The “Costa Brava” recipe
- Color : Orange-yellow
- Alcohol conten t: 4.7%.
- Quantity : 20L
- Bitterness : Non-existent
- Acidity : Moderate
- Difficulty : High
- Brewing time : Normal + 24H Sour Kettle
Ingredients :
- 2kg Pilsen Malt
- 2kg light wheat malt
- 0.2kg Wheat Flakes
- 5g Hops Magnum (optional)
- 20g table salt
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary (approx. 15g)
- 3kg fresh or frozen apricots
- 1 packet of Sour Pitch (or a handful of 200g pilsner malt)
- 1 packet WHC High Voltage yeast
- Total water volume: 32L (Preferably Sulfate < Chloride: 1:3)
Chloride and protein!
This surprising, thirst-quenching fruity gose is perfect for the summer season. We’d even recommend it as an appetizer in combination with a small salad. Or to accompany some appetizers.
Here, the composition of the water will have a certain impact. The balance of this type of gose can be difficult to master. Acid + salt + fruit + low final density can cause a sensation of astringency.
Don’t worry! That’s why we recommend boosting your chloride (the salt will already help increase it), which will give the beer a full-bodied feel.
Flakes are also important, as they provide protein, which also contributes to the beer’s body. These elements will help you find the perfect balance!
Try our recipe for Apricot/Rosemary Gose – Costa Brava
Step 1
Heat 12 liters of water to 70°C and pour in the crushed grains.
Stir well to avoid lumps. Continue to heat to 66°C.
Maintain temperature for one hour.
At the same time, heat 20 liters of rinse water to 77°C.
Step 2
Once the hour has elapsed, move on to rinsing and filtration.
Step 3
Once you have your full volume of liquid, it’s time to move on to the Sour Kettle. To do this:
- Use lactic or phosphoric acid to lower the must’s pH to 4.5.
- (Optional) To eliminate any risk of prior infection, carry out a mini-boil for 10/15 minutes.
- Cool wort to 40°C
- (Optional) If equipped, purge the surface of your wort with CO2.
- Add the bag of sour pitch or the handful of lager malt.
- Close your mash tun as tightly as possible, using plastic film or other covers, to limit contact with oxygen and any organisms that may be around your brew.
- Maintain a temperature of 40°C for about 24 hours.
- Take a pH reading every 2 to 4 hours once you’ve reached 3.5, then you can move on to the next step.
Step 4
Heat your wort for a 60-minute boil.
Start brewing with 5g of Magnum hops.
If you’re using a cooling coil, don’t forget to sterilize it in the wort 15 minutes before the end of the boil.
With 10 minutes to go, add the salt and rosemary sprig.
Step 5
Then cool the wort to 38-40°C and transfer to the fermenter, not forgetting the yeast.
*If you didn’t want to make a kettle sour, add the sour pitch at this point. Co-pitching with yeast is also possible.
Your initial specific gravity should be around 1.040.
Ferment at 38-40°C for 1 week. Fermentation may even be completed in 3 days with this strain.
Use your apricots as a dry hop.
If you’ve chosen fresh apricots, remove the stones and pasteurize them beforehand.
Leave them to ferment for 10 to 15 days.
If you’re equipped, we recommend a cold crash at 3°C for 3/4 days.
For this apricot/rosemary gose recipe, the final density should be around 1.007.
Step 6
Add 5 to 6g/l of sugar for bottling.