Sapwood Cellars’ Little By Slowly Clone
All-Grain Recipe
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.034 FG = 1.004
IBU = 6 SRM = 3 ABV = 3.9%
This Berliner weisse is one of the most characterful sub-4% ABV beers I have brewed. It combines acidity, bread dough wheaty notes, lemony-hay funk, and high carbonation. It is bright and refreshing like lemon-seltzer when consumed fresh and cold, but it is almost lambic-like when given extended cellaring and served at cellar temperature. The beer’s name is an oft-repeated line from Stephen King’s 11/22/63, and suggests the beer’s small size and slower fermentation compared to “quick sours.”
Ingredients
3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Pilsner malt
2.66 lbs. (1.2 kg) Weyermann wheat malt
0.9 lb. (0.4 kg) Best chit malt
88% lactic acid
1 mL HexaHop, TetraHop, or other isomerized alpha acid extract
Omega Yeast OYL-605 (Lacto) blend or Lactobacillus culture of your choice
Brettanomyces culture of your choice
SafAle US-05, Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
1–1.5 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash at 148 °F (64 °C), adding calcium chloride to achieve 150 ppm chloride. Add lactic acid if needed to achieve a mash pH of 5.2 Collect wort and heat to 180 °F (82 °C) for 10 minutes. Add lactic acid (approximately 10–15 mL) to achieve a pH of 4.4. Chill to 68 °F (20 °C), aerate, and pitch an active starter of Lactobacillus, yeast, and Brettanomyces. Allow to sour to a pH of 3.3 (or as desired), approximately 12–48 hours. Add isomerized alpha acid extract to arrest acidification.
Continue to ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). Approximate fermentation time in primary is one month. Once the gravity stabilizes, chill to 55 °F (13 °C). Transfer to a purged keg or bottle priming in Champagne-style bottles for as much CO2 as you are comfortable with (3–4 volumes).
Extract-Only Recipe
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.034 FG = 1.004
IBU = 6 SRM = 3 ABV = 3.9%
Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) weizen dried malt extract
88% lactic acid
1 mL HexaHop, TetraHop, or other isomerized alpha acid extract
Omega Yeast OYL-605 (Lacto) blend or Lactobacillus culture of your choice
Brettanomyces culture of your choice
SafAle US-05, Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
1–1.5 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Starting with 5.25 gallons (20 L) water, heat to 180 °F (82 °C) then remove from heat. Stir in the malt extract until fully dissolved. Hold at this temperature for 10 minutes. Add lactic acid (approximately 10–15 mL) to achieve a pH of 4.4. Chill to 68 °F (20 °C), aerate, and pitch an active starter of Lactobacillus, yeast, and Brettanomyces. Allow to sour to a pH of 3.3 (or as desired), approximately 12–48 hours. Add isomerized alpha acid extract to arrest acidification. Continue to ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). Approximate fermentation time in primary is one month. Once the gravity stabilizes, chill to 55 °F (13 °C). Transfer to a purged keg or bottle priming in Champagne-style bottles for as much CO2 as you are comfortable with (3–4 volumes).
Tips For Success
If getting pre-isomerized hop product is not possible, the alternate method would be to hold off pitching the ale and Brettanomyces yeast strains until after the souring process is complete (pH ~3.3). Once soured, heat the wort back up to 180 °F (82 °C), add a little bit of hops, then hold for 15 minutes before chilling back to fermentation temperature. Once chilled, then add both the yeast strains and follow the instructions found in the step by step.
