Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Make your mouth pucker at the first sip! This ultra refreshing golden sour ale does just that, and with the addition of prickly pear and passion fruit to balance, it's an obvious stand out wherever it's enjoyed. (ABV: 6.0%)

Heat 5.5 - 6.0 gallons of brewing-quality water to approximately 165°F (74°C) to reach a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C) when combined with grains.

Heat Strike Water

Add the crushed Pale Malt, Pilsner Malt, Wheat Malt, Flaked Oats and Acidulated Malt to the mash tun. Stir thoroughly to avoid dough balls and achieve a uniform mash at 152°F (67°C). Hold for 60 minutes.

Mash In

Raise the mash temperature to 168°F (76°C) for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve lautering.

Mash Out

Sparge with enough 170°F (77°C) water to collect ~6.5 gallons of wort into your kettle (adjust to your system losses).

Sparge

Bring wort to a gentle 60-minute boil. Add 0.5 oz Saaz at 60 minutes for minimal bitterness (target IBU ~10-12). Add 0.5 oz Hallertau or Tettnang with 5 minutes left in the boil for subtle aroma. Do not over-hop; sour ales are best with restrained hop character.

Boil - Minimal Hop Addition

After the boil, quickly chill the wort to 95-115°F (35-46°C) if you plan to kettle-sour, or to about 68°F (20°C) if proceeding straight to yeast fermentation without souring. For this recipe, chill to 100°F (38°C) for kettle souring.

Cool Wort

Ensure kettle and tools are clean. If using grain adjuncts (acidulated malt) this will help lower mash pH; adjust if necessary to reach mash pH ~5.2. Cool wort to 95-115°F (35-46°C) and hold it uncovered or with a sanitized lid in the kettle or a separate vessel.

Sanitize and Prepare

Pitch the Lactobacillus culture into the warm wort at ~100°F (38°C). Gently stir to distribute. Maintain temperature between 95-115°F (35-46°C) for 24-48 hours until desired sourness (taste regularly). Expect final pH between 3.2 and 3.6 depending on tartness desired.

Inoculate with Lactobacillus

Once desired tartness is reached, bring the kettle to a vigorous boil for 10-15 minutes to kill the bacteria and sanitize the wort. Add the hop additions if not already added during the earlier boil step (if you soured before any boil, add hops now as listed).

Boil to Halt Souring

Rapidly chill the wort to 65-70°F (18-21°C) for ale yeast fermentation.

Cool Wort for Fermentation

Transfer the cooled wort to a sanitized fermenter, aerate or oxygenate to achieve adequate dissolved oxygen (20-30 ppm). Pitch the ale yeast (US-05 or similar) and seal with an airlock.

Pitch Yeast

Ferment at 66-70°F (19-21°C) for 7-10 days until active fermentation slows and gravity approaches terminal. The ale yeast should ferment relatively dry (target final gravity consistent with 6.0% ABV).

Primary Fermentation

Sanitize all utensils and fermentation vessel surfaces that will contact fruit. If using fresh prickly pear and passion fruit, remove seeds and skins and puree. Strain if desired for smoother texture. Pasteurize or treat purees with a short heat spike (e.g., 160°F / 71°C for 15 minutes) or add a Campden tablet if you prefer to reduce wild microbes. Allow purees to cool to fridge temperature before use.

Prepare Fruit Purees

Rack beer off primary yeast cake into a sanitized secondary fermenter. Add 4 lbs prickly pear puree and 2 lbs passion fruit puree to the secondary (for 5 gallons of beer this yields a prominent fruit character). Add the 2 oz lemon juice now if using to brighten the fruit. Mix gently to incorporate while avoiding excessive oxygen pickup.

Add Fruit to Secondary

Allow beer to condition on fruit at 60-65°F (15-18°C) for 5-10 days, tasting periodically. When fruit character is balanced and no new fermentation activity from fruit sugars is concerning, proceed to cold crash.

Condition on Fruit

If bottling, calculate priming sugar for desired carbonation (~2.5-3.0 volumes CO2 for a sour, refreshing ale) and add 1 lb corn sugar (dextrose) dissolved in 1 cup boiling water, cooled, to bottling bucket and rack beer onto it before bottling. If kegging, force-carbonate to 2.5-3.0 volumes CO2 or carbonate naturally in keg.

Stabilize and Carbonate

Bottle in sanitized bottles and cap, or transfer to sanitized keg. Age bottles at room temperature for 1-2 weeks for carbonation, then refrigerate.

Bottle or Keg

Chill beer to 40-45°F (4-7°C). Pour gently to leave sediment behind. Enjoy the bright, puckering sour with prickly pear and passion fruit notes. Estimated ABV ~6.0%.

Serve

Clean and sanitize all equipment thoroughly after brewing and fruit additions to prevent cross-contamination with microbes. Keep good notes on pH, pitching rates, and fruit quantities to dial in the exact tartness and fruit balance for future batches.

Pale Malt (2-row)

Pilsner Malt

Flaked Oats

Wheat Malt

Acidulated Malt (for pH adjustment)

Corn Sugar (dextrose) - for priming or to dry ferment

Saaz (or similar noble hop) - bittering

Hallertau or Tettnang - aroma

Kettle-soured Lactobacillus (e.g., L. plantarum culture)

Ale Yeast (clean, neutral, high attenuation) - e.g., Safale US-05 or Wyeast 1056

Prickly Pear puree (strained, pasteurized if preferred)

Passion Fruit puree (or concentrated puree)

Lemon juice (fresh) - optional to brighten

Water (brewing-quality) - batch

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) - for mash mineral profile

Calcium Chloride - for mash mineral profile

Wort sanitizer (e.g., Star San) - to sanitize fruit addition

Scallywag-Ruby Beach Brewing Co, Jacksonville FL

Make Scallywag-Ruby Beach Brewing Co, Jacksonville FL Recipe in just 24h . Make your mouth pucker at the first sip! This ultra refreshing golden sour ale does just that, and with the addition of prickly pear and passion fruit to balance, it's an obvious stand out wherever it's enjoyed. (ABV: 6.0%)

Scallywag-Ruby Beach Brewing Co, Jacksonville FL

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

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