tips for Tart Peach Saison

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tdogg

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My fiance has developed a taste for tart fruit beers, like Framboise's. I plan on starting a lambic soon, and will probably blend some of that with fruit. However, I would like to have something tart and fruity that we can drink sooner. I have done a few recipe searches on here, but have not quite found what I'm looking for. I want to make a light, effervescent, peach beer with some tartness.

Here are some things that I have on hand to work with:

1 gallon of vintners harvest Peach wine base
about 5 pounds of pilsner LME
1 pound flaked wheat, carapils, caramel 10, extra base malts, etc
various hops


I can get other ingredients also, but I would like to use up some off what I have on hand.

I would like this to be dry, so I was thinking about using a saison yeast. any tips on which strain?

Also, I am hoping to make this beer slightly tart. I have read up on "sour worting" and "sour mashing". I am totally willing to do this, but I would love to hear your experiences with this. Maybe I could get some sourness with acidulated malt or by adding lactic acid?

Any help is appreciated.
 
People say not to use lactic acid for tartness, but I do it in my ciders regularly. Your best bet would be to add lactic, or citric, to taste right before bottling.

Sour worting works well, and I do it all the time, but for making something just tart, it's easy to over- or under-shoot your sourness target.
 
I wouldn't use acid malt. Yeast gets grumpy when the pH drops under 4. During fermentation, yeast makes CO2, CO2 = carbonic acid. During fermentation, pH can drop quite low. If you're souring it up front, you're putting more stress on your yeast than they'd like.
 
Well I decide to go ahead and brew this "normal" with wyeast belgian saison yeast. If it really needs some tartness I may add some lactic or citric acid at bottling, and I might reserve a gallon or two to age with some brett or a lambic bug mix. I'll post here when its done.
 
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