Two years ago, addressing the Craft Brewers Conference, author Michael Pollan posed the question of who was really in charge in the brewing process, the brewers or the yeast. Yeast, Pollan suggested, is the most successful organism the world has ever known. The micro-organism is so clever that its survival has become one of the most important parts of our lives. Sure brewers think that they control the yeast, but in actuality, the brewers work for the yeast; nourishing them, keeping them healthy and protecting them for future generations.
While many brewers work diligently to try to gain an upper-hand in the brewing process over the yeast, Austin-based Jester King has found peace in giving up the fight and letting the yeast call the shots.
“We did not pitch yeast for fermentation, rather, the wort was fermented by the native yeast and bacteria captured as it cooled overnight in our coolship,” Jester King shared in a blog post entitled “Our First Coolship Test Blends.”
A coolship is a large shallow pan that is filled with wort that is ready to be fermented. The idea is that the shallow pan allows for the most surface area for the wort to catch and become fermented by wild yeast that flies in on a breeze.
Jester King now has enough beer, spontaneously fermented by wild, Texas Hill Country yeast to begin blending the beer to achieve a marketable product.
© Jester King Brewery
“In preparation for our first blends, we’ve been doing a number of blending experiments, with which there has been no set formula or scientific precision. Rather, the blends are a product of feel, intuition, and our sensory experience tasting and smelling the beer. The various ‘vintages’ provide a lot of fun and interesting beer to work with. The diversity of flavors and aromas from various barrels filled at different times has been quite surprising, intriguing, and has left us a little mystified, often not knowing the ‘why’ behind the way a fermentation has progressed.”
The brewery plans to release the first blended coolship beers sometime in 2016. The beer is sure to be highly sought-after and offer fans a truly unique experience.
Kudos to the brewers and blenders on their hard work, patience and faith in letting the yeast be in charge.
Read more about this upcoming release on Jester King’s blog: “Our First Coolship Test Blends.”
The post Jester King Starts Blending Tests for Coolship Beers appeared first on CraftBeer.com.
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