6 months in, not sour

I brewed a sour 6 months ago and though at this point a good tasting boozy Belgian it's not sour. Maybe a hint but it might just be wishful thinking.

The first 4 months it was at ~62f and after that I kicked it up to 70f. It's very high in alcohol but the sour isn't really coming on. Could the booze be slowing it down? Should I pitch some dregs with some maltodextrin to get it going? I know it takes time and I should just sit back and relax but I'm starting to have misgivings regarding the pack of Roselare I pitched, after 6 months there should be at least some souring.

what was the recipe?

Queekeg said:

I brewed a sour 6 months ago and though at this point a good tasting boozy Belgian it's not sour. Maybe a hint but it might just be wishful thinking.

The first 4 months it was at ~62f and after that I kicked it up to 70f. It's very high in alcohol but the sour isn't really coming on. Could the booze be slowing it down? Should I pitch some dregs with some maltodextrin to get it going? I know it takes time and I should just sit back and relax but I'm starting to have misgivings regarding the pack of Roselare I pitched, after 6 months there should be at least some souring.

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First pitch Roesalare can be notoriously slow. My experience has been that at 6 months it smells nice, but isn't sour. Between the 12-18 month mark it does great things.

I had a sour like this. We just kept adding dregs for like 2 months. maybe 12 different bottles. It soured up in like 3 months at like 8 percent ABV. I can't really get a good reading on ABV on sours. We still let it mingle for another 6 months though.

Thanks for the help everyone.

The beer's base is a Belgian triple-ish mashed at 156f. I pitched WLP530 Abbey and after 2 weeks moved to secondary with a mixture of sour cherries and currants and pitched with Roselare. I know the WLP530 might have ate all the good stuff but I figured with a high mash temp and the fact that the bug will eat the sacc it would turn perfectly bitter.


I have a Red Poppy, Sour on the Rye and a Consecration in the cellar, I might enjoy one of those soon and pitch the dregs with some maltodextrin for help.


On another note... I brewed a white wheat around the same time as said sour and forgot about it in the fermenter. It sat for two months and the airlock went dry. I kegged it anyway, it tasted like hell, so bad I had to spit it out. I pulled it out of the keezer and set it aside to be cleaned and used for another brew but I have been busy and didn't brew for a couple months. I just attached a tap to it today for ****s-and-giggles before I dumped it out and it has soured in to a tart and crisp almost berliner weisse. I mean a good beer, fermented with my basement wild bugs. So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

there's no need to add maltodextrin, a lack of food is not what is slowing this down. Roe is incredibly slow, esp when pitched in secondary as you essentially nullified the lacto in it. couple that with the high ABV and you got probably another year before this gets sour. I'd definitely drink some of those cellar sours and pitch in the dregs

Thanks for the advice! How did pitching lacto after sacc nullify it? Does it feed primarily on simple sugars?

Queekeg said:

Thanks for the advise! How did pitching lacto after sacc nullify it? Does it feed primarily on simple sugars?

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precisely, plus it has low ABV tolerance (IBU too) so going into a tripel left you with the pedio & brett to work. some of the lacto from breweries is heartier tho and can still do some work

What are your IBUs? If it's too bitter, that can impede, even kill off the lacto. Lacto is hardier than pedio, but can still be effected by IBUs. I agree with the rest, too, that using the Roselare as a secondary yeast will require more time to get any effect from it. Assuming your IBUs aren't too high, it should start to sour up nice in another six months.