The story of my wild so far.

boostsr20 · 04-15-2011, 04:59 PM

I brewed a low hop Imperial Stout and used the dregs from the Trinity BRewings WIld growth to help my white labs california ale yeast ferment it in Primary. I'll make a little time line so you get a better idea.

Jan 29th
OG- 1.090

Feb 26th
Secondaried on oak cubes w/gravity at 1.022

March 8th
Gravity at 1.017 Added 1lb Malto Dextrin
Gravity now at 1.026

April 1st/15th
Gravity - 1.018

As of today the gravity has been chillin at 1.018 for 2 weeks and the aroma is of signature horse/hay/wet wool. Amazing. The taste is right about where I want it as far as acetic qualities go too so I'm thinking about bottling it.

So my question is, being that this is my first time bottling a sour, is there anything special I need to do? I've read that Brett/Lacto can work very slowly and for long periods of time. Last thing I want is a bunch of bottle bombs.I'll be using traditional caps as I don't have a corker. Also, what do you think I should shoot for as far as carb levels go? What lends itself well to something like this? I was thinking low, around 2.5 volumes.

maskednegator · 04-15-2011, 05:04 PM

It is extremely unlikely that a 2.5 month old sour that's sitting at 1.018 is ready to bottle. Stick it in a closet for another 10 months.
I have two sours with OGs between 1.080 and 1.100. Over the past 12 months one has crawled from 1.016 to 1.006, and the other has gone from 1.020 to 1.008. If I had bottled them 10 months ago, I would've gotten hand grenades.

boostsr20 · 04-15-2011, 05:26 PM

In 10 months it will be unbelievably sour which is why I'm asking if there is anything outside of pasteurization that I can do. Campden? It tastes exactly how I want it to taste right now. Its very similar to a bottle of JP Madrugada Obscura I just had.

boostsr20 · 04-15-2011, 05:27 PM

Also, is the malto dextrin going to be 100% fermentable by the bacteria? Take that away and it would have been in the 1.008 range. I also mashed at 158 on this one.

cfonnes · 04-15-2011, 05:52 PM

Why not pasteurize? Put it in a pot and bring it up to 180 for a couple of minutes, then bottle as usual.

maskednegator · 04-15-2011, 06:00 PM

It's very strange to me that your beer got so sour and funky so quickly. My experience with dregs in primary is that it still takes the better part of a year for the flavor to get close to where I want it. One of these beers had the dregs from two Drie Fonteinen and two fresh Russian River sours, plus half a pack of US-05, and it still took about 6 months to start getting nice and tart.
If you're happy with the flavor, I'd try stabilizing with campden and see where that gets you.

boostsr20 · 04-15-2011, 06:37 PM

Have you had old growth? It's intensely the most sour beer I've had. I'm not trying to rush it, I was prepared for a year but I like where it's at. I also pitched supplication and obscurant dregs within the first week. Were your dregs in primary?

HokieBrewer · 04-15-2011, 06:45 PM

Edit - yo soy un noob.

maskednegator · 04-15-2011, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boostsr20

Have you had old growth? It's intensely the most sour beer I've had. I'm not trying to rush it, I was prepared for a year but I like where it's at. I also pitched supplication and obscurant dregs within the first week. Were your dregs in primary?

I have not had Old Growth. Yes, dregs were pitched in primary. One of my other sours used a few bottles of Hansen's, which is one of the most bracingly sour beers I've ever had, and it still took quite awhile to develop.

boostsr20 · 04-15-2011, 07:14 PM

Have you had the JP madrugada? It's not intensely sour, so yeah mine may be a bit underdeveloped but it's what I was aiming for. Haven't had hansens, I'll look for it. Is pasteurizing that easy?