Sour Brune (Portsmouth Brewery)

I bought a bottle of this at the little retail store next to the Portsmouth Brewery. It cost me $4. The whole transaction and process of acquiring this beer was extremely simple. To enjoy it, all I need to do is pop the cap and pour it in a glass and let my ingrained beer drinking skills take effect. Now, brewing this beer, that is a different story. Below are brewer Tod Mott's brewing notes:

"All of the sourness in the flavor comes from the process of souring the mash. To create the ideal mash for souring we doughed in at 164°f. The mash eventually stabilized at 149.5°. We then proceeded with saccrification, followed by a vorlauff to clarify the turbidity of the mash. Once the extract was clarified we brought the temperature of the mash down (using the heat exchanger) to 130°. We added a handful of unmalted wheat to the top of the mash bed and floated a "bed" of Argon gas over the mash for about a half hour, displacing the oxygen in the mash tun and creating an "inert gaseous zone," making the atmosphere anaerobic. Then we left the mash to do its thing over the weekend. We arrived to the smell of pineapples and weird esters I had never encountered in a mash tun. We then ran off the extract as usual and brewed the wort, hopping it lightly and adding some malto-dextrin and lactose to sweeten up the wort, knowing the final product would be quite sour and might need some balance. That is how we made the sour mash Brune."

Ready for the quiz? Basically, this process can easily lead to some off flavors and smells and takes a great amount of brewing skill to master. Anytime you are making beer and "Argon" is involved, you know you are waaaaaaay past brewing a pale ale in your kitchen.

The Sour Brune pours a dark brownish, reddish color. Its got lots of little tiny bottles floating up to the top, almost like a glass of champagne. The head is slightly fluffy and dissipates quickly. The smell is not overly strong and there is not a sourness that would in any way be a turn off. Instead its sort of combination of malts and slight sour notes. A little bit of sour cherry and other fruits as well as a faint bit of vinegar. Its interesting, you can pick up lots of different subtle smells.

The minute this stuff hits your tongue you feel the sourness. Even before your taste buds kick in, your tongue is telling you that its something special. Its a nice tart dry taste along with enough sweetness to balance it perfectly. It has some citrus tastes to it and the same response from my mouth as when I drink real grapefruit juice. It also has a similarity to a red wine. This is by no means a strong beer despite its complexity. Its very, very drinkable.

I really enjoy sour beers. Some other beers like this are Flanders Red Ales or Sour Browns like Rodenbach and Duchesse de Bourgogne. Both are excellent and if you've never ventured into Sour Beerland, its a great place to visit!

BEER FACTS

Name: Sour Brune

Style: Sour Brown Ale

Brewery: The Portsmouth Brewery

Location: Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: ?

IBUs: ?