Cervejaria UNIKA’s Catharina Sour with Strawberry & Coffee clone

Cervejaria UNIKA’s Catharina Sour with Strawberry & Coffee clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.049   FG = 1.008
IBU = 9  SRM = 3   ABV = 5.5%

A unique take on Catharina sour with the addition of strawberries and coffee from UNIKA, in Rancho Queimado, Brazil.

Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Pilsner malt
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) wheat malt 
10 AAU Citra® hops (whirlpool) (0.67 oz./19 g at 15% alpha acids)
14 lbs. (6.4 kg) fresh strawberries
24 oz. (700 mL) cold-brewed coffee (light-bodied, fruity)
1.25 g Lactobacillus plantarum
1.25 g Lactobacillus casei
SafAle US-05, or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by step

This recipe uses reverse osmosis (RO) water. Adjust all brewing water to a pH of 5.5 using phosphoric acid. Add 1 tsp. calcium chloride to the mash.

This recipe uses a kettle souring method. In 15 quarts (14 L) water, mash the grain at 154 °F (68 °C) for 45 minutes. Sparge slowly and collect 6.5 gallons (24.5 L) of wort. Boil for 30 minutes without hops. Cool to 97 °F (36 °C) and pitch the Lactobacillus. Let it sour until a pH of 3.2 is reached (usually 36–48 hours). Boil for 45 minutes, adding the hops in the whirlpool after the boil is complete. Cool to 68 °F (20 °C) and pitch the ale yeast. More yeast than is normal may be needed due to the low pH.

Add the strawberries on the third day of active fermentation. Do not wait for fermentation to slow down, they must be added at high kräusen. The fermentation temperature can rise as high as 73 °F (23 °C), allow to ferment to completion. Cold crash the beer, rack off, then add the cold brewed coffee at packaging.

Prime and bottle condition, or keg and force carbonate.

Cervejaria UNIKA’s Catharina Sour with Strawberry & Coffee clone

(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.049   FG = 1.008
IBU = 7  SRM = 3   ABV = 5.5%

Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) wheat liquid malt extract 
10 AAU Citra® hops (whirlpool) (0.67 oz./19 g at 15% alpha acids)
14 lbs. (6.4 kg) fresh strawberries
24 oz. (700 mL) cold-brewed coffee (light-bodied, fruity)
1.25 g Lactobacillus plantarum
1.25 g Lactobacillus casei
SafAle US-05, or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by step
Use 6.5 gallons (24.5 L) of water in the brew kettle. Heat to 158 °F (70 °C) and then turn off the heat. Add the malt extract and stir thoroughly to dissolve completely. You do not want to feel liquid extract at the bottom of the kettle when stirring with your spoon. Turn the heat back on and bring to a boil. 

Boil for 30 minutes without hops. Cool to 97 °F (36 °C) and pitch the Lactobacillus. Let it sour until a pH of 3.2 is reached (usually 36–48 hours). Boil for 45 minutes, adding the hops in the whirlpool after the boil is complete. Cool to 68 °F (20 °C) and pitch the ale yeast. More yeast than is normal may be needed due to the low pH.

Follow the remainder of the instructions in the all-grain recipe.

Tips for Success:
The strawberries are prepared by washing, coring, and running them through a juicer, then using the juice and pulp. This is to create more surface area. Use very fresh, ripe strawberries in season. If strawberries are frozen, make sure they are frozen for no more than a week or two. Make sure to account for the extra volume needed in your fermenter for the strawberries.

The coffee is prepared by the cold brew method. Using a 7:1 ratio of water to coffee (7 oz. water per oz. of coffee beans by weight or 700 mL water per 100 g of coffee), combine coarsely ground coffee with cold filtered water, and let steep for 12 hours. Strain the coffee or use a French press. Use the indicated amount of the liquid coffee; measure the finished amount of liquid for the recipe. Use very fresh coffee, preferably from a local roaster who can grind it for you — be sure to tell them it’s for cold brew so they grind it coarsely.

Lactobacillus can be a pure pitch or obtained through probiotic drinks. The brewery uses Lactobacillus from an Italian pharmaceutical supplier, www.probiotical.com. It comes in 50 g sachets; they use 50 g of each in a 211-gallon (800-L) batch, so 2.5 g total should suffice for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch. Many brewers use just plantarum, so it isn’t vital to source both varieties. They switched from using probiotic drinks to make the product vegan-friendly, not because of problems with probiotics.