New sour beer experimenter

[rhythmsteve]

I'm going to be trying out my hand at brewing some sours, after all, It's
Now time to move on from my IPA stage. I would like you all to look over my thoughts about what I want to do and critique anything you need to. First off I'm going to start off with a basic Beligian ale recipe as my base, which will consist of....

7 lbs pale
4 lbs Flaked wheat
1 lb Bohemian Pilsner
1 oz Czech Saaz for 60 minutes
Wyeast Rosalere blend

Should hit around 1.057 if my calc is right

What I'm going to do with this is every 6 months or so rack off a gallon or 2 to split with dregs or fruit or just leave for more yeast cakes. I will then top up what I have removed from my primary. When the split batches are finished I can use those yeast cakes for souring anything else.

The reason for doing thugs this way is that it seems I will always have multiple sours going at the same time at different time intervals, and can basically repopulate continuously.

Any draw backs to this, any advise on anything? Like I said this is my first try and I'm just going to jump right in

 

[dantheman13]

The only change I would make to this plan if it were me would be to put the dregs into the main beer. You'll produce a better first sour beer that way. However, experimenting with different dregs separately is fun too.

 

[rhythmsteve]

Picked up a Civil Disobedience that's going in

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Those 1-2 gallon pulls are going to take a while as well. I'd sour the whole batch with whatever you plan on using, then rack to fruit as that tends to take less time.

 

[rhythmsteve]

I have some second runnings wort left over, is it ok if I pitch that into an already active souring process?

 

[jnacey]

Those 1-2 gallon pulls are going to take a while as well. I'd sour the whole batch with whatever you plan on using, then rack to fruit as that tends to take less time.

^ this.

I think the jist of this is you want a variety of different sours going with different timelines. I'm not sure if your plan will result in the optimal end result. Brew the base beer first and sour that for 12 months. Then decide how you want to split it up after its already soured (i.e. add fruit, dry hop, etc.). Then, redo this process every 3-4 months with another brew. That way you'll have a solid pipeline of sours going that start maturing 12-18 months from now.

Unfortunately, until you get that pipeline going, it's an exercise in patience -- it's just the nature of the style. Especially since this is your first go at a sour beer, keep it simple.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Sounds like a Solara. I'd probably let the base beer get to a sour level I want before pulling samples. I've never done this so I can't comment too much but depending on how fast your batch sours might determine when it would be best to take split batch samples.

 

[masonsjax]

Watch your IBUs. Hops can inhibit the bacteria from making acids.

 

[rhythmsteve]

No hops added to extra wort, I wanted to pull it right off the mash tun at 156*, I want it to be starchy to mimic how the Belgians do it.....IBUs are at 7

 

[jnacey]

No hops added to extra wort, I wanted to pull it right off the mash tun at 156*, I want it to be starchy to mimic how the Belgians do it.....IBUs are at 7

Maybe others with more solera experience should chime in, but I would aim to match the IBU of the existing wort with whatever you're putting in. In theory, after doing this process several times, you'll end up with a beer that has no IBUs.

The patience required aside, why not just wait the 12-18 months required to properly sour a beer and then start the process you indicated in the OP?

As I said above, I'm not sure this is the best process to get to what you're trying to do. I'm all for experimentation, but I just want to be sure that you know this is an unconventional way to sour beers. That said, the hobby is about experimenting, so if you want to try something unconventional, I really don't want to dissuade you.

 

[rhythmsteve]

The extra wort was added to top up a 6 gallon fermenter, no other reason than that, and from what I've read I the mad fermentationist it will be alright. After consideration I will sour the beer completely out and then pull samples in a solara fashion as suggested above, an replace with fresh wort. The pulls I do will be blended, mixed with fruit or other dregs once the base is where I want it. Does that sound proper?

 

[jnacey]

I think that sounds right. One other thing I would recommend to is to taste it periodically, especially for your first batch. It's really interesting to see how it changes over time. It's definitely a two steps forward, one step back timeline as for how it progresses. If you have the capabilities, check the pH at each tasting.

 

[rhythmsteve]

At the 3 month mark I'm going to add an oak spiral or 2, what toast would you guys recommend, or what do you use?

 

[jnacey]

i like medium toast french oak. its a nice, subtle oak character.

 

[rhythmsteve]

Update: 3 months along and the beer is getting nice and funky. Sourness is coming along and the stale, flatness taste is starting to give way