The Recipe
- Color: Rosé
- Alcohol content: 5.5%.
- Quantity : 20L
- Bitterness: Slight
- Brewing time: 5h
- Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients :
Grain Bill :
- 2.75kg of Wheat Malt
- 2kg of Pilsner
- 0.2kg of Flaked oats
Hop :
40g of Simcoe
Other Ingredients :
- 1kg Mango Puree
- 1kg Passion Fruit Purée
- 8g Timut Pepper
- 140g Hibiscus Flowers
- 800g Lactose
- 4g Lichen (optional)
- 10g Yeast Nutrient (optional)
Yeast and brewing water :
- 2 packs of Philly Sour
- 32L water total (Chloride/sulfate = 3:1. pH 5.3)
Brew the recipe for sour Sunset in Kathmandu by Sebastien Finck
Step 1 :
Heat 16.7 liters of water to 74°C and pour in the crushed grains.
Stir well, and don’t hesitate to crush any lumps against the sides of the tank. Continue until you reach a temperature of 68°C. Maintain this temperature for 70 minutes.
At the same time, heat 15.3 liters of water to 75°C.
Once the hour of saccharification has passed, raise the temperature to 78°C. This is called the Mash-Out.
Step 2 :
Once the Mash-Out is complete, move on to filtration and rinsing.
Step 3 :
Heat up your vat and boil for an hour.
If you’re cooling with a coil, don’t forget to immerse it in the boiling must for 15 minutes.
With 10 minutes to go, add the lichen and yeast nutrients.
Add the timut pepper and hibiscus flowers for the last 5 minutes.
Step 4 :
When the boiling time is over, add your hops.
Lower the temperature to 80°C and add your fruit purées for 20 minutes.
Step 5 :
Finally, cool your wort to 20°C and transfer it to the fermenter.
Initial density should be around 1.063.
Pit the yeast, maintain 20°C and wait a minimum of 4 weeks.
Sebastien also recommends a 48-hour Cold Crash if you’re equipped.
Step 6 :
It’s bottling time! Final density should be around 1.013.
In a base of boiling water, sterilize 800g of lactose and 7g/litres (approx. 140g) of table sugar for a few minutes. The former will give a slightly pastry-like flavour, the latter for bubbles.
Put this little world in a resugaring bucket, transfer your beer to it and proceed with bottling.
Step 7 :
After a few weeks, open a good bottle ;).
The first thing you’ll see is a pretty pink/purple color topped by a beautiful white mousse. On the palate, the balance of creaminess and acidity is perfect. You’ll find lovely grapefruit aromas, a hint of spice and floral notes. The whole is sublimated by an ultra-gourmet fruity finish.
Sunset in Kathmandu by Sébastien Finck
“The aim was to make a grapefruit juice without grapefruit, with acidity (Philly Sour), color (Hibiscus) perfume(Timut pepper) and taste (passion and mango). The aim is to recall “something we know but can’t define”, a kind of trompe l’oeil for the mouth.”
For optimum effect, you can even increase the dosage of mango purée to 1.5kg lowering the passion to 0.8kg.
“For the water profile, I boost the chlorides to get a NEIPA-type mouthfeel, but in a very different style. In terms of pH, I’m aiming for 5.3.”
To boost his chlorides, Sébastien uses (among other things) table salt. It also acts as a flavor enhancer, making this recipe all the more brilliant.
“Variation: we could very well add the fruit purées in secondary fermentation rather than in the Whirlpool. This would give an even fruitier edge. The same goes for Timut pepper, which can be disinfected in alcohol for 24 hours before being added to secondary fermentation.”
Last words about Sebastien and his Sour Recipe
This recipe won first place in our annual brewing competition. Sébastien stood out among 100 competitors and nearly 180 beers in competition.
He received a final score of 87/100 from a table of recognized experts including Thomas Barbera (Happy Beer Time); Antoine Blain (IFCO teacher and founder of Brewing Bears) and Joan Ribera (Big Boss of Rolling Beers).
This recipe will become the official beer of Beer Love Fest 2025 !