sour in bucket, rack to carboy even with pelicle?

Hello,

I recently brewed my first sour and I clearly didn't do enough research because I left it in my fermenting bucket and now a pelicle has formed.. my question is should I rack into my glass carboy from under the pelicle or just let it ride? Should I be worried about too much oxygen causing the beer to turn into vinegar?

The beer is a blonde recipe that I added rr and jolly pumpkin dregs to.. it smells delicious, don't want to screw it up!

I apologize in advance if this has been covered, I searched but couldnt find anything.

Thanks!

MIhomebrew said:

Hello, I recently brewed my first sour and I clearly didn't do enough research because I left it in my fermenting bucket and now a pelicle has formed.. my question is should I rack into my glass carboy from under the pelicle or just let it ride? Should I be worried about too much oxygen causing the beer to turn into vinegar? The beer is a blonde recipe that I added rr and jolly pumpkin dregs to.. it smells delicious, don't want to screw it up! I apologize in advance if this has been covered, I searched but couldnt find anything. Thanks!

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Yes, you want to rack it to the glass carboy. The bucket will definitely let too much oxygen in..... I'm sure it's been covered a million times but it's simple enough to answer. . Cheers!

Ahh let her ride. You let in more oxygen by opening and ssampling than the bucket. Sour on young lad.......

milldoggy said:

Ahh let her ride. You let in more oxygen by opening and ssampling than the bucket. Sour on young lad.......

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Sorry, but this is bad advice. If you age a beer in a bucket long term, it will develop what most people consider an unpalatable amount of acetic acid.
Here is a chart from Jeff Sparrow's Wild Brews.

TNGabe said:

Sorry, but this is bad advice. If you age a beer in a bucket long term, it will develop what most people consider an unpalatable amount of acetic acid.
Here is a chart from Jeff Sparrow's Wild Brews.

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Define long term, over 3 years? I've aged sours in buckets for over a year without any excessive acetic qualities or flavor. I don't go by sparrows chart for plastic o2 levels and have no issues.

the issue with buckets isn't the plastic itself afaik its the often questionable gasket and seal which is likely why people have different results/experiences

terrapinj said:

the issue with buckets isn't the plastic itself afaik its the often questionable gasket and seal which is likely why people have different results/experiences

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Well that's an easy fix, get better lids

kaips1 said:

Define long term, over 3 years? I've aged sours in buckets for over a year without any excessive acetic qualities or flavor. I don't go by sparrows chart for plastic o2 levels and have no issues.

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Everyone's palate is different. If it works for you, that's great.

Sounds like there are lots of different views! I think I'll move to the carboy just in case but I'm hoping it will be done by next spring. Still pretty new to brewing and haven't developed much patience.

Any tips for racking with a pelicle? Will I still have enough of the delicious yeast for them to keep working their magic?

And last but not least, can I brew another blonde and dump on this yeast cake (same day I rack whats there to carboy) or should I not even try re-using this yeast combo?

Thanks!

just rack as you normally would, the pellicle will reform in the carboy, it's just a sign there is oxygen

you can defnitely re-use the cake if you'd like, generally it works faster the 2nd go around