Sour Weasel Lambic [Master]

To date, I've done this one during my winter brewing schedule, but it would also be a good one to do in the summer, given that I ferment the Old World Saison blend at ~25C.

This is a full-size batch: 43L including the yeast starter. Use two 50-gallon pails for fermentation. I only do this once a year and it's probably my most labor-intensive recipe, so I might as well maximize the yield.

IMPORTANT: Recipe requires the use of 1 SS pot and one HLT/kettle, so you will need two full propane tanks, not just one.

Have a "dipping pot" handy for removing draws (decoctions).

YEAST
================
Pitch yeast and bugs separately:

• Escarpment Labs Old World Saison Blend (I've also used Omega Yeast OYL-217 C2C American Farmhouse Ale)
  
• Escarpment Labs Belgian Sour Blend
  
  TURBID MASH
  ================
  
• Grind unmalted wheat at widest setting, then at one tick less than the widest setting. It will still be difficult to get it all ground. Watch our for jams! (For LBC7, I did 3 grinds. The second two were wheat and malt mixed together.)
  
  There is an excel cheat sheet that summarizes this rather confusing mash schedule on Google Drive. Name = "Sour Weasel Steps.xlsx" https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z3OikVQ3tpStJSIUvxEeoUlaktjAV-tV/view
  It includes info on total water in use and liquor/grist ratio at any one point.
  Maybe I should do a word version of these instructions too. Just to make things nice and easy in the future.
  
  0. PREPARE
  ------------------------
  HLT: 44.0L (full) bring to 134F, use 14L in Protein rest, and bring the rest to a boil. [Don't dough in until s/s pot is close to a boil.]
  SS pot: bring 10L to a boil: 8L for use in Gelatinization rest, refill it after that
  
  
  1. PROTEIN REST
     ----------------------------
     SS pot should be close to a boil before you proceed.
     
     Add 14L water from HLT at 132F (55.5C) to dough in at a strike temperature of 113°F (45°C). Hold temperature for 10–20 minutes.
     
     There is not much water in the mash so do not over-react when you take temp. It might be way high or low initially. Give it time to even out before you attempt to "fix the problem".
     
     Online sources say "A protein rest is a short mash at 113-131˚F used to activate certain enzymes in the malted grains that break down protein chains." Bear that in mind!
     
     After addition of 14L to mash tun:
     
• HLT: 30L, coming to a boil
  
• S/S pot:10L, at or near a boil
  
  
  1. GELATINIZATION REST FOR RAW WHEAT
     -----------------------------
     Add 8L boiling water (from SS pot) to raise the temperature of the mash to about 137°F (58°C) and hold for 10 minutes.
     
     Note that Milk the Funk says: unmalted wheat has a gelatinization temperature range starting between 136-147°F (58-65°C) and can, therefore, be gelatinized during a beta-amylase/maltose rest (fine milling will help efficiency) [1].
     
     We need 8L more brewing water at this point. If the HLT is at or near a boil, add it directly to the HLT. This is the preferable way to go, but if the HLT isn't hot enough, do the following.
     
     Refill the SS pot with 8L fresh brewing water. Put the heat on and get it coming to a boil. Once the HLT is at or near a boil, empty the SS pot into the HLT. You will need the empty SS pot for the first turbid draw (decoction).
     
     After transfer and re-addition of 8L boiling water:
     
• HLT: 30L, coming to a boil
  
• SS pot: 10L coming to a boil
  
  After transfer from SS pot to HLT:
  
• HLT: 40L, coming to a boil
  
• SS pot: empty, ready for first draw (decoction)
  
  FIRST TURBID DRAW
  ------------------------------
  Remove 3L of cloudy liquid, place it in SS pot and heat to 180°F (82°C) to halt enzymatic activity and hold it there.
  
