A little over a month ago I took a few shots at another two 3 Floyds Gumball-esque beers. I wasn’t going for dead ringer clones necessarily, but for beers that captured the overall spirit of the beer. That’s how they affectionately became known as the Spirited Gumballs.
I’ve had both on tap for a little over a week now and had a few friends over to try them. I wanted to get input from others because I feel that all too often you’re relying on the impressions of the brewer alone on these things.
Here’s my buddy Mike (a hardcore beer aficionado) sampling the two and writing tasting notes:
Right off the bat I can see why they lager this beer for 3 weeks. It comes out fairly cloudy with 25% wheat. I added Biofine to mine when I kegged them. Both of my brews came in right around 5% ABV, so they were a shade lower than the 5.5 or 5.6% you’ll see on theirs.
All that said, I’ll go ahead and give the tasting notes & recipes.
The first Spirited Gumball on WLP 051 (Cal V) started at 1.048 & finished out at 1.010. Here were my tasting notes:
– Light tangy white grape, bubblegummy with creamy finish, some sweet wheaty notes with a touch of nut, a little floral/soapy finish, some hop spice and resin, pH might be a hair low.
Here were my buddy Mike’s thoughts from a blind tasting:
– Banana and kiwi aroma, typical Grant farmhousey-ness, Belgian wheat notes, no hops in nose, nutty & wheaty, good mouthfeel, delicious all day drinker, maybe a touch of booze heat, smooths out as it warms.
Even though Spirited 051 is my least favorite of the two, it’s still finding itself endangered after a short stint on the kegerator. I think Mike was picking up Belgian notes and heat from some of the Nelson Sauvin characteristics. I thought it went a little winey with some spicy resiny notes, partially because of its dance partner being Chinook. Also, Mike recently had Prairie Ales Merica, which is a farmhouse beer with Nelson.
I should also mention that the grain bill seemed pretty solid and probably rather close to what 3 Floyds is doing if their advice in Brewing With Wheat can be trusted.
Anyway, here’s the BeerSmith report on Spirited 051:
Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 8.51 gal Post Boil Volume: 6.59 gal Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Bottling Volume: 5.13 gal Estimated OG: 1.048 SG Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM Estimated IBU: 29.5 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 83.0 % Boil Time: 90 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 70.4 % 2 lbs 8.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 25.2 % 4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.5 % 3.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.9 % 2.0 pkg California Ale V (White Labs #WLP051) [3 Yeast 12 - 9.00 g Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.0 IBUs 10.00 g Nelson Sauvin [12.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 3.5 IBUs 10.00 g Chinook [11.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 3.1 IBUs 15.00 g Nelson Sauvin [12.60 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 4.3 IBUs 10.00 g Chinook [11.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 2.6 IBUs 28.00 g Nelson Sauvin [12.60 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs 14.00 g Chinook [11.40 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs 43.00 g Nelson Sauvin [12.60 %] - Dry Hop 8.0 Da Hop 14 0.0 IBUs 47.00 g Chinook [11.40 %] - Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
Next up was Spirited Gumball 028 on White Labs Edinburgh. I used this yeast because I’m a little burned out on Union Jack IPA and beers done on the usual English Ale 002. The beer went from 1.050 to 1.012 and I was quite happy with the results. My tasting notes were:
– Lime, tangerine, lemon front with nutty back, a little sweet & sour mandarin orange, drinks drier than the first beer despite flaked oats & higher finishing gravity. Similar wheaty notes, flows better, seems better constructed as a beer. Creamy citrus with a light fruit juicy nose.
Mike’s take on it was:
– Lemony nose & taste, clean crisp dry wheat, subtle farmhouse as it warms, & citrus that fades as it warms.
I believe he also mentioned it reminding him of drinking Pyramid Hef coming up as a young buck on the ruthless streets of Portland.
Out of the initial 4 side by side samplers, Spirited 028 has won every time. With that said, I’m on my 3rd pint of Spirited 051 right now and it is also a lovely beer. Hopefully I’ll get around to entering both in upcoming January competitions.
1/23/14 EDIT: Spirited 028 took 2nd place in Winterbrew 2014 in Chicago.
Here are the BeerSmith stats for Spirited 028:
Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 8.51 gal Post Boil Volume: 6.59 gal Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Bottling Volume: 5.13 gal Estimated OG: 1.050 SG Estimated Color: 4.3 SRM Estimated IBU: 27.6 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 84.1 % Boil Time: 90 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 69.2 % 2 lbs 8.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 24.7 % 4.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.5 % 1.9 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.2 % 4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.5 % 2.0 pkg Edinburgh Ale (White Labs #WLP028) [35.4 Yeast 14 - 9.00 g Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 16.0 IBUs 10.00 g Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 3.9 IBUs 15.00 g Motueka [6.70 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 2.8 IBUs 12.00 g Motueka [6.70 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.8 IBUs 12.00 g Mosaic [11.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.2 IBUs 10.00 g Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs 10.00 g Motueka [6.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 13 0.0 IBUs 10.00 g Mosaic [11.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs 29.00 g Citra [14.10 %] - Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs 28.00 g Motueka [6.70 %] - Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs 28.00 g Mosaic [11.50 %] - Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs
All in all, I think I will continue down this road with Edinburgh 028 yeast and various citrusy hops. I should have some Azacca & El Dorado in my possession tomorrow, so hoppy shenanigans will likely ensue.
Sooner or later I’ll give a broader update on everything else I have going on. Here’s a picture of Purring Kitten 4, the French Saison Wine, & Water Tweaker IPA all waiting for transfer.
Purring Kitten Session IPA on WLP 862 Cry Havoc smelled incredible. I can’t wait to try it in the coming days.
Alright friends, I’ll leave you with something that still cracks me up everyday when I get to work. My hairy face on a popular product:
Be well and prosper y’all.
BJCP Hero 
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