Rodenbach clone not taking off. Help!

About a month ago I brewed the Rodenbach clone from this forum. All went well, but due to very high efficiency I ended up with a beer at 8.0%. I pitched the Rosalare into secondary 10 days ago at 70F but to date have no activity.

Having done some research on this board it appears the bacteria don't like 8% and 70F is a little too cold. All that said, I'm hoping someone has some advise that will help me get this beer back on track. I thought to water it down a little and re-pitch and can buy a heater to warm it up. Can anything be done? If not, should I just rack to a keg and drink as is?

Have you taken a gravity reading?

the beer is very young, be patient, a pellicle will eventually form

10 days is really early to worry about activity, sour beers take months to be ready. even if the bacteria aren't able to do anything due to the alcohol, you'll at least get some brett action. you can try adding dregs from commercial sours as well, some are more tolerant to alcohol than the lab cultures. in the future, i suggest adding the bugs at the start

Thanks for the recommendations. I know these beers take a long time but had no idea it takes for a pellicle to start to form.

What do you recommend for temperature? Is 68-70f high enough or should I get a carboy heater?

Thanks,
Brobeman

70F is fine and a pellicle is more or less just a sign of oxygen so its variable how long it takes til one forms

put the fermentor in some closet and leave it alone for 6-8 months, check it then. mine has been in a better bottle since last march and i saw a pellicle only after adding cherries (6 month mark i think) which went away when i poked through it for a sample.

Ditto on this. You most likely wont see or taste any thing from the Rosalare for months. My Flanders tasted nothing at 6 months like it did at a year.

As far as temp is concerned, lower temp will just cause it to take longer. The bugs are still hungry so they'll still eat.

All my carboys are in the hall covered by the box they shipped in. Sometimes I forget they are even there and that's a good thing.

I talked to one of the guys at the Northern Brewer in Milwaukee and he had a suggestion that sounded feasible. He suggested brewing a very small beer and pitching the rosalare into primary, aging the two beers in parallel, and blending them in the future. Sounds like a good idea, but does anyone have any suggestions for a recipe on the low gravity beer? I assume just brewing a reduced grain version of the same recipe.

Regards,
Brobeman

Pitching a pack of Roselare into 5 gallons of 8% beer. That is a pretty hostile environment. It will take a long time for the Brett and Pedio to reproduce in that environment to a level where it is noticeable. I think you are looking at at least 12 months before you get anything like what you are looking for. I think the Pedio will still be OK for you.

As others have noted, toss in some commercial dregs too. It won't speed it up, but might add more complexity.

eastoak said:

put the fermentor in some closet and leave it alone for 6-8 months, check it then. mine has been in a better bottle since last march and i saw a pellicle only after adding cherries (6 month mark i think) which went away when i poked through it for a sample.

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I want to add cherries as well. I brewed 10 gallons, hit OG spot on. It's in secondary now. How much cherry do I add?

I'm not a fan of rosalare. I've made a couple sours with it and just always is below par on flavor for me. I still have a bunch of bottles from a 2010 Flanders Brown and it tastes very good but nothing compared to the ones I've made with jp or canti dregs. Just my experience.

calebstringer said:

I want to add cherries as well. I brewed 10 gallons, hit OG spot on. It's in secondary now. How much cherry do I add?

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5-8 lbs is what i would add to 10 gallons.