First sour.

[kranak]

No real point to the thread other than sharing excitement of joining the sour world. I did the Flanders red based on the recipe from sparrows book. I did an ok job following the infusion schedule. Boiled for two hours. And ended up with a 5.25 gallons of 1.054 wort. I was shooting for 1.050 so a little over but not bad. I pitched Roselaire directly in the bucket. I'm not exactly sure if my fermentation schedule yet. I'd like to keep this for approx two years for a special occasion. What's a good long term temp to secondary the beer for long term storage? Any tips?


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[dantheman13]

They say to age your sours in the mid to high 60's. I believe the thinking is that Brett can interact with air, and at warmer temps you can get acetone. Unfortunately for me I don't have a space for that, and sometimes the temp gets pretty warm here in Vegas. I had one beer give me acetone, but luckily it was just a single gallon dregs beer.

Myself and many folks out there like to age their sours in Better Bottles. You will get less oxygen permeability than a bucket. Good luck!

 

[kranak]

I will transfer to a Carboy in 10 days or so, I should have mentioned that. Is it best to use the closest size Carboy and fill it up the neck? Or does it need a little space?


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[dantheman13]

The least amount of headspace is best. That will keep the surface area that will eventually be exposed to air as limited as possible.

 

[kranak]

I will transfer to a Carboy in 10 days or so, I should have mentioned that. Is it best to use the closest size Carboy and fill it up the neck? Or does it need a little space?


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Awesome thanks. I'm into day two. So it's a long journey ahead. No airlock activity yet. But that's ok.


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[kranak]

Had krausen last night on day three. For the transfer to carboy, do you guys normally go at around 1.020 or wait until airlock activity slows?


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[metic]

I like to wait until a lot of the sacch has dropped out, so I usually give it a few weeks and fine it before I transfer. But lots of other people like to age it on dead yeast, since the brett will go to work on the compounds it releases and you might end up with a funkier beer. I think either way is fine.

 

[kranak]

Interesting.


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[kranak]

So if I transfer earlier, I assume, I'd get more sacc into the Carboy. Which will die and provide Brett food. You aren't say some leave in the bucket for long (month plus) time. ?


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[metic]

Exactly. Some people leave it in one fermenter the whole time, but you might get a fair bit of oxygen ingress if you did this in a bucket. So in your case, I'd transfer early if you want it to age on dead yeast, or wait a while if you don't.

 

[kranak]

Thanks


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[Calder]

I transfer after about a week. As fermentation slows. This leaves a lot of the trub behind, but transfers a lot of the yeast. Then I don't touch it for a year or so.

 

[kranak]

Transferred at about1.025. Nice color. Still really cloudy which I take as good for a nice amount of sacc for Brett and others to eat up.


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[kranak]

Another question. After transferring I had to use a blow off tube for a few days while sacc was finishing its job. Fermentation has slowed down now and krausen is dropping. Since this will be in the Carboy for so long should I try to clean the neck and top of the bottle? There is a pretty thick film of yeast left on the neck and about an inch down from the neck.


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[sweetcell]

Another question. After transferring I had to use a blow off tube for a few days while sacc was finishing its job. Fermentation has slowed down now and krausen is dropping. Since this will be in the Carboy for so long should I try to clean the neck and top of the bottle? There is a pretty thick film of yeast left on the neck and about an inch down from the neck.

i never have.

 

[EoinMag]

Another question. After transferring I had to use a blow off tube for a few days while sacc was finishing its job. Fermentation has slowed down now and krausen is dropping. Since this will be in the Carboy for so long should I try to clean the neck and top of the bottle? There is a pretty thick film of yeast left on the neck and about an inch down from the neck.


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Why would you? It's just increasing chances of infection, clean it when you rack.

 

[kranak]

Curiosity mainly. It could be cleaned without an extreme risk of infection. But if it is not necessary then it's not necessary. Looking through all the pellicle photos I don't really see any crusty tops to the Carboy. But I'm sure that's more from those pics not being submitted. Or transferring once the sacc is a little more calm.


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[metic]

Everything I've brewed with ECY20 has undergone a second fermentation with small krausen a week or two after I transferred it to secondary. I've left the gunk on the sides of the Better Bottle, and only cleaned up if it got into the airlock.

 

[kranak]

So for an update on this guy, it has sat in the glass carboy at anywhere from 62 to about 70(depending on if the fermentation fridge is empty or not). I have never gotten a full pellicle growing, which I am not specifically worried about. I pulled my first sample today and while I didn't do a hydro reading I did do a Ph reading. It is right at 4.3 and the beer has a mild complexity coming out and a small acidic bite. Are there "milestones" that you guys look for when doing your long term aging to have an idea where the beer is? Anything to look for?

 

[Calder]

I never check until 12 months. I would have expected more at 6 months, but you know it is slowly working from the ph. I'll be using Roselaire for the fiest time in a few weeks. Its been sitting in the fridge for 9 months now, so I hope it is ok. I'm hoping the yeast has died, but the bugs are still good; and I'll add fresh yeast after the bugs have had a week to play in the wort.

 

[kranak]

Thanks, I was kind of thinking that it seemed that the ph wasn't as low as I would have expected. But I am in nowhere near a hurry with this guy. So if time is all it needs, no problem.


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[BGBC]

Not speaking from personal experience, but I've seen several people's feedback who say that the first pitch of Roselare will not get that sour. Using the 2nd generation will be more sour as the % of bugs will be greater/more active.

Example: Landers Fred

You can always pitch some sour bottle dregs in there to add some bugs.

 

[kranak]

Can something like maltose be added to promote acidic development? Or should I just let it be for now and test it's acidity at a year? Also when I get to places with beers with salvageable dregs I'll think about throwing that it


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