  After removal of 3L water:
  HLT: 40L, at or near a boil
  SS pot: 3L, maintaining 180F
  
  
  BETA AMYLASE REST
  -------------------------------
  Add 11.5L boiling (206F) water from HLT to the mash to raise the temperature to 150°F (66°C). Hold it there for half an hour. If water addition is not sufficient to reach desired temp, use HERMS.
  
  After addition of 11.5L water:
  HLT: 28L
  SS pot: 3L, maintaining 180F
  
  SECOND TURBID DRAW
  --------------------------------
  Remove 8L of liquid from mash. Add it to the SS pot with the first draw. Heat the pot to 180F (82C) and maintain it there.
  
  After transfer of 8L mash to SS pot:
  
• HLT: 28L, at a boil
  
• S/S pot: 11L, maintaining 180F // SS pot is now perilously full!
  
  ALPHA AMYLASE REST
  ---------------------------------
  Add 11.5L boiling water to raise the temperature of the mash to about 162°F (72°C) and hold for another half hour. If water addition is not sufficient to reach desired temp, use HERMS.
  
  After addition of 11.5L water:
  HLT: 16.5L bring to 190F or more for sparging
  S/S pot: 11L, coming to a boil so it can be added back to mash in final step.
  
  Don't bring the draws to a 'real' boil. The pot is too full and a boilover would be truly nasty.
  
  MASH OUT
  ---------------------------------
  Make sure the draws are close to a boil, then return them to the mash to raise the temperature to 168°F (76°C). Use HERMS, if necessary. Hold at this temperature for 5–10 minutes before lautering and sparging.
  
  HOWEVER, at this point, there is not enough room for the decoctions to be returned to the mash, and the HLT still has water in it, so you can't start using it as a kettle. Here's what to do:
  
• Start running off into a 5-gal bucket to make room for the decoctions.
  
• Once there's room, dump the decoctions into the mash tun.
  
• Keep running off until you have exposed the mash bed. (This is to get the max gravity in the first batch, which you can isolate and add to the kettle first. Then only add the sparged wort as necessary, in case you have obtained too much. Which increasingly I am not doing as I dial in this recipe, but is a worthwhile approach in any event, I think.)
  
• Add remainder of HLT to mash. HLT is now empty.
  
• Start using HLT as a kettle now.
  
• Add all collected wort to kettle. (It is a lot, so set up the collector pot, pour it into that, and pump it into the kettle, rather than trying to lift 5-gallon buckets of hot wort.)
  
  After return of 11L water:
  HLT: now being used as a kettle, filling with heat on
  S/S pot: empty, no need for this any more
  Based on my experience with LBC6 and LBC6, I have adjusted total water down twice. It should now come in close with not much extra sparge at the end of the boil
  
  After the mash is complete, vorlauf, lauter, and sparge as usual, but sparge with water that is hotter than usual, about 190°F (88°C). A hot sparge is necessary to gelatinize starches in the raw wheat and carry them into the kettle. Collect your usual pre-boil volume and proceed as usual.
  
  The resulting wort is going to be very cloudy, almost milky in opacity. But with time, as your souring bugs chomp away on all of those starches, the beer will clarify. In a year or more, you’ll have surprisingly clear lambic that may be enjoyed on its own or blended with older lambics to create gueuze.
  
  HOPS
  ================
  
  Hops should be aged hops. Hopefully you have enough from last year's back yard harvest. If not, throw in some weak bitterness hops, like Saaz.
  
  Use about 4 ounces of back yard hops.
  
  Boil the hops in a mesh bag. Remove the bag before runoff. Pushing the hops into the kettle is difficult so be careful. Plus it will make the brew want to boil over.
  
  FERMENTATION
  ==================
  Add to two 5-gallon fermenters and pitch with well-oxygenated culture of EL Old World Saison Blend.
  Once fermentation slows, transfer to secondary fermentation vessels. Add the EL Belgian Sour Mix at this time.
  
  Then forget about it! Check how it's fermenting in about a year.