I'm sure this question is asked and answered somewhere in the forum but I didn't have any luck finding it. I've got a pipeline of sours going and I'm curious what the best temps are for bulk aging? I have my carboys in the corner of a dark room in my basement. Temperature tends to be constant and currently the fermometer on one of the carboys reads 58F, which is where it's been for at least a month. I seem to recall in Wild Brews, Jeff Sparrow stating that the lower the temp the slower the souring of the beer but the more complex flavors you get. I know that too high a temperature and over time you can turn sour beer into vinegar. So what's the ideal temperature to bulk age? Have any of you had good results with lower temperatures? At this point I don't have much of a choice in terms where I can store my carboys but I thought I'd ask anyway.
Bulk Aging Sours What Temperature
- Thread starter jrfehon
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High temperatures and vinegar production are more of an issue with barrel-aging, acetic acid production requires oxygen. Most commercial breweries that control temperature do so in the mid-low 60s. Rodenbach is high 50s, so you should be fine as long as it doesn't drop much lower. At worst though, the bugs will pick back up where they left off when temperatures rise.
TNGabe
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My cellar ranges from around 52 this time of year to about 72 if we have a hot summer. The dreg Lamebic I brewed a month ago started fermenting a few days after I pitched and is still chugging along happily with the temp strip on the carboy showing 56F. A strong dark beer with ECY02 Flemish that I added blueberries to in October is still chugging along as well.
Wild Brews says Drie Fonteinen keeps the barrels at 61F (just looked it up, but seem to have lost the page), but that 'Some Lambic breweries get as cold as 32F (0C) during the winter.' I've heard that some lambic brewers consider the temperature cycling an important part of the fermentation process, obvisouly Armand de Belder does not. The chart on p115 states that pedio can be active as low as 45F and brett as low as 40F.
Wild Brews says Drie Fonteinen keeps the barrels at 61F (just looked it up, but seem to have lost the page), but that 'Some Lambic breweries get as cold as 32F (0C) during the winter.' I've heard that some lambic brewers consider the temperature cycling an important part of the fermentation process, obvisouly Armand de Belder does not. The chart on p115 states that pedio can be active as low as 45F and brett as low as 40F.
FredTheNuke
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I am targeting 68F based on www.themadfermentationist.com info. He seems to have it figured out. Cheers!
