So I brewed a sour cherry lambic and it is like sucking on a lemon. The bouquet is nice but the taste is too sour. I put the lambic on 7 lbs of sour cherries from my neighbors tree and it is barely drinkable. Will the sour mellow with age or should I treat it like lemon aid and add a nonfermentable sugar. My wife has a bunch of Xylatol around and I'm thinking of adding that. Any suggestions would be nice.
Lambic too sour, age or sweetener?
- Thread starter jtskagway
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ryane
Well-Known Member
When I have a lambic that is too sour, which has been happening a lot lately, I like to blend in a very very dry blonde or saison to cut the acidity a bit
Ive used xylitol in a pineapple cider before and it seemed to work well, but if you want it sweeter why not just make faro out of it? Just add some sugar syrup to a glass and save all that xylitol for a cider where you want a bit of sweetness
I dunno if you did this or not, but before adding fruit I really suggest tasting the beer, if the acidity is a bit softer its a good candidate for a tart fruit, otherwise it would probably be great on its own
Ive used xylitol in a pineapple cider before and it seemed to work well, but if you want it sweeter why not just make faro out of it? Just add some sugar syrup to a glass and save all that xylitol for a cider where you want a bit of sweetness
I dunno if you did this or not, but before adding fruit I really suggest tasting the beer, if the acidity is a bit softer its a good candidate for a tart fruit, otherwise it would probably be great on its own
Is it bottled already? If not try a malolactic bacteria culture. That should cut some of the malic acid from the cherries which will soften the sourness. If it's bottled I don't know what to tell ya. My first try would be a malolactic wine culture first if still in a fermentor. It contains Oenococcus oeni which will convert the malic acid to lactic acid I do believe.
ryane
Well-Known Member
Thats an interesting idea, it definately works with apples, but nearly all of their acid content is malic, I think sour cherries have about 2% of their acid as malic, so it could soften it a touch
Maybe get a hold of one of Al's bug blends, I remember him talking about finding some bacteria that actually metabolize the acids. What I cant remember though is if he put them in his sour blend?
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