it's about time...

well, after thinking about doing a sour for a while and then tasting one i really liked at the local liquor store (monk's cafe flemish sour), i decided it was time to do something about it.

i have settled on brewing an oud bruin, from what i've researched, it seems like the right level of sour (if i get it right) for my first. i'm gonna use the recipe from BCS, and have a question for y'all. i think i'll use the roselare blend (is that available year round now?). my question is whether i should ferment roughly halfway through the beer with 1056 or 1272, rack and then pitch the roselare? or should i just go for it and pitch the roselare to start with?

thanks for any input.

im no expert but i think that depends on how sour u want ur beer. the earlier you add the roselare, the more sour it will be (i think).

yeah, i figured that, but was curious if anyone had experience with how sour it came out pitching roselare vs neutral ale first. i suppose i'll probably ferment it out a bit and then pitch the roselare to be safe...

Roselare has sacc in it too. So there is really to pitch seperate yeast first. There is also lato, pedio, brett, and a whole host of other bugs too.

If you want it to be tart rather than SOUR, I would go with a clean strain first. You can control the sourness by raising or lowering the fermentability of the wort, the lower you mash the less sourness you will get (primary yeast choice plays a roll as well).

That said, I really like pitching all of the bugs up front and giving them as much unfermentables as I can. I also like to add some bottle dregs, the bacteria strains Wyeast and White Labs sell are not robust enough in terms of alcohol, alpha acid, and pH tolerance.

If you like Monk's, I'd recommend finishing it with a clean strain first and then pitching the Roselare. If it doesn't end up as sour as you wanted, you can always feed it.

another question. is it necessary to rack off the initial yeast cake if I go that route before pitching the bugs? along those lines, will I need lots of headspace if i go the secondary route for the bugs? i'd rather not tie up a 6.5 gal glass carboy for 1+ year if possible. i suppose i can get a better bottle or something if need be.

android said:

another question. is it necessary to rack off the initial yeast cake if I go that route before pitching the bugs? along those lines, will I need lots of headspace if i go the secondary route for the bugs? i'd rather not tie up a 6.5 gal glass carboy for 1+ year if possible. i suppose i can get a better bottle or something if need be.

Click to expand...

Don't need to rack off the yeast cake. All my sours I just leave in primary the whole time, the dead yeast I think I remember reading provide food for the bugs. I just use a blowoff with my 5 gallon fermenters (I use cornies now, but used to use carboys) to avoid having a bunch of head space.

i appreciate all the help. i'll try to keep this thread updated when i get around to brewing this.