Sour Mash Beer

Classification: sour mash, rye, all-grain

Source: Roy Bourcier (rjbourc@nmia.com), HBD Issue #1818, August 30, 1995

A couple of weeks ago, I tried brewing a minor spinoff of a sour mash beer recipe by Micah Millspaw which I found in Cats Meow. It's still in secondary, but already it's apparent (to my taste) that this is something worth pursuing. What (incredibly) little I can find to read on this style suggests (nay, hints) that this is a truly native US style worthy of the same respect as Steam Beer and Cream Ale. I'm presently working on my second recipe, incorporating several hints from Randy Mosher's excellent book (no connection, yada, yada, yada) and some suggestions posted by Bill Vaughan (I forget where).

Any comments on this formulation? Anybody got a REALLY GOOD RECIPE? C'mon, let's bring this American classic back into vogue - I'm tired of having to brewing funky European styles to dabble with bacterial "innoculations".

Ingredients: (5 gallons)

8.5 lb American 2 row malt
1.5 lb Rye malt
1 lb Cara Pils malt
1 lb 95-115L Crystal malt
1 oz Galena hops (60 min)
1 oz Cascade hops (30 min)
1/4 tsp powdered Irish Moss (10 min)
Yogurt culture
American Ale yeast

Procedure:

Mash 2 lb of 2 row malt using 50-60-70 schedule
Mashout @ 175=B0F for 5 minutes
Cool to 90=B0F and stir in yogurt culture
Sour for two days
Mash remaining malts using 50-60-70 schedule
Mashout at 175=B0F for 5 minutes
Combine mashes
Sparge at 170=B0F
Boil for 90 min
Cool and pitch yeast