Level of sourness???

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je52rm

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So I've recently tried some sour beers that I really liked. The first was The Bruery's Oude Tart and the other was Petrus oak aged pale ale. I am interested in making a sour beer now but I am wondering how sour those two beers are so I can approach making a sour similar in sourness to those. Any help would be much appreciated. Also any recipes that would be similar to either one of those would be awesome. Thanks!!!
 
Make a beer with 20-30 Ibu. Gravity 1.060-1.069. 100% pilsner/pale, maybe 10% crystal, and maybe 5% roasted. Pitch any old yeast with some dregs from your favorite live (unpasteurized) sour beer. I like Jolly Pumpkin. Ferment for 2 weeks then rack to a better bottle. Don't worry about head space. 1-2 gallons of head space is fine. Age for 6 months. Use S-shaped airlocks for extended aging. Bottle with added yeast (not an entire dry packet. I prefer a dabble of yeast starter from my latest brewday) with extra sugar to account for the beer being nearly flat (google a formula for that). Oak it if you want, and dry hop it if you want.

This formula works for me. Makes a ~8% abv sour with nice crisp sourness and funk.

Jolly pumpkin dregs are my favorite. They're fast, robust, and delicious.
 
Make a beer with 20-30 Ibu. Gravity 1.060-1.069. 100% pilsner/pale, maybe 10% crystal, and maybe 5% roasted. Pitch any old yeast with some dregs from your favorite live (unpasteurized) sour beer. I like Jolly Pumpkin. Ferment for 2 weeks then rack to a better bottle. Don't worry about head space. 1-2 gallons of head space is fine. Age for 6 months. Use S-shaped airlocks for extended aging. Bottle with added yeast (not an entire dry packet. I prefer a dabble of yeast starter from my latest brewday) with extra sugar to account for the beer being nearly flat (google a formula for that). Oak it if you want, and dry hop it if you want.

This formula works for me. Makes a ~8% abv sour with nice crisp sourness and funk.

Jolly pumpkin dregs are my favorite. They're fast, robust, and delicious.

Awesome! Thanks for the recipe it sounds like a great idea. Have u had either one of those beers that I mentioned? Since I am new to drinking sour beers I am wondering on a scale level how sour those beers are compared to other sour beers.
 
+1 on the Jolly Pumpkin dregs, they work like a charm and pretty quickly (comparatively). I've never had The Bruery's Oude Tart, but Petrus is low on the sour scale compared to others, especially compared to what some good JP dregs will get you.
 
Without oxygen, sour beers never get "too sour." They seem to stop after a certain sourness. Even then, the best ones are the most sour. Once you've acquired the taste, which is mostly for brett funk, you'll be fine. Jolly pumpkin gives a nice clean lemony sourness. I'm glad I used those dregs in my first sour beers. You can't lose.

I may have tried one of those beers. But I'm willing to bet you'll like any simple balanced beer you brew with some good dregs.

Sipping on a 10% corn pale saison I brewed 2 years ago with white labs Saison II and Jolly Pumpkin dregs. 2 years old. Soooooo good.
 
Without oxygen, sour beers never get "too sour." Once, you've acquired the taste, which is mostly for brett funk, you'll be fine. Jolly pumpkin gives a nice clean lemony sourness. I'm glad I used those dregs in my first sour beers. You can't lose.

Which jolly pumpkin ale do u use the dregs off of?
 
They all have the same bugs in them, and I've got roughly the same results from the strong ones and the light ones. It's been said that the younger ones (bottling date is taped to the bottle) are better, but I think you'll be fine with any of them.
 

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