Planning first sour. Help please.

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Colorowdy

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So my buddy who doesn't drink that often discovered sours. Now he is addicted.
We got into a lengthy discussion about the brewing process and now he wants to brew a sour with me. This is my plan any pointers appreciated.
5 gallons
Mashed 152 for 1 hour
1 lb 2 row
12 oz victory
8 oz crystal 60
4 oz chocolate malt
3 lbs amber lme
1 lbs light dme
Wild hops 60 min
Wild hops 15 min
I've used these hops before they work good in stouts.
WLP 013 Primary fermenter for three weeks at 67 degrees
Rack on to 4lbs raspberry and pitch WLP 650 secondary for six months at 65
Bottle. Drink at WSMFP Red Rocks next summer.:rockin:
 
I have a sour at 1yr at the moment still in the carboy. I'm not an expert, but i've drank my fare share. If your going for a sour i would take out the chocolate malt and the victory. Basically take out any specialty malts. Brett will just eat them, id go for just a light dme and add malto dextrose. The specialty malts are just going to get destroyed by the sour bugs anyway. The malto dextrose will be eaten by the bugs not the yeast and give you the complexity. maybe make two one like yours and then a simpler batch. I wish you all the luck with your sour. let me know how it goes.
 
I would cut out the wild hops, they might have too many IBU's for this beer. You need some aged "small hops."
 
bertsbeer said:
I would cut out the wild hops, they might have too many IBU's for this beer. You need some aged "small hops."
Click to expand...

+1, my best sours were brewed with aged hops. Are you going for a sour/tart beer or more of a funky brett beer? If you want tart, I dont think you'll get much using just the brett. You'll definitely get a bit of tartness from the raspberries but I'd consider using something that's going to contribute more lactic acid. I personally like my sours very tart, more than you'd typically get from fruit alone. If you go this route and you use lactobacillus either straight or in a blend (e.g. Roeselare) , pitch it early and definitely watch the IBU's. Lacto is pretty sensitive to high IBU's, so use aged hops if possible.
 
you do not need aged hops to make a sour. any hops will do when you are inoculating with a known source. you just want to keep the IBUs low as to not inhibit lacto

the malt bill is fine if you're going after something like an oud bruin. brett/bugs will not destroy all of the specialty malt character

like has been mentioned, you'll get something lightly tart & brett-y/funky with your current recipe, but you need some sort of lactic acid bacteria to truly make this a sour. brett only produces very small amounts of acetic acid with exposure to oxygen. i'd just go with Roesalare or other sour blend from the start - the blends all contain a sacch strain so theres not really a point in adding one prior
 
dcp27 said:
you do not need aged hops to make a sour. any hops will do when you are inoculating with a known source. you just want to keep the IBUs low as to not inhibit lacto

the malt bill is fine if you're going after something like an oud bruin. brett/bugs will not destroy all of the specialty malt character

like has been mentioned, you'll get something lightly tart & brett-y/funky with your current recipe, but you need some sort of lactic acid bacteria to truly make this a sour. brett only produces very small amounts of acetic acid with exposure to oxygen. i'd just go with Roesalare or other sour blend from the start - the blends all contain a sacch strain so theres not really a point in adding one prior
Click to expand...

Listen to this man. One caveat, the beer you've designed (I really like your recipe) is going to take about two or three years to be really enjoyable in my experience with similar beers.
 
Thanks everyone. Still going to use the wild hops. I've used them before and really don't think they are very high in alpha acids. My buddy is thinking about an oak barrel for a secondary.
Brewing this a little later in the month. I'll keep everyone posted.
 
So I finally get to brew this today. I got wyeast 3278 for my yeast. I have been toying with the idea of adding an ounce or two of brown sugar. Let ya'll know how it goes.
 
what are you hopping 1-2oz of b sugar is gunna do? you won't even notice such a small add, minus slight darkening
 
On side note, my buddy is having a blast and loves the way the mash smells. I think we got another brewer here people.
 
I love that you used those wild hops, bucking our advice. I'm sure the beer is going to be awesome cause the recipe is solid. Keep us updated.

And way to go converting another brewer.
 
The rest of the brew day went awesome. Took it to his house last night. Guess I will know more in a couple months when I rack to a secondary.
 
Finally racked this on the raspberries today. It tasted amazing. SG was 1.014. I can't wait to try one
 
So I upgraded to all grain recently and my buddy called me Wednesday wanting a grain bill. We are currently in the middle of the mash right now. Super pumped. Happy Saturday fellow beer crafter's.
 

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