What to do with an accidental sour thats been aging for nearly a year

Forgive me for I am a sour newbie.

A long story short, I made a habenero stout that during a long trip away became infected with 'something'. I did some research and found that it may be some strain of Brett based off images of similar infections. I am assuming it was caused by the habenero I used.



Rather then tossing the entire thing I decided to let it ride and even ventured a surprisingly palatable sample taste a few months ago. It's coming onto a year old now and I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it.

The layer of white gunk at the top has yet to fall and I am pretty sure that it won't on its own. I am hesitant to bottle it without using something to kill of the beast first as it will probably show up in the bottles again. Should I be racking it onto some Potassium Sorbate for a few weeks? And if I do can I repitch a new yeast after for carbonation or will the Potassium Sorbate inhibit that as well?

Care to elaborate on 'surprisingly palatable? If you weren't in Canada I'd try and talk you into sending me a bottle. The idea of a sour habanero stout has me cracking up.

Standard procedure is to rack from under the pellicle and bottle as normal. Pellicles form in the presence of oxygen, so when your beer referments in the bottle, you shouldn't see it reappear.

I believe the potassium sorbet will keep it from carbing. I would rack from underneath the film on top and bottle as usual. Maybe use a bit less priming sugar if your going to let these sit around for some time to prevent bottle bombs.

TNGabe said:

Care to elaborate on 'surprisingly palatable? If you weren't in Canada I'd try and talk you into sending me a bottle. The idea of a sour habanero stout has me cracking up.

Standard procedure is to rack from under the pellicle and bottle as normal. Pellicles form in the presence of oxygen, so when your beer referments in the bottle, you shouldn't see it reappear.

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I really did not have high expectations for this when I tasted and was surprised when it wasn't bad. Kind of a sour cherry like quality was noted and obvious stout like flavours followed up with a lot of habanero bite. Honestly the fact is wasn't vomit inducing was a win alone!

I guess my concern is that a few years back I had another infected batch, (probably a lacto) and I went and racked it from below to swing tops. A few weeks later I could see the infection growing at the top of the beer from the bottles. I am trying to avoid that this time around if I can.

Would it be a good idea to rack this one more time to a tertiary for a few days before bottling or just send it straight to the bottles?

Oh and do you think that is a Brett? I actually have no idea what it really is.

Rack it from under the pellicle and pitch fresh yeast in your bottling bucket with the priming sugar (since your original is probably pretty tuckered out).

You might see some film in the bottles but it should drop in a few months.

Anymore data on the batch? OG FG ph etc?

The taste will give you some clues as to what you're infected with.

Sounds like it's probably lactobacillus or pediococcus -- those guys tend to really crank out the sour flavors. Brett, on its own, produces a lot of "funky" flavors and aromas -- farmhouse, horse blanket, etc. -- but not very much outright sourness. Acetobacter makes vinegar.

OG was 1.065 and the last gravity reading from several weeks ago was 1.012. I haven't touched it since that sample taste and reading and just let it do its thing. Definitely a tartness, not so much funkiness though. No vinegar at all.

Nice. It still has a way to go. Give it a few months and bottle it when it's into the single digits.

DeTech said:

Nice. It still has a way to go. Give it a few month and bottle it when it's into the single digits.

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If it has been in there for a year I think it's probably done

Bottle that sucker and enjoy!

It has stalled prior to become sour at 1.020 and I was pretty disappointed at the time. I am going to let it ride until it hits the one year mark then get to bottling it as per the advice given.

Thanks everyone! I will let you know how it turns out in a few months!

If you still have grav movement please respect the Lacto B. bottle bomb rule. -0.001 per month is still fermentation, let the bugs do their work, and/or point away from face.