Newb Needs Advice: Which Yeast For First Sour?

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trotts7

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Hi folks, newb question:

I've got a a very basic extract ale (3kg malt + 1kg of dex + 40g of Saaz @60min) sitting in a secondary and want to sour it (my first).
(I've already got overexcited and dumped a can of cherries (300g?) and some roasted oak chips (about 20g) into it).

Now i need to figure out what to drop in to sour: here are my options (at least those that I am aware of):

1) Dregs of an Orval i just bought from Beer Cartel (cool place) - somebody told me this has a bret strain in it?
2) Wyeast 3278 - Belgian Lambic Blend (because i like the sound of the description on Craft Brewer)
3) Wyeast - 3763PC Roeselare Ale (ditto)

Now the only "sour" beers i've actually ever drunk are an Orval (didn't taste sour to me?) and a sickly sweet Kriek (again didn't taste sour to me!) so i am really in the dark on this and would value any advice.

Thanks
 
Hi folks, newb question:

I've got a a very basic extract ale (3kg malt + 1kg of dex + 40g of Saaz @60min) sitting in a secondary and want to sour it (my first).
(I've already got overexcited and dumped a can of cherries (300g?) and some roasted oak chips (about 20g) into it).

Now i need to figure out what to drop in to sour: here are my options (at least those that I am aware of):

1) Dregs of an Orval i just bought from Beer Cartel (cool place) - somebody told me this has a bret strain in it?
2) Wyeast 3278 - Belgian Lambic Blend (because i like the sound of the description on Craft Brewer)
3) Wyeast - 3763PC Roeselare Ale (ditto)

Now the only "sour" beers i've actually ever drunk are an Orval (didn't taste sour to me?) and a sickly sweet Kriek (again didn't taste sour to me!) so i am really in the dark on this and would value any advice.

Thanks


First of all, i wouldn't ferment lambic or roeselare at this time of year unless you can keep the temp below 20 for the next 3-4 months. So to my mind you have two options, add lactobacillus for 24-48 h and then add yeast, otherwise you can go the brett dregs added in secondary. Brettanomyces won't make it particularly sour just dry with a bit of brett funk.

Third option for a sour newbie, is to maybe go the brett route and then add food grade lactic acid, very carefully until you reach you desired level of acidity/sourness. YOu'll probably need more cherries too if you want to noticeably taste it. a couple of kilo's of raspberry will add a fair bit of fruit, but also natural fruit acids which will boost the sourness.

Cheers
Q
 
depending on what you want 300g of cherries won't do that much for you, i used 4 kg of sour cherries in 15L of kriek a couple of years ago. usually you add the fruit after the base beer has sat there and soured for a year but im sure yours will get there if you give it time.

the bellevue/timmermans sort of krieks are pasteurised and sweetened up, but if you get the real thing (cantillon, hanssens, oud beersel etc) you'll know about the sourness pretty quickly... orval has mainly brett brux active as a wild yeast and brett doesn't sour much, lactic bacteria like pediococcus do that (which you will get in the lambic blend).

if i were you id throw some orval dregs in, let it go 6 months, and see how you like that, then venture into lambic land later when you've done some reading and planning - making a beer that's going to take 18 months to ferment isnt one you want to jump into too overexcited
 

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