When does the sour stop?

Similar to the thread jalgayer has going, i have a question and don't want to jack his thread.

I've got a Flanders Red going since April. Fermented with US-05 first, then added WY Roeselare blend in the secondary (along with an oak dowel). I added maltodextrine about 1 month into conditioning (June) and it didn't sour very quickly, nor did i expect it to. It's been fairly steady in it's sour taste when i sampled last month, with only a moderate pellicle.

However, of course due to the sampling, now the pellicle is pretty thick and it's gained quite a bit more sourness. My goal is to keep a Flanders Red going in the same carboy with the same dregs, and i'm itching to brew up the next batch and keg this one. Since i really like 'em sour, i planned on using bugs right from the get-go.

My question at this point: is this going to keep getting sour? I know to continuously taste, but when will/should the sourness plateau? Would i be better served leaving this in the carboy for, say, another 6 months and continue to add a bit more air (by sampling) along the way? I'm really itching to get this kegged and a new, more sour batch going, but i don't want to rush this one.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the ignorance on my first foray into the sour world.


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I wouldnt let too much O2 get to it, by letting in oxygen you can produce acetic acid, but you can also produce ethyl acetate which tastes like nail polish, its a terrible thing to happen to a beer after a year plus, and Ive experienced the worst of it

this change can happen extremely rapidly as well, it only took about 1-2wks for mine to go bad

as for it continuing to sour, what is the gravity? how much lactose did you add? are you bottling?

for your next beer I wouldnt pitch the whole cake, Id say half of it or less will work, and once you add it expect a fair bit of activity, ever time Ive repitched it goes crazy in about 24hrs or so, going this route you probably wont need the lactose either

Noted - thanks.

The gravity was at 1.012 after primary fermentation and right before i added the blend. I was shooting for something around 1.020 for more sourness, and that's why i added about 1/2lb maltodextrine. It's now around 1.010. I will be kegging this, and isolating the keg from my other, non-funky kegs btw.

That was another issue i was going to revisit when the second batch gets brewed. Since this IS in the "secondary" stage, the trub is only around 1/2 inch at the bottom of a 5gal carboy. I halfheartedly intend on putting the next beer on the whole cake, but once i rack off i was going to assess the amount anyway. As of now i do have it in mind put in on the whole cake (since it's not the "primary" cake) for as much sourness as possible.

As an update - i plan on stopping by the LHBS to pick up some separate transfer gear (tubing, racking cane, etc.) to dedicate to my sours, and i'll be kegging shortly. Hopefully i don't have nail polish remover on my hands.