when to bottle my sour blonde...?

[jtakacs]

i just tasted and tested my sour blonde ale for the first time. it's a small AG batch (2.5 g) and had 1.0 lb of a 3-day sour mash on the pale 2-row. beyond that, it was fermented out with my house yeast culture which contains all sorts of bugs, etc... plus some sacc strains in addition to brett-c and b (this yeast is amazing).

pulled a sample out and it went from 1.047 to 1.009 and i can't imagine it'll keep going - its already at 80% AA....

my question is this; when to bottle it? if it holds at 1.009 for another week its going in a bottle but i don't want to rush it. however, this is by far the best beer i've ever made and it has a HUGE sour component, low BU (7) and still has a great mouthfeel. the beer is clear, super bright blonde and ready to drink now imo...

hold it? bottle it? 5 weeks is a little early to bottle this normally, but it is exactly where i want it right now. prime it or let nature take its course? ultimately i'd like it carbonated pretty high for the style as i want to embrace its belgian heritage....

as an aside, i keep this yeast culture active most of the time (its in the fridge now waiting for me to brew a flemish red) and has an enormous acetic acid character before pitching but that is all gone in the beer and replaced by wonderful lactic acid...

 

[maskednegator]

How old is it? If it's got live critters in it, it's probably not done at 80%AA.

 

[jtakacs]

only 5 weeks which is why i'm hesitant, but at 80% i can't imagine it'll go much further... i suppose i'll wait... damn. really want to start cracking this one open!

 

[maskednegator]

I have a few sours in my closet sitting between 92% (youngest) and 99% (oldest). Forget about this blonde for a year.

 

[jtakacs]

that's kind of what i thought - i have a few going and haven't been in a rush... tried my lambic today and it had dropped several points in the last month - no sour to that one yet, but it does have a pleasant funk to it... thanks... time to brew another one i guess....

 

[AndyG]

Do you have keg/force carb. capability? That's a great way to start enjoying a mixed ferm. beer when you already love where it's at, but are worried about bombing bottles.

Sounds like you've got a great party going on in your house culture - what have you thrown in there?

Cheers,

Andy

 

[jtakacs]

No legging. The vast majority of my beers are given away. The sacc strains are pacman and 3944 belgian wit, it also has stepped up jp bam biere dregs, macro, peril, brett b and c...

Gonna let it ride out and I want two weeks without gravity movement before I bottle. Ill retest later and see.