mixed Fermentations

MICHAEL TONSMEIRE

Brewers Publications

A Division of the Brewers Association

PO Box 1679, Boulder, Colorado 80306-1679

www.BrewersAssociation.org

www.BrewersPublications.com

Copyright 2014 by Brewers Association

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Neither the authors, editors, nor the publisher assume any responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book.

ISBN-13: 978-1-938469-11-4

ISBN-10: 1-938469-11-9

E-ISBN: 978-1-938469-13-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tonsmeire, Michael , 1983

American sour beers : innovative techniques for mixed fermentations / by Michael Tonsmeire; foreword by Vinnie Cilurzo.

pages cm

Includes .

Summary: American Sour Beers details American innovations and adaptations of traditional sour beer brewing techniques, exploring many processes and ingredients. Advice and practical applications for brewers of all levels are provided-- Provided by the Publisher.

ISBN 978-1-938469-11-4 (pbk.) -- ISBN 1-938469-11-9 (pbk.) 1. Beer--United States. 2. Brewing--United States. I. Title.

TP577.T63 2014

663.42--dc23

2014006181

Publisher: Kristi Switzer

Technical Editors: Jennifer Talley, Yvan de Baets

Copyediting: Iain Cox

Indexing: Doug Easton

Production and Design Management: Stephanie Johnson Martin

Cover and Interior Design: Justin Petersen and Kerry Fannon

Cover Photo: Luke Trautwein

Special thanks to West Flanders Brewing Co. in Boulder, Colorado

Interior images: Michael Tonsmeire unless otherwise noted

Brewers Publications bears no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To my wife Audrey, my parents Joan and Bob, and a series of understanding roommates who tolerated my filling the freezer with hops, the closet with malt, the basement with barrels, and the air with the smell of fermentation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Those of us hooked on brewing sour beer know that it is more than just something enjoyable to drink, it is a passion that mandates a level of patience few hobbies or vocations require. It necessitates years of waiting as an idea slowly emerges into the physical. I am not a religious person, but if there were a god I imagine it to be something like a brewer: setting conditions that yield pleasing results. There is no way to tend to the needs of any individual microbe among the hundreds to untold billions that toil and die in the production of a mixed-fermentation beer, but in return for providing them with a suitable ecosystem the brewer is rewarded with a symphony of flavors that no single species of microbe could produce on its own.

Writing this book has motivated me to research aspects of sour beer production that I would not have otherwise. It forced me to organize my thoughts and opinions in a way that blogging rarely does. I was overwhelmed by the openness of American brewers, many of whom offered detailed information and candid anecdotes unprompted. Several mentioned the generous assistance that other brewers had provided to them when they were starting to brew sour beers. I got a real sense of community, despite the fact that it was often my first time talking to them. I appreciate how lucky I was to gain insight in one hour that had taken these pioneers five, ten, or fifteen years to refine. I hope, as some small compensation for their time, this book provides these brewers and their exquisite beers with well-deserved attention.

I am thankful to the brewers who inspired me with their beers and answered patiently almost every question I asked: Will Meyers, Scott Vaccaro, Ryan Michaels, Gerard Olson, Terry Hawbaker, Ron Gansberg, Tomme Arthur, Ron Jeffries, Jeff ONeil, Pat McIlhenney, Scott Smith, Eric Salazar, Lauren Salazar, Peter Bouckaert, Tyler King, Patrick Rue, Todd Haug, Jason Perkins, Shaun Hill, Brian Strumke, Gabe Fletcher, Bob Sylvester, Alex Ganum, Chad Yakobson, Jason Davis, Jeff Stuffings, Caleb Staton, Tim Adams, Kristen England, Remi Bonnart, Sebastian Padilla, Levi Funk, Seth Hammond, and Dave and Becky Pyle.

Vinnie Cilurzo deserves special recognition. He personally answered the first question I e-mailed to the generic Russian River e-mail about sour beers on June 30, 2008 (I was planning on adding pluots to my Flemish pale ale at the time). I could never have dreamed that nearly six years later he would be writing the Foreword to my book about American sour beers. Drinking my first bottle of Russian River Supplication in 2005 was one of the experiences that got me hooked on sour beer in the first place. The level of innovation and openness Cilurzo displays continues to impress me.

I appreciate the effort expended by my two technical editors, Yvan de Baets and Jennifer Talley, and publisher Kristi Switzer. Together they did a wonderful job catching my mistakes, debating the finer points of sour beer production, and ensuring this book would not only be technically accurate but also helpful to brewers (craft and home alike). I also want to thank my friends and co-conspirators who filled barrels, inspired me with their homebrews, and shared bottles of sour beers obtained through travel, trade, and tribulation: Nathan Zeender, Alex Howe, Scott Wise, Noah Paci, Tim Pohlhaus, Jeff Long, Zach Brown, Dan Fogg, Eric Denman, Nate Shestak, Dyan Ali, Devin Miller, Dan Fromson, Tammy Tuck, Matt Humbard, and Peter Kay. Without them this would have been a much blander and lonelier adventure.

Thanks to the whizz-bang information superhighway, I was able to sift through a glut of content about each brewery before I talked to the brewers themselves. This preparation allowed me to target my questions, and not waste anyones time (I hope). This was largely thanks to the podcasters and beer writers who posted interviews, presentations, and other material, especially: James Spencer, Randy Mosher, Jeff Sparrow, Tim Webb, Stan Hieronymus, Steve Gale, Kai Troester, Jeff Bearer, Greg Weiss, Aschwin de Wolf, Adam Nason, Brandon Jones, Justin Crossley, Jon Plise, and Jamil Zainasheff.

The brewing books I value the most are tattered, with dog-eared pages and wort stains from brew-day referencing. I can only hope that this book becomes one of those on your shelf. Even as I was writing, I found myself returning to reread sections when planning batches or answering questions (which gives me hope).

The next step in my sour beer adventure will be applying what I have learned to commercial production. More than a year after I started researching this book, Jacob McKean hired me to consult for his startup brewery, Modern Times Beer. One of the first assignments he gave me was to help develop the sour beer program. I spent the summer of 2013 growing a huge variety of microbes to inoculate the barrels at Modern Times; hopefully at least some of them will have created delicious beer by the time this book is released. American sour beer has gotten to the stage where it is no longer sufficient to brew something that is just sour; beer nerds are becoming beer connoisseurs, demanding levels of refinement, balance, and complexity that are challenging to consistently obtain from mixed fermentations. I hope that the brewers at Modern Times and I will be able to rise to that standard, while dealing with the added challenge of me living in Washington, DC while the beers are in San Diego, California.