Sour noob Question

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ChadChaney

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I have a few batches of sour working, a Berlinerwiesse with WL berliner yeast, A Belgian Golden on WL Sour Ale Blend and a Flanders on Roslelere. My question is this; all batches were pitched with the mentioned yeasts as the primary and only yeasts pitched, how long at I looking at for fermentation, do I really have to wait a year?
 
The berlinerweisse should be done in a few months at most. The other two, yes, you really should. Some people will package younger but I think you're leaving a lot of flavor development on the table and if you're bottling you might see enough gravity drop in the bottle to cause explosions, or at least really bad gushers. If you're willing to wait six months for stability, what's a few more months for really great beer? Time is an important flavor component of sours. Trying to cut out the time is like trying to brew an IPA with little hops. Yeah, you could brew it and make something but it's not going to be the best IPA it could be.

If you find yourself needing more sours, rebrew the BW.
 
Agreed. BW's don't take that long; a few months from ferment to bottle and you are set. For the others, I would suggest at least a year. All of my lambics/flanders sat for about a year and a half in the carboy and another year, at least, in the bottle. You will be rewarded if you wait quite some time.
 
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