Accidental sour - how long till it's drinkable?

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drchris83

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About two months ago I spontaneously decided to use the second runnings of a dark bock to make a gruit. Not having a second carboy, I figured I'd let it ferment in my auxiliary boil kettle. While the bock fermented without issue, it seems as though a fruit fly or two found their way into my makeshift fermenter. I'm reasonably certain that the bug they carried in was lacto. So, while not actually having intended to brew a sour but being an avid reader of HBT's lambic section, I figured I'd let it ride and see what I get. So far, I've racked it once (into a glass carby I bought in the meantime), and it tasted fruity and sour, actually pretty good.
The question I have now is: howlong will it take to finish?
 
Sours have no set timetable. Only a combination of taste/smell/gravity readings/appearance will tell you if it's done and ready for a bottle.

That being said, most people don't like to bottle before 1.010. In my own experience, sours usually get really sour, then "sick" or "really, really funky", then back to sour again. I would bottle after the sick (aka ropy) stage has passed.
 
First of all, thanks for the answer. However, it raises a new question: is the sick aka ropy phase gonna come for sure?
 
Every sour I've done has gone through a ropy stage. That includes 3 lambics, a Flanders Red, a funky BDSA, and a Golden Sour.

So I can't say it will happen "for sure", but it's happened in my experiences.
 
Thanks a lot! Do I have to expect some sort of "dormant" phase or will these phases likely overlap?
 
KeyWestBrewing said:
If you sour mash then boil do you still have a sick/ropy phase? Or is that just when the bugs are introduced post boil?
Click to expand...

I don't do sour mashes because I find them to be unpredictable, but I would theorize that the ropy stage would only occur if the 'bugs' were active in the fermenting wort, of which they are not in a sour mash.
 
I am not wanting to hijack this thread. but I have a directly related question:

I currently have a lambic that was started the first friday in April of this year. My O.G. was a bout 1.054. I pitched Wyeast lambic blend. it has gotten dregs from a few sours. Its gravity is currently 1.002. It has never "gotten sick" and has never formed a pellicle (the closest it has come is a very faint "scum" on the surface). It is noticably sour (think lindemans cuvee rene Geueze level) and slightly musty (in a good way). is it at all likely to get ropey or sick?
 
BenWillcox said:
I am not wanting to hijack this thread. but I have a directly related question:

I currently have a lambic that was started the first friday in April of this year. My O.G. was a bout 1.054. I pitched Wyeast lambic blend. it has gotten dregs from a few sours. Its gravity is currently 1.002. It has never "gotten sick" and has never formed a pellicle (the closest it has come is a very faint "scum" on the surface). It is noticably sour (think lindemans cuvee rene Geueze level) and slightly musty (in a good way). is it at all likely to get ropey or sick?
Click to expand...

I second this question.
 
drchris83 said:
About two months ago I spontaneously decided to use the second runnings of a dark bock to make a gruit. Not having a second carboy, I figured I'd let it ferment in my auxiliary boil kettle. While the bock fermented without issue, it seems as though a fruit fly or two found their way into my makeshift fermenter. I'm reasonably certain that the bug they carried in was lacto. So, while not actually having intended to brew a sour but being an avid reader of HBT's lambic section, I figured I'd let it ride and see what I get. So far, I've racked it once (into a glass carby I bought in the meantime), and it tasted fruity and sour, actually pretty good.
The question I have now is: howlong will it take to finish?
Click to expand...

It really depends on what got into your beer. I did a sour wit that was a no boil no hop portion to be fermented with White Labs lactobacillus only for a while, then add the WLP400 after three days. Well something made it out of my mash because it got ropy and smelled like rotten corn that someone cleaned their ass with the cob. That went away and became quite a nice sour wit. However all the bottles all developed pellicles and seem to have become slightly viscous again. So it might be six months until it's ready to drink yet again and I made this back in Feb. By the way the apparent attenuation was greater than 100% finishing at .998.
 
BenWillcox said:
It has never "gotten sick" and has never formed a pellicle (the closest it has come is a very faint "scum" on the surface).
Click to expand...

A pellicle is simply formed as a barrier to oxygen. The absence of a pellicle does not mean the absence of a souring process.
 

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