Sour beers

[tazman1967]

Yeap I agree with Barls on this one, that why I brew my Sours in Winter..
If it's fermented out and in secondary, then not a problem.
If you want to brew a sour beer, then a Berliner Weisse would be my choice, and great drinking on a hot summers day.

 

[jefin]

Thanks for the advice Barls

Mine will be going into a mates cool room, sits at a constant 18C when not running during summer so should be ok.

Might grab myself a thermostat and hook it up to my spare freezer to be on the safe side.

Cheers Jefin

 

[mje1980]

Cheers guys, I plan on hiding mine somewhere inside the house like the linen cupboard. Even in summer I doubt it'll get hotter than mid 20's. Just gotta convince the wife, but I plan to ask for forgiveness, not permission

 

[mje1980]

Roselare yeast - check

Flanders brown in a cube - check

2 x 11 litre carboys - arriving next week sometime

So next week when the carboys get here I'm going to pitch the roselare into both of them and sit them somewhere inside the house for a year or two haha. Pretty excited!.

 

[pedleyr]

Where'd you get the carboys from?

 

[Cecil Brai]

Lactobacillus in fermentation for about 7 days before adding any if any yeast. I've done a couple with simple grist and high acidulated. Also adding jam and strawberries for flavour and extra sugar will make it sour up.

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

Hi All,

I posted this over in All Grain but no takers. Then found this thread.

Gearing up to do a Flanders Red. Slurry is from my Funky Saison - Belle Saison with WL Flemish blend. 20% Polenta for the cereal mash.

I have wild brews but the mash schedule on page 143 says to add the boiling cereal mash to raise from 50 to the 63 degree step, then infuse for 72 and 76 degree steps.

I'm thinking the Belle Saison will rip through this and leave little for the bugs.

I know I could do a 68-70 single infusion but I like getting technical with my more special brews.

Thinking I could:
1) get a new vial of flemish or roselare - but I have a fantastic slurry already.
2) use the cereal mash for the 63 to 72 degree infusion step; or
3) add half the cereal mash for the 50 to 63 step and the other half for the 63 to 72 step.

The Funky Saison was quite a dry mash but there was still enough dextrins and starch for it to already be getting a little funky.

I think my preference would be to overshoot and make a beer too sour needing blending with a fresh beer than one which doesnt quite make it.

It will be a 30L batch in a glass demijohn.

Advice/thoughts/suggestions and prevoious experience much welcome.

Cheers, Jaded

 

[mje1980]

I'm pretty new to sour ales but I've read if you use slurry they will be more sour. Option 3 sounds sensible. Beware though, polenta sucks up water and swells like a bitch, although adding grain will make it liquefy pretty good pretty quick.Use a big pot. My recent Flanders brown was just a brown ale pitched with roselare yeast. Think I used raw wheat. Give me 15 months or so and I'll tell you if it is any good haha

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

Thanks mje,

yeah leaning that way, I knew I needed some dextrins the belle saison wouldnt gobble up but didnt want to set the bugs loose on 20% of the mash.

I'll do option three.

May even run a heat belt to get the lacto/pedio to really go nuts!

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

well done it and its on the way.

I did do the split cereal additions for the 63 and 72 infusions, but for some reason I didnt think a four step infusion mash wouldnt be a good idea in a new mashtun and undershot the 72 rest which ended up around 68-69. Prolly no diff anyhow. Best smelling wort I've ever made, would defo make a brilliant straight up belgian ale.

I had a bit of a think about the slurry and realised the lactobaccillus in the slurry may be lacking due to the high IBU's of the previous brew. I pitched a WYeast lacto 48 hours before the slurry. When pitching the slurry I had a peek and a sniff. The surface was covered in small bubbles and it smelt odd - not bad. I cant put my finger on it but kinda like tinned crab meat. Not smoky etc.

Anyone got any comments on pure lacto ferment stage? It didnt look or smell bad, looked fine actually, but there aint much info on the web and I'm getting more interested.

 

[Kranky]

Anyone got any comments on pure lacto ferment stage? It didnt look or smell bad, looked fine actually, but there aint much info on the web and I'm getting more interested.

I brewed a pure lacto beer in summer. I mashed at 72C, chilled it to 40C and sat it at about 34C for a week before putting the beer in my fermenting room. It's still not sour so I assume it will take about 6 months before it starts to get tart. I'll let you know how it progresses.

If you want to make a sour beer in a hurry I'd suggest trying the White Labs American Farmhouse blend. Mash and ferment high. A simple malt bill is fine. I've had it ready to drink in 6 weeks and it goes well with fruit.

http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp670-american-farmhouse-blend

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

Thanks Kranky,

Not in a hurry but defo been bit by the sour bug (pun intended).

This beers intended for spring, possible blending with brunes and browns left over from winter in the glass.

I remembered today what sour mashes looked like from many years ago and feel kinda confident it was a normal lacto ferment.

 

[Tony]

Im planning to bottle my Flanders Red soon, its been fermenting for over a year.

NOw to work oout how to get it out of the glass carboy....... not something i have done before

 

[manticle]

auto siphon and possibly some swearing

 

[Tony]

Pfffft.......... not technical enough!

 

[manticle]

Make your autosiphon out of some meccano and swear in code?

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

Auto siphon jerry rigged to a bottling cane.

need to get the siphon flowing before hooking to the cane.

 

[mje1980]

My Flanders ale is now around 6 months. It is split into 2 11 litre glass carboys. I've also got some funky oak chips that have been exposed to brett b and also a few different types of lambic dregs. I'd like to add these to one of the carboys. Would 6 months be too long in contact with the beer?. Once they go in, they ain't coming out til I bottle. They sat in a plastic fermentor for 3 months in a porter with no probs.

Thoughts??

 

[manticle]

When I did my sours, oak and anything/everything else (from citrus zest to fruit pulp to vanilla bean) went into a stocking or hop bag and stayed there till bottling time which was 12+ months.

 

[mje1980]

Awesome mate, they're going in!!