Bottoms_Up
Well-Known Member
This is my first attempt at making a sour beer (Rodenbach clone) and didn't realize what I was in for until after I began making it. I apologize if these questions have been asked before, but there are 97 sour beer threads and not enough time to go through them all.
I made a 2 liter starter using Wyeast 3763 (Roeslare) a week or so ago (I read later that I likely should not have made a starter, but I was worried tha tthe Wyeast package might not have been too viable).
I brewed the beer 4 days ago (last Saturday) and pitched the yeast that day. The beer is in a large plastic fermenting pail with lid and fermentation lock. The next morning (Sunday) it was bubbling 112 times per minute, but by the evening it went down to 13 times per minute. Yesterday morning it was bubbling only once every 31 seconds. I took a specific gravity reading and it was already at 1.018.
Questions:
1. Is it usual for this type of yeast blend to start so actively and then slow down to such an extent in only a half day?
2. Should I rack this beer into a secondary glass carboy at this time, or wait? If so, how much longer should I wait? Or should I not transfer it at all?
3. If I do transfer to a carboy, will there still be enough bacteria in suspension to ensure the formation of a pellicle?
4. Should I fill up the carboy as close to the neck as possible, or use a larger carboy so that there will be surface area on which the pellicle can float?
5. Approximately how long does it usually take for the pellicle to form?
6. Can I use an ordinary fermentation lock on the carboy, or should I use a piece of oak?
7. If I add oak chips to the carboy, can I leave them in for the full time until ready to keg? Or should I add them after a few months?
Thank you.
I made a 2 liter starter using Wyeast 3763 (Roeslare) a week or so ago (I read later that I likely should not have made a starter, but I was worried tha tthe Wyeast package might not have been too viable).
I brewed the beer 4 days ago (last Saturday) and pitched the yeast that day. The beer is in a large plastic fermenting pail with lid and fermentation lock. The next morning (Sunday) it was bubbling 112 times per minute, but by the evening it went down to 13 times per minute. Yesterday morning it was bubbling only once every 31 seconds. I took a specific gravity reading and it was already at 1.018.
Questions:
1. Is it usual for this type of yeast blend to start so actively and then slow down to such an extent in only a half day?
2. Should I rack this beer into a secondary glass carboy at this time, or wait? If so, how much longer should I wait? Or should I not transfer it at all?
3. If I do transfer to a carboy, will there still be enough bacteria in suspension to ensure the formation of a pellicle?
4. Should I fill up the carboy as close to the neck as possible, or use a larger carboy so that there will be surface area on which the pellicle can float?
5. Approximately how long does it usually take for the pellicle to form?
6. Can I use an ordinary fermentation lock on the carboy, or should I use a piece of oak?
7. If I add oak chips to the carboy, can I leave them in for the full time until ready to keg? Or should I add them after a few months?
Thank you.
