In late 2014 I bought some of Wyeasts de Bom souring blend, and have since made 5 sours primarily with that (also pitched dregs from Jolly Pumpkin, Jester King, Prairie, and 2 others I forgot), and soured 2 other beers using some of the cake. The beers get a nice sourness to them, and depending on the other yeasts that I pitch, sometimes a nice backbone.
But my biggest complaint is that they are almost always VERY sour. I haven't been able to get a beer to be only nicely sour. The first 4 sour beers have been pitched directly onto the cake (carboy purged with CO2 when racking the beer), and they all have a nice sour bite, but not much else. I added some dregs to a finished hefeweizen, and while it is nice, there is no real complexity or character of the donor beer.
Am I over pitching my bacteria? Should I first ferment the beers clean, then add brett, and finally add bacteria once the brett has done most of its work?
Any input is appreciated. I have been trying different ways to bring more character in. The latest batch was made with almost 30% flaked rye and fermented "cool" (72*F) with some aeration, with the hope that the sourness doesn't dominate and some of the saison flavor of the copitched yeast comes through more. I also removed most of the cake from the carboy to reduce the amount of bacteria in the mix. I will sample it again tonight to see where it stands.
But my biggest complaint is that they are almost always VERY sour. I haven't been able to get a beer to be only nicely sour. The first 4 sour beers have been pitched directly onto the cake (carboy purged with CO2 when racking the beer), and they all have a nice sour bite, but not much else. I added some dregs to a finished hefeweizen, and while it is nice, there is no real complexity or character of the donor beer.
Am I over pitching my bacteria? Should I first ferment the beers clean, then add brett, and finally add bacteria once the brett has done most of its work?
Any input is appreciated. I have been trying different ways to bring more character in. The latest batch was made with almost 30% flaked rye and fermented "cool" (72*F) with some aeration, with the hope that the sourness doesn't dominate and some of the saison flavor of the copitched yeast comes through more. I also removed most of the cake from the carboy to reduce the amount of bacteria in the mix. I will sample it again tonight to see where it stands.