MOA Cherry Sour

[indica86]

Had a bottle of that last night at Hemingways. Really nice drop.
I have made 3 kettle sours so far - one became a Gose.
Time for another step? What the how do I do this?
Do I need a barrel? Not looking for a clone but merely the method behind it all...

MOA CHERRY SOUR
2014 VINTAGE
Style: Cherry Lambic
ABV: 7%
Bottle Size: 375ml
Serving glass: Tulip
Moa Cherry Sour 2014 Vintage is a barrel fermented and aged cherry sour beer. Brewed with a wheat beer base and whole Marlborough cherries harvested in December 2014, with 12 months in a combination of tank and barrel on both the skins and stones, cherry flavours are very upfront. Farmyard characters are evident from the Brettanomyces yeast and it is tart rather than over acidic. A food friendly beer well matched with Brie or aged Gouda.

 

[paulyman]

You don't need a Barrel. The barrels aren't used to impart oak they are just allowing oxygen to enter and also to provide a home for the bugs. I just use a corny keg to ferment my sours with a blow off valve on the gas out for primary and then use a sounding valve set to 1 or 2 psi.

Jump down the rabbit hole you won't regret it.

 

[barls]

start with a nice wheat recipe and drop the bitterness a little. mash between mid to high range depending on how sour you want.
use ether a lambic blend from ether white labs or wyeast for a light sour note. ours roselare for a more intense sour
add your cherries after 4 weeks or so.
it will take about 6 months roughly.
go for it.

 

[indica86]

Use only the lambic blend?
Don't have access to cherries so mango?

Wheat/pils.... Then lambic blend or yeast first?

Age in what? Shall I get a glass vessel from the HBS?

 

[michaeld16]

mango peaches cherries apricots give them all a go! i like to age in cornies, i also use a better bottle for aging but i only have one of them so its mostly kegs for me. i like to throw the lambic or roselare whatever im usinh in straight away as there is some sach yeast in those blends i find this helps produce a slightly more sour beer (better souring on the second use of the culture).

 

[paulyman]

My previous post should have said spunding valve not sounding valve, teach me to post from the phone. Better bottles or glass carboys are what most of the US sour brewers use if you look through Sour Beer Blog or Milk the Funk, I am happy aging in my corny but am thinking about a glass carboy just because I am nosy and want to see if there is a pellicle or if it is ropey etc. I add all at primary, but adding in secondary will work, but as Barls said just make sure you mash at the higher end to leave some unfermentables for the bugs. I love the Gigayeast Sour Cherry Funk blend of lacto and brett. BeerCo in Sydney ship it, (not affiliated yadda yadda). If you want to get some great great tips listen to the Sour Hour podcast by the Brewing Network, not a fan of most of their stuff but this show is fantastic.

 

[yurgy]

i use 52 litre demijohn after 12 months transfer 21 litres to better bottle for further ageing about 15 litres racked onto fruit the rest gets bottled as is. next year will be 3 years so i can blend 1 2 and 3 year old sours.also oak dominos are good.

 

[barls]

i use plastic buckets, better bottles and glass mainly. i have no real preference. the previous lambic that got third in the nationals two years ago was done in a bucket.
as i said depending on the level of sour you want in it. the yeast bay beers blend http://www.theyeastbay.com/wild-yeast-and-bacteria-products/beersel-brettanomyces-blend%C2 quite good for a quick one that wont quite have the same level of complexity.
this all takes time.

 

[yurgy]

i use plastic buckets, better bottles and glass mainly. i have no real preference. the previous lambic that got third in the nationals two years ago was done in a bucket.
as i said depending on the level of sour you want in it. the yeast bay beers blend quite good for a quick one that wont quite have the same level of complexity.
this all takes time.

do you ferment at ambient mate and was there anything special with your lambic grist a judge told me not enough complexity even with blends and dregs. cheers

 

[barls]

was that this year at the states? if so it could of been me.
not really mash mashed mid range. its a german dark wheat clone that i sour.
its more about the yeast and what you add. i use oak dominos. i find that the commercial blends are a bit bland but can really do it with a small help from dregs and straight blends.
the same recipe but barrel aged got 5th this time around but was only 4 points behind top score. also it was only 12 months in the bottle.

 

[yurgy]

no just a local comp. only done one dark sour turned out nice it was the dark medicine recipe from wild brews sorta. thanks mate

 

[barls]

the one in brewing classic styles works quite well as well