Name: The Handlebar Pub and Grills Great Divide Strawberry Rhubarb Recipe
Cook time: 24 h
Total time: 24 h
Yield: 23 servings
Ingredients: 5.5 kg Pilsner malt (light base malt); 1 kg Wheat malt; 0.25 kg Acidulated malt; 85 g Table sugar (sucrose) - for priming if bottle conditioning; 250 g Corn sugar (dextrose) - optional late kettle addition to boost attenuation; 10 g Tettnang or Hallertau hops (low bitterness); 23 L Water - brewing water adjusted for sour beer (soft, low bicarbonate); 1 tsp Gypsum (CaSO4) - optional, small pinch to balance ions; 2 ml Lactic acid - to adjust mash pH if needed; 10 ml Lactobacillus plantarum culture (pure or kettle souring culture); 11 g Ale yeast (neutral, high-attenuation) - e.g., Safale US-05 or WY1056; 2 tsp Yeast nutrient; 2.5 kg Fresh strawberries (hulled, halved); 1 kg Fresh rhubarb (cleaned, trimmed, chopped into 1" pieces); 1 each Campden tablet (potassium metabisulfite) - to kill wild microbes before fruit addition (optional when using pasteurized fruit); 0 to taste Potassium sorbate - for stabilizing if bottle-conditioning is not desired; 0 to taste Sanitizer (no-rinse)

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

This beautiful partnership creates a beer that glows ruby in the glass, bursts with strawberry aroma, and bites with every sip. Bright and effervescent this sour is a fun and refreshing, lip-puckering treat prefect for every occasion, any time of the year.

Heat 18 L of brewing water to 74°C. Mash in crushed Pilsner, wheat, and acidulated malts to reach a mash temperature of 66°C. Hold at 66°C for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even conversion. Check mash pH; adjust with lactic acid to reach 5.2–5.4 if necessary.

Mash In

Raise mash to 76°C for 10 minutes (mash out). Sparge with enough water to collect ~23 L wort total in the kettle (target pre-boil volume accounting for losses).

Mash Out and Sparge

Bring wort to a gentle boil. Add 10 g of Tettnang/Hallertau hops at 60 minutes remaining for very light bitterness (or add at 10 minutes if you prefer almost no IBUs). If using optional corn sugar for attenuation, add the 250 g dextrose with 5–10 minutes left in the boil to dissolve and sanitize. Total boil time: 60 minutes.

Boil

After the boil, chill wort quickly to 40–45°C if performing kettle souring, or to 18–20°C if you plan standard fermentation without kettle souring. Transfer to sanitized vessel for souring if using kettle sour method.

Chill Wort

If you want a bright, quick sour profile consistent with many commercial sour ales, perform kettle souring. Cool wort to 38–45°C, oxygenate minimally, and ensure sanitized equipment. Add Lactobacillus plantarum (10 ml) to the wort (you may pre-acclimate culture per manufacturer instructions). Keep wort at 38–45°C for 18–36 hours, monitoring pH. Target finished souring pH: 3.3–3.6 for a sharp, lip-puckering character. When desired sourness is reached, raise temperature to 75–80°C and hold for 10–15 minutes (pasteurize) or bring to a boil for 10 minutes to kill lactobacillus and halt souring.

Cool the soured and post-pasteurization wort quickly to 18–20°C. Transfer to a sanitized fermenter. Aerate gently (soured wort needs a modest oxygen dose for healthy yeast start). Pitch the ale yeast (11 g rehydrated or direct-pitch) and add yeast nutrient (2 tsp). Ferment at 18–20°C for 5–10 days until vigorous activity subsides.

Sanitize fruit (recommended): For fresh fruit, rinse well. If concerned about wild microbes, you can pasteurize fruit by heating to 65–70°C for 10–15 minutes (do not boil) or add a Campden tablet to the fruit must and wait 24 hours. For maximum fresh aroma, lightly crush or puree the strawberries (2.5 kg) and chop the rhubarb (1.0 kg) into 1" pieces. Combine fruit and keep chilled until ready to add.

After 5–10 days of primary fermentation (when vigorous fermentation has slowed but some activity remains), transfer beer to a secondary fermenter and add the prepared fruit (or add directly to primary if you prefer more yeast/fruit interaction). If using puree, consider adding via sanitized nylon bag or sanitized pump. Aim for fruit contact time of 5–14 days depending on desired fruit character and tannin extraction from rhubarb. Taste every 2–3 days. Rhubarb will add bright tartness and some vegetal notes; strawberries add aroma and sweetness.

Optional: If you prefer a cleaner fruit character, pasteurize the fruit in the fermenter by holding at 60–65°C for 10–15 minutes before cooling and pitching — only for equipment capable of safe heat control.

After fruit contact and fermentation completion (final gravity stable over 2–3 days), cold crash the beer to 2–4°C for 48–72 hours to clear. Rack or siphon the beer off fruit solids and trub to a bottling bucket or keg, avoiding picking up sediment.

If bottle-conditioning: dissolve 85 g table sugar in 200 ml boiling water, cool, and gently mix into beer for priming. Bottle in sanitized bottles and cap. Condition at 20°C for 10–14 days, then cellar at cooler temperature for a week before chilling and serving. If kegging: force carbonate to ~2.5–2.8 volumes CO2 (bright, effervescent).

Optional stabilization: If you do not want refermentation in bottle or want to back-sweeten, add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite as per package directions and cold crash, then back-sweeten carefully with pasteurized strawberry puree to taste.

Carbonation target: 2.5–2.8 volumes CO2 for a bright, effervescent sour. Serve chilled (4–8°C) in a tulip or flute to showcase ruby color and aroma. Expect pronounced strawberry aroma, bright rhubarb bite, and a crisp, sour finish. Store bottles refrigerated for best shelf stability.

Pilsner malt (light base malt)

Wheat malt

Acidulated malt

Table sugar (sucrose) - for priming if bottle conditioning

Corn sugar (dextrose) - optional late kettle addition to boost attenuation

Tettnang or Hallertau hops (low bitterness)

Water - brewing water adjusted for sour beer (soft, low bicarbonate)

Gypsum (CaSO4) - optional, small pinch to balance ions

Lactic acid - to adjust mash pH if needed

Lactobacillus plantarum culture (pure or kettle souring culture)

Ale yeast (neutral, high-attenuation) - e.g., Safale US-05 or WY1056

Yeast nutrient

Fresh strawberries (hulled, halved)

Fresh rhubarb (cleaned, trimmed, chopped into 1" pieces)

Campden tablet (potassium metabisulfite) - to kill wild microbes before fruit addition (optional when using pasteurized fruit)

Potassium sorbate - for stabilizing if bottle-conditioning is not desired

Sanitizer (no-rinse)

Great Divide Strawberry Rhubarb

Make Great Divide Strawberry Rhubarb Recipe in just 24h . This beautiful partnership creates a beer that glows ruby in the glass, bursts with strawberry aroma, and bites with every sip. Bright and effervescent this sour is a fun and refreshing, lip-puckering treat prefect for every occasion, any time of the year.

Great Divide Strawberry Rhubarb

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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