Barrel Aged Sours with CJ Shamas- BeerSmith Podcast #112

Follow @BeerSmith

CJ Shamas joins me this week to discuss his barrel aged sour beer program. CJ has come up with a method to schedule his beers to maximize the flavor and utilization of oak barrels for making great beer.

Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-112-Barrels.mp3]

Topics in This Week’s Episode (45:49)

CJ Shamas joins me this week to discuss barrel aged sour beers. CJ has been home brewing since 2001, and has been producing barrel aged sour beers for the last 7 years. Through experimentation and the utilization of 10 small barrels, CJ, along with his brother James has successfully established a program to schedule and create complex sour beers.
Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine who is still offering a 15% discount with your subscription or other items when you use the new offer code beersmith2015 when you purchase.
Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Mobile software and the new DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.
We start with a short discussion of his barrel program and how he schedules beers to maximize the utilization and flavor profile from the barrels.
CJ tells us where he finds some of his barrels.
We discuss specifically how beers are schedules for various types of barrels so you can get the most out of each barrel.
CJ explains the beers he prefers to brew and why he brews them in a particular order.
We discuss a recipe for a typical Flanders red as well as how he prefers to age, ferment and finish it.
He also shares his thoughts on brewing a Belgian Strong ale and how oak barrels can enhance this beer.
We talk about adding fruit to sours including when to add the fruit and some of the fruits that have worked best for CJ.
We discuss blending sour beers.
CJ shares some of the challenges he has found working with sour beers and barrels.
CJ gives us his closing thoughts on brewing sour beers.

Thanks to CJ Shamas for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all 81 audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address