Here is what I was thinking for my first sour:
6 gallon batch
7lbs dme
1.3 lbs pilsner
1.3 lbs Vienna
5lbs cherries
saaz or styrines goldings hops
.25 for a 45 min
.25 for 10 min
spiraled oak medium roast
t-58 yeast
I would take the .3lbs of the pilsner and Vienna and make a small mash. I would add .3 lbs of the dme to the mash and let cool to 120 degrees. I would then let it sour by adding a hand full of the grain and letting sit for a day or two covered with plastic wrap on the surface. I have a 3 gallon cooler I use for mini mashes that I think would work well for this (it is plastic but I don't think that's a problem). I would then add this "soured mash back into the wort for boiling. I would follow normal procedures at this point, but after 7 days I will rack to secondary which will have oak and cherries in it.
1) does this sour mash look like it would work? How do I figure out what a good pH for the sour mash would be?
2) I've read that some rack to a third fementor after two weeks on fruit, I don't have a third fermentor how will this effect the brew?
3) I could start in my secondary rack to my "primary" and back to my secondary, the only thing is my "primary is plastic and I don't want it to get stained and infected from the sour, cherry oak action. Should I be worried about that?
Thanks for any help.
p.s. primary is 7 gallon+ and secondary is 6.5 gallon. I can change the batch size depending on how I rack, because cherries will eat up some water, I've been told.
6 gallon batch
7lbs dme
1.3 lbs pilsner
1.3 lbs Vienna
5lbs cherries
saaz or styrines goldings hops
.25 for a 45 min
.25 for 10 min
spiraled oak medium roast
t-58 yeast
I would take the .3lbs of the pilsner and Vienna and make a small mash. I would add .3 lbs of the dme to the mash and let cool to 120 degrees. I would then let it sour by adding a hand full of the grain and letting sit for a day or two covered with plastic wrap on the surface. I have a 3 gallon cooler I use for mini mashes that I think would work well for this (it is plastic but I don't think that's a problem). I would then add this "soured mash back into the wort for boiling. I would follow normal procedures at this point, but after 7 days I will rack to secondary which will have oak and cherries in it.
1) does this sour mash look like it would work? How do I figure out what a good pH for the sour mash would be?
2) I've read that some rack to a third fementor after two weeks on fruit, I don't have a third fermentor how will this effect the brew?
3) I could start in my secondary rack to my "primary" and back to my secondary, the only thing is my "primary is plastic and I don't want it to get stained and infected from the sour, cherry oak action. Should I be worried about that?
Thanks for any help.
p.s. primary is 7 gallon+ and secondary is 6.5 gallon. I can change the batch size depending on how I rack, because cherries will eat up some water, I've been told.
