This is my Solera - There are many like it, but this one is mine.

When I first started this solera, I was under the impression that I was special and unique for undertaking this project, but since then I've seen more and more soleras across the internet. Especially for sours, soleras offer an interesting project to undertake.

Apricot Chamomile pLambic Tasting

Appearance: Very slightly hazy, mostly bright yellow colour. Spritzy soda like head that dies quickly after pouring.

Aroma: Lemon zest, citrus, musty, hay, herbal-floral aroma.

Flavor: medium-light sourness, some musty fruit funk followed by the chamomile. Sort of a bubblegum- apricot mixed flavor, somewhat reminiscent of bergamot. Some cheerios flavor present.

Mouthfeel: Very spritzy carbonation, dry as a bone, but has a weird slick mouthfeel near the end.

Overall: The cheerios (THP) flavor should fade with some time in the bottle, but overall I'm happy. Some bottles still seem to have a hint of the rubber flavor, but hopefully that will fade in time as well. The sourness could be a bit more assertive, but at this stage it is very refreshing and pleasantly sour. I probably used a bit too much chamomile but that also should fade in time. The apricot was not super aggressive, but that's not surprising considering this beer is about 7-8 months past the initial fruiting.

Je suis un homme Français - The champagne method for beer

I've had this 2013 pLambic aging on apricots for several months. I wasn't liking the flavor because the wild yeast I picked up seemed to pick up a rubber flavor for a period of time before smoothing out. The crabapple portion of this beer has been great for a few months now, but this one took a long time to get normal again. I originally wanted to pick a bunch of crabapple blossoms to age with this beer, but ended up using chamomille instead. I bottled it up, but to my dismay it had a thick layer of apricot chamomille sludge at the bottom of the bottles. I tried opening one for a sample but it ended up gushing and turning into a smoothie of fruit, yeast and beer.

I am a stubborn man. I didn't want to give up on this beer after this long of waiting on aging, then waiting for it to get past it's pubescent "screw you, I'm going to taste like rubbery butthole" phase, then bottle carbonation. I wanted to get rid of the sediment, and that how I came upon "Le methode champagnoise" (the champagne method).

"Spanish Cedar" English Bitter or: How I learned to stop scrooging and love the homebrew store.

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