roeselare and headspace

After ~3months it has a pellicle, and about 2 inches of headspace in a PET bubbler with blow-off tube. Should I top it off at this point? Rack off the cake? Leave it on the cake for a year? I've heard that roeselare 1st gen is weaksauce. But I'd rather have weaksauce than 5 gallons of acetic acid, so I'm paranoid about headspace. Also it's a plastic cap instead of a cork; should i be worried?


My top-off options are: DME, pomegranate juice, blueberry juice, some under-attenuated (still sweet) 1-year-old barleywine, summer fruit/berries from the farmer's market


I could rack to another PET bubbler and top it off there, and make use of the yeast cake for a 2nd batch. I hear the 2nd round is better. Am I past the point of racking?

If I leave it in primary for a year, it'll be more of a lambic, from what I gather. The dead yeast feed the (brett? I forget) which supposedly increases complexity. Sounds like a good solution to a weaksauce 1st gen roeselare to me... am I wrong?

Like I said, I'm pretty sure it's the sharpness of acetic acid that turns me off; the "softer" sours are much more palatable.

Let me know if it'd be helpful for me to post a photo or recipe. I don't have an end result in mind, I just want something quaffable.

10 lb. pils
4 lb. light munich
1 lb. belgian aromatic
0.5 lb. crystal 120

stale noble hops
OG~ 1.065

bump.

does adding fruit juice post-fermentation introduce tons of oxygen? how about water/weak wort that's been boiled for 15 minutes?

i want to rack off the lees and into glass (instead of PET), then top it off so there's less oxygen, and let it sit for another 8 months at least.

if i add apple juice (100%, no sorbate/etc) will that introduce a ton of stale flavors?

or just leave it be?

supposedly roeselare is pretty weak on the first go-around, but i don't think that a hit of acetic is the best answer to that.

Just rack it and don't worry about topping it off. Taste and check the gravity when you rack it.

Purge with CO2 if you are really worried about the acetic acid but its not likely to be an issue at this point.

Do use the cake for another sour beer but augment with some fresh Saccharomyces.

You could add fruit juice but personally I wouldn't, especially no apple.