Sour beers

[JB]

Awesome AJ, I had to sit it out this year. I heard from a non sours enthusiast, according to him there were too many sours, so I was a bit disappointed to have missed it. Ah well next time.

 

[dannymars]

Cheers JB - my favourite podcast, although it's a little strange to see the faces behind the voices ;-)

Just finished up at GABS16 and there were some great sours on tap. The white Rabbit Flanders red was a real standout as were the two different Rodenbachs and Boon Kreik on tap (I really was spoiled!). The sour from Ferral was a real winner too.

A number of 'kettle soured' commercial sours were also on offer and, on the most, were surprisingly disappointing. Overly lactic and tasted like extreme sour cream / natural yoghurt. Real shame.

Edit: anyone else going along, make sure you hit up the Local Taphouse sour bar. Apparently their one keg of Cantillon will be tapped tomorrow night. Was rather disappointed it wasn't on offer tonight!! Get in early if tonight was anything to go by - the Rodenbach did not last long.

They had Tilquin Gueuze on the Friday afternoon........ hard not to drink more than one.

 

[AJ80]

They had Tilquin Gueuze on the Friday afternoon........ hard not to drink more than one.

Indeed! Another standout.

 

[Tony]

I have a couple great sours in the bottle that I was planning on entering to the NSW state comp this year but on logging in I am too late.

The best bit is that next year they will be better

 

[barls]

tony i look forward to the challenge next year.

 

[JB]

Any Melbourne sour beer enthusiasts not on Facebook or this may have just slipped by:

www.melbournesourfest.com

 

[jbaker9]

I have brewed a lambic, which is currently in a cube ready to tranfer to fermenter.

I am planning to do primary in a 30L bucket, then transfer to a glass carboy (nominally 23L, fits almost 25L). The primary purpose is to allow additional head space during fermentation.

My questions are:
- Lambics are normally aged several years on trub. Should I transfer some/all of the trub?
- How much head space should I be leaving for secondary? I would normally only leave a tiny headspace for my clean high gravity beers.

Cheers
James

 

[barls]

why not primary in the glass?

 

[jbaker9]

Hi Barls,

That was the other option that I am considering. The reason for primary/secondary was to be able to maximise the amount of beer that I put into the carboy for long term ageing.

 

[barls]

thats easy done. i ferment in mine and any above the top line in the fermentor goes in to a smaller demijohn to be added after fermentation slows down.
also it depends on the yeast your using but most of the sour blends don't kick up a huge head on them in the fermentor.

 

[JB]

& how would you combat the remaining dried krausen around the top of the carboy after primary ferment settles down? I'd want to minimise hiding spots for evil.

 

[barls]

i top up to the bottom of the neck and they disappear.

 

[jbaker9]

Thanks Barls,

That's a great idea. This is what I'll be doing.

Cheers
James

 

[Benn]

I love Sour Beer.

 

[JB]

I love Sour Beer.

What type?

 

[Benn]

So far ...all of them.
I've been getting right into them this year & spending a small fortune at various bottle shops around Melbourne.
Liking the cherry oaky types a lot.
With the equipment I have available at the moment I think I'll give a kettle souring a go next brew day.
I've been listening to a lot of 'The Sour Hour' podcasts lately. Learn something new everyday

 

[jbaker9]

Lambic Sr and Lambic Jr.

 

[jbaker9]

thats easy done. i ferment in mine and any above the top line in the fermentor goes in to a smaller demijohn to be added after fermentation slows down.
also it depends on the yeast your using but most of the sour blends don't kick up a huge head on them in the fermentor.

Topped up. Thanks Barls for the tip. Next time I'll put more in the carboy to start with. I could have easily filled to 22l mark which would get me up to the neck after top off.

Soon I'll be replacing the air lock with a piece of oak dowel to allow a bit of air ingress.

 

[Benn]

Drinking my first HB'd Sour and loving it.
It's a really basic Pale Ale base kettle soured (based on the Dr Lambic Method) with WLP677 then fermented out with S04
9 IBU's of Mandarina Bavaria, 15g Vic secret dry hop.
Smidge of French oak chips in the cube for a few days and a jar of cherries added to the FV once fermentation was well underway.

It's more tart than sour, finishes dry with good head retention. Around 4.2% ABV would be smashing on a hot summers afternoon.
Nothing like I had hoped for but a welcome surprise.

Cheers

 

[skb]

i top up to the bottom of the neck and they disappear.

great I was wondering the same I finally got around to tasting one of my sours, 22 months after I started it. Literally left untouched apart from topping up an airlkock every 6 months. I moved half to a keg and a bit on top of fruit and then dumped another beer on top of it, and it went crazy !! everywhere. So have a bit of cleaning and may have to fill it right to the top