Aging Sours in Better Bottles?

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Agreed, although I was pretty sure Jamil called for fermenting the beer out with American Ale yeast first? Did that change in the book?

http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/The_Jamil_Show_-_Flanders_Red_Ale.html

I believe the book reccomends only the blend if you want something more like Rodenbach Grand Cru, or primary with sacch if you want it less sour.

I'm doing a Flanders Red soon from Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles. His recipe just used the Roselare blend, and doesn't even pitch regular sacchromyces. (sp)

Thakog, the blend contains sacchromyces. For my Flanders Red I pitched the smack pack in primary, no starter. I did not want to throw the ratio of the blend off from a starter. Fermentation started quick enough. Mine was also based on the BCS recipe.
 
I believe the book reccomends only the blend if you want something more like Rodenbach Grand Cru, or primary with sacch if you want it less sour.

Right you are, he gives both options, good to see.

If you only want to pitch the blend make sure it is fresh, I made a terrible batch of Lambic early on when pitching just the Wyeast blend took 4 days to get going. Since then I generally add a blend, plus some yeast from a previous batch, plus some bottle dregs for added acidity and complexity.
 
I need to get another bottling bucket for this process. Would it be ok to use THAT for my primary for 2-3 weeks then transfer to secondary in a 5 gallon better bottle? The bucket would obviously be lidded and airlocked.
 
I need to get another bottling bucket for this process. Would it be ok to use THAT for my primary for 2-3 weeks then transfer to secondary in a 5 gallon better bottle? The bucket would obviously be lidded and airlocked.
DO IT! i usually use the bucket for primary of ~ 2 months, then swap to glass, or in your case better bottle. bucket is just not good for a long aging process since too much O2 is exchanged.
 
DO IT! i usually use the bucket for primary of ~ 2 months, then swap to glass, or in your case better bottle. bucket is just not good for a long aging process since too much O2 is exchanged.
I had 10 gallons of lambic turn into nail polish after 9 months in buckets in primary. Don't use plastic buckets! Seriously. You have been warned.
 
Right you are, he gives both options, good to see.

If you only want to pitch the blend make sure it is fresh, I made a terrible batch of Lambic early on when pitching just the Wyeast blend took 4 days to get going. Since then I generally add a blend, plus some yeast from a previous batch, plus some bottle dregs for added acidity and complexity.

Great advice, and a good excuse to drink some of the commercial examples I've been sitting on for a while.
 
I had 10 gallons of lambic turn into nail polish after 9 months in buckets in primary. Don't use plastic buckets! Seriously. You have been warned.

Yeah, sounds like too much oxygen got in. A bucket is fine for 2-3 weeks, but it seems to be variable for long term aging. I ahd a friend leave a Flanders Red in one for 6 months, and it got no off flavors (or sourness for that matter). Maybe the lid of your bucket wasn't as tight as his?
 
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