Recipe feedback / WY 3763

[Bent-Brewer]

So far I've done 1 kettle sour and am looking at going to a more "traditional" souring process using Roeselare Blend. I'd like to get a little feedback before I tie up a fermenter for a year (or more). I'm targeting 5.5 gallons into the fermenter and just directly pitching the 3763 (first gen). Figure it should end up around 7.5%.

Fermentables:

10.0 lb Pilsener Malt
1.5 lb Munich Malt (light)
1.0 lb White Wheat
1.5 lb Belgian Candi Syrup (D-45)
~2 lbs Cherries (secondary)​

Hops:

0.3 oz Hallertau (3.9%AA) @ 60 minutes​

I was planning to just let it go a month in primary, rack into secondary on a couple pounds of cherries (transfer some trub with it), and leave it go for a year untouched.

• Any suggested ingredient tweaks? Cut the hops entirely / lower the ABV on behalf of the peddio?
• Is there a recommended time frame to rack onto & off of the fruit?
• Since I'm not adding any new bugs/yeast in secondary, should I just add the cherries into primary after ~6 months instead?

 

[cactusgarrett]

If you're pitching just the Roeselare blend, there's no reason to move to secondary after such a short time. Leave it, as the trub and spent yeast will feed the brett and bugs. The alternative is to clean ferment for a week or two, then transfer to a secondary and add the mixed slurry. Process-wise, there's no real reason to transfer to a secondary, but I do it myself after a clean ferment to free up my primary fermenter, keep various pieces of hardware clean, and minimize headspace.

Don't plan for this to get very sour - I've found that blend doesn't get sour with it's first (or even second) pitch. The most standout flavor, to me, is the Brett L. funkiness.
I would ferment, let it go for a year, then put it on cherries for a few weeks before packaging.
Another thing you could do, is add some unfermentables to feed the brett/bugs for the long-term.
Milk the Funk suggests a ballpark of 6-8 weeks on fruit, depending on the fruit, but obviously YMMV.

 

[jfolks]

I agree with the above. I would add more souring bacteria (yeast bay, commercial dregs, etc), age for 6-12 months, then rack onto 6-18 lbs cherries (2 lbs will be a kiss of cherry - use more if you want a strong cherry component)