Sitting at 7+ months on an aged sour

It has been aging at 55*f for the entire time and is super funky with the brett character. It finished the primary ferment at 3.5*plato (1.014) and has slowly gotten to 2.3*plato (1.009). The acidity is there, but there is such an extreme amount of funk that I don't know if I should wait another couple of months and hope that the sour comes through more or if I should just bottle it up and see what it does in the bottle. I don't think that it will drop all that much more in the sugar, possibly to 1.5 over a long mothereffing time. I am not going to be that patient either

Also, I am going to use champagne glass and want it well carbed. What kind of priming though should be used. 80% of normal. So that if I am trying to prime 5 gallons to 3.5vols and would normally use 8oz, should I go with 7oz instead (roughly)?

7months is still very young, it could shave off another point or two on the gravity, and it only takes 3pts to carb to 3vols, so even 1pt dropping off could make the beer way overcarbonated

just let it sit for a couple more months, 55f is pretty cool as well, I generally dont bottle any sours until the fall, the summer heat can really kick up the bug activity and cause gravities to drop, I dont like bottle grenades so I wait

If you let it sit and clear a bit as well, maybe even fine it, the sourness will slowly come to the forefront, its like a b weiss they the sourness tends to become cleaner and more pronounced after its given a bit of time to clear

It is in a controlled environment and so will not get any warmer. I could easily throw it into my garage though and it will get to 100f immediately. I plan on fining it, but currently the pellicle is there and if I disturb it then it will just sink. So I guess what I am saying is that I don't want to move it, but I have to bottle by August. So would two more months make a difference or should I just start the process now?

Im going the dedicated sour tap and keg route for most of my sours but thats just me.
Im still waiting on my first flanders red to finish clearing, so im a newb on the sour bottle front. Ryane seems to be in the know on the sour beers so his advice has been great for me.

Matt Up North said:

It is in a controlled environment and so will not get any warmer. I could easily throw it into my garage though and it will get to 100f immediately. I plan on fining it, but currently the pellicle is there and if I disturb it then it will just sink. So I guess what I am saying is that I don't want to move it, but I have to bottle by August. So would two more months make a difference or should I just start the process now?

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I'm by no means an expert, but from what I've read you are suppose to wait until the pellicle drops before bottling. So it probably has more time to go. I've been reading that it can get as low as 1.004 and 1.009 is still pretty high. I'd wait.

electric_beer said:

I'm by no means an expert, but from what I've read you are suppose to wait until the pellicle drops before bottling. So it probably has more time to go. I've been reading that it can get as low as 1.004 and 1.009 is still pretty high. I'd wait.

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Ive never really had a pellicle drop on its own, its only happend when I agitate the beer somehow and then it never reforms, problem with that though is if it doesnt reform and the beer really is done, any O2 that gets in can make some nasty off flavors, I had to dump a flanders red that was amazing one week and the next tasted like nail polish because of that, oh well whats 2yrs?

That REALLY sucks Ryane!! Good to know about the pellicle. I had read Wild Brews and been reading oldsocks & your blogs/posts and just going off memory. Although I have a lambic going right now and hopefully it will turn out half way decent. I am extra careful not to move them, but now I'll be even MORE careful.