Robin Shepard
Two wild sours in glasses at Young Blood's taproom.
Young Blood has introduced a second way of making its sours, with wild fermentation.
The first wild sours from Young Blood Beer Company’s cellaring program appeared a few days ago in the brewery’s King Street taproom. Even for a brewery that has become known for creating heavily fruited sours, this is different.
“We’ve become known as this weird modern craft brewery that’ll put anything in beer,” says co-owner Tom Dufek, “but this is more traditional. It involves a brewing process that’s been around for a long time.”
Not all sours are just sour. Mixed culture brewing involves using wild yeast and bacteria to impart distinctive sourness, from mild to intensely acidic or even vinegar-like. It is a process used in making old world lambic-style beers, many of which come from Belgium.
Today’s craft brewers commonly use kettle souring methods; brewing is stopped mid-boil and Lactobacillus, a bacterium similar to the one used to make yogurt, is introduced. It’s a quick and predictable way of making sour or tart beers, resulting in lighter acidic qualities and producing a beer that’s appealing to more drinkers.
To create its sour lineup, Young Blood has been using a specific strain of yeast that gives off acetic acid during fermentation and lends tartness to its base beer, to which is added a range of fruits and adjuncts. Fruited sours make up around half of Young Blood’s rapidly changing taproom list.
On the other hand, using a mixed culture fermentation involves wild organisms and a lot more time. Young Blood uses the basement of its King Street taproom for these beers, so it does not infect its main brewhouse with wild yeast strains. The century-old building at 112 King Street has stone walls in the cellar. There the brewery has installed three 10-barrel (310 gallons) oak foeders. All can be seen through a large opening in the floor of the main bar area. Each of the foeders contain a different combination of wild yeast and bacteria. Young Blood also uses wine barrels for smaller batches, and for batches that will be blended with foeder beers later.
Recent releases were in the foeder for nearly nine months and have the straightforward names of Batch #1 and Batch #2. Batch #1 is the core beer. It has ample tart pineapple fruitiness, light acidic sharpness, a touch of graininess and light hints of oak in the finish from the foeder-aging. Batch #2 is the same core beer with added passion fruit and Earl Grey tea that reduce some of the sharpness and acidity with their subtle sweetness.
Both beers are served at low carbonation, which further reduces the natural acidity that effervescence can accentuate. Comparing them by drinking one of each can be fun.
These beers are available in the King Street taproom ($7.50/12-ounce glass) along with 12-ounce bottles ($6/each). They are not offered at the brewery’s North Street location; however, a few small kegs were filled for distribution and those may pop up at bars around Madison in January.
Young Blood’s mixed culture brews are very limited and likely only on tap for a few weeks at a time. The next beers from the foeders in the King Street basement are expected in March; the fruited version features chamomile and strawberry. In May, look for a third wild sour and a fruited counterpart made with mango and blackberry.
