• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Search results

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
  1. Oldsock

    When to bottle Berliner using WLP 655

    Agreed. Lambics are still young at 1 year, often with enough fermentables remaining to carbonate a gueuze. To add to this though, barrel aging will allow for different changes compared to a bottle. If you are aging in a carboy without oak, there really isn't much difference between that and...
  2. Oldsock

    Tart of Darkness

    Sadly there aren't any equivalent commercial strains of Lacto available (as far as I'm aware). What makes whatever this is great for a strong beer is that it is alcohol tolerant, but doesn't thin the beer out. If you can get beers from Cascade Brewing, pitch some of their dregs!
  3. Oldsock

    Tart of Darkness

    Sadly unless they are old corked and caged La Folie's, the dregs don't contain much of interest (the Lips of Faith bombers are flash pasteurized and reyeasted). Roeselare contains those microbes, just not especially aggressive strains. Dregs, or microbes from East Coast Yeast tend to be...
  4. Oldsock

    Old Commercial Bugs

    You'll likely see some slow activity with the fruit, but given the alcohol and pH, I wouldn’t be worried if it took a week (with or without the old yeast pitched).
  5. Oldsock

    Tart of Darkness

    For which beer? This one: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/05/bourbon-barrel-sour-porter-tasting.html ? In that case we don't know, Whatever took over that bourbon barrel (it was next to a Flemish red wine barrel, and then we pitched loads of dregs). Tastes like a strong Lacto...
  6. Oldsock

    When to bottle Berliner using WLP 655

    Why? You are correct that because the blend has more attenuative microbes (Brett and Pedio) it makes a stable gravity at three months less likely. However, it doesn't change the fact that if the gravity is stable, it is safe to bottle. Assuming a “standard” Berliner weisse wort...
  7. Oldsock

    Adding dregs to BMC to sour them up?

    You need sugars to grow microbes... Macro lagers don't tend to have much residual gravity. Brett might make some interesting flavors (likely nothing for the lactic acid bacteria though).
  8. Oldsock

    Old Commercial Bugs

    Not surprising that you don't see much activity pitching into already aged/soured beer. What is the gravity? I'd probably make a starter of the L. brevis, no risk since it is a pure culture. At a minimum I'd pitch extra brewer's yeast with the other two to ensure a reasonably quick start to...
  9. Oldsock

    When to bottle Berliner using WLP 655

    If the gravity is stable (month-over-month), there isn't much reason to wait. That is unless you want to add fruit, dry hops, or other flavorings.
  10. Oldsock

    Tart of Darkness

    I find high carbonation disruptive to the flavor of dark sour beers. I usually aim for low-2s for anything in the brown-black continuum. They are tricky enough as is with the acidity.
  11. Oldsock

    NB Le Terroir

    Assuming you added a blend of microbes, I'd rack to secondary after 2-3 weeks. Then just let it sit until the gravity is stable before dry hopping. That could be 6-12 months. I would add fresh wine yeast at bottling to ensure it carbonates quickly and is ready to drink while the hop aroma is...
  12. Oldsock

    Sour Worting with Pedio instead of Lacto

    More complex in what way? Souring with Lacto works because Lacto is very quick. Pedio moves at a snail's pace in comparison. I'd worry that other microbes would move in before the Pedio