Planning a Solera Keg Fermentation....

My inspiration comes from a paragraph in Randy Mosher's book, Radical Brewing, where he mentions a Barley Wine Solera. Basically, brew up a lot of beer, not just any beer, but a big one, put it in a big fermentation vessel (I am thinking a sanke keg) and only pull a bit a year, replacing it with new wort.

I had my own idea for this...even have a name for the beer that I want to brew.

1. Obtain a sanke keg.
2. Have a coney keg lid welded to the top of your sanke keg that is air tight. Drill a hole for the air lock. Add a ball valve at the very bottom where the keg is convex and yeast would settle. Add a second valve on the side towards the bottom.
3. Brew up a batch of beer (5 gal.) and put it into primary fermentation in a glass carboy. Make sure the beer weights in around 1.090 O.G. Ferment for a week or so with a yeast that can handle big beers.
4. After a couple weeks in primary, rack the first beer off to secondary, leaving a good supply of yeast in the bottom of the primary fermentor.
5. Brew up a second batch of similar quality and character brew. Put it in the primary fermentor with the yeast from the previous batch.
6. After a couple weeks, start brewing a 3rd batch of beer. Again, similar quality and character.
7. Put all three batches in the sanke keg fermentor that you built in step 2.
8. Let it sit for 6 months, then pull off 4 or 5 gallons of beer, leaving 8-10 gallons in the sanke keg fermentor. You will remove the beer using the ball valve you put into the side of the keg, close to the bottom.
9. Bottle with 1/2 the priming sugar. This is a Barley Wine, so you don't need/want big head. You might also have some sugar unattenuated that will provide some carbonation. Tough to say, trial and error.
10. The valve in the bottom of the keg should allow you to remove dead yeast cells periodically. Best to do this at least every 6 months, perhaps more.
11. Brew up enough beer to replace what you removed from the sanke keg, again high gravity beer. Put it directly into the sanke keg fermentor. The yeast will have a field day with the fresh sweet wort.

The goal would be to pull 5 gallons of beer off 2 times a year and each time, immediately replace it with 1/3rd fresh wort. Except for the first pull, the beer would have an average age of 1 year old.

If something like this were to work out well, I could see doing a solera fermentation on a big stout beer, but perhaps not as big as a barley wine. Something in the 1.075-1.080 range. Perhaps it would be something that could be brewed and bottled quarterly since it wouldn't be as big as the BW? If I can do 2 solera's, why not a 3rd with a Big Belgian Triple?

Northern Brewer's Big Honkin' Stout - Slightly Bastardized

Once again, I can't leave well enough alone. I bastardize every recipe I can get my hands on. Betty Crocker says to try it like this, I add something else for kicks. Most of the time success. Sometimes total failure, but I have a good feeling about this recipe. This one is a Northern Brewer kit. I haven't brewed a high gravity beer yet and this one seemed like just the one. My only addition was 1/2 lbs. of rolled oats. I like that silky feeling they create in a stout and I hope I get just enough to let me know it is there, but not enough to detract from the fact that it is a borderline imperial stout.




Big Honkin' Stout - Bastardized (Slightly)

Brewer:	Scottieie		Email:	-
Beer:	Big Honkin' Stout - Bastardized (Slightly)		Style:	Imperial Stout
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	177 HCU		Bitterness:	38 IBU
OG:	1.072		FG:	1.020
Alcohol:	6.7% v/v (5.2% w/w)
Grain:	4 oz. British pale 4 oz. American crystal 40L 8 oz. British black patent 8 oz. Roasted barley 8 oz. Rolled oats
Boil:	minutes	SG 1.119	3 gallons
	9 lb. Dark malt extract
Hops:	2 oz. Willamette (5% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Northern Brewer (8.5% AA, 30 min.) 1 oz. Northern Brewer (8.5% AA, 15 min.)

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Brew Date: 1/22/10
Batch #: 14
O.G. 1.072, on par with the Recipator. Yeah!
Initial Reactions: Wow, I have created the thickest, most viscous fluid I have ever had the pleasure to brew. It looked like burnt motor oil, the kind you get when you haven't changed your oil in 10,000 miles. I can only imagine the Dionysian orgy that is going to take place in my fermentation vessel. Sodom and Gomorrah shall reign in my carboy.The wort's taste and smell were spectacular and I can only guess what the finished product is going to bring.

The plan is to ferment in primary for 2 weeks or so. Rack in a secondary for another month or two, then bottle. A beer like this should have time to age and I intend on giving it space to become what it wants to be, almost an imperial stout.

I am guessing that after I bottle I will try it in a couple weeks, but I bet this one will be one that will really be ready in the fall. It might have to sit in the brew cabinet for a while for the flavor to develop fully.