Outbreak 2009 - Infected Barrel
Sounds as if our Bourbon Barrel Wee Heavy has come down with a pellicle. We have no idea what caused it, could be an infected batch, the old barrel, or the fact that the beer was surrounded by funky beers and just wanted to fit in. Needless to say this has sent the group scrambling to figure out what to do with the smoked doppelsticke we have been brewing (details to come soon).
For the time being we will probably just toss some more dregs into the wee to aim for an big Oud Bruin-ish beer after another year or so. We are hoping to get a new barrel for the doppelsticke, I am hoping to talk to Copper Fox to see if could have a barrel after they dump one. They malt their own grain (how cool is that?) and smoke it over apple/cherry/oak, so it seems like it would be a good match for a smoked beer.
I am thinking in the future these massive group blend barrel brews may be much less risky if we just go for sour beers, but there are plenty of other people involved with other opinions.
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Did you have a taste of the beer after the pellicle was formed? Just curious if you have an idea of what kind of bugs may be at work in there.
I'd guess, and hope, that's it's a "good" infection, based on the number of sour beers you do.
I had a sample about two weeks back, it had a slight fruitiness that made me worried, but nothing major at that point. Nathan says it is starting to taste like Gale's Prize Old Ale, some funk and lactic acid. We are planning on adding some various dregs to ensure the good infection wins out.
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