Now that summer is in full force, wild ales can make a great beverage on a hot day. Be it lambic and Flanders reds and browns from Belgium, or American produced wild ales, these tart, sour, fruity and funky beers have a dry, wine-like refreshing character to them. Other than typical brewer’s yeast, they contain various strains of Brettanomyces, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and smaller quantities of other bacteria.
So why not try to brew one? With some minimal cost to your current setup, why not try experimenting with some small batches of wild ales. Authentic wild ales make use of wooden barrels for the extended aging process but are not cost effective and typically too large for homebrewing. So instead, start out with something smaller and cheaper, like one gallon glass jugs. While you can find new one gallon glass jugs at wine and beer making shops, you can also find them full of juice (typically apple) at grocery stores around town – great for making a quick cider before you start experimenting with wild yeast and bacteria.
Why only one gallon jugs? Well, you can certainly use whatever size you’d like, but splitting up a batch over many one gallon jugs can lead to more experimenting. Another option is to make an extra gallon of wort brewing up a Belgium or German wheat to fill one up. Now what yeast and bacteria to use? Well, you can go a couple of ways – buying individual or blends of yeast and bacteria from Wyeast and White Labs or using dregs of some of your favorite wild ales. Which choice you make might depend on your knowledge of the yeasts and bacteria used, so choose the latter method if you’re new to wild ales. For using the dregs from your favorite wild ales, make sure you sanitize the mouth of the bottle before pouring them into the wort or yeast starter. You’ll want to practice the same sanitation techniques that you would for a regular beer as there are bad types of bacteria and wild yeast that you’ll want to keep out. Pour in dregs from a few different types of beers if you want to get creative.
Looking to make a wild ale with fruit? With the one gallon jugs, you can take the same base beer and add different fruits to each. And by keeping the size small, you won’t be spending a fortune on fruit. With the extended aging of wild ales going beyond 6 months, waiting for certain fruits to come into season is not an issue. Traditionally cherries, raspberries and grapes have been used but lately brewers are turning to peaches, black currants, apricots, strawberries and even kiwis. With the possibility of unwanted wild yeast and/or bacteria on the skins of the fruit, cut up the fruit and freeze to kill them off before adding to the fermenter. Try experimenting with other fruits and see what happens.
The point is, have fun with them and don’t worry if they don’t come out perfect. Take good notes and hopefully you’ll be able to repeat the successful batches. Just note that you’ll want to use separate equipment when it comes to plastic so you won’t accidentally contaminate your non-wild ales. Books like Wild Brews by Jeff Sparrow are a great way to get further details on creating such beers. But with minimal knowledge and investment, you can be on your way to brewing up your own unique wild ale. Just be patient and it will be worth the wait next spring or summer when you’re drinking your homebrewed wild ale on yet another sunny San Diego day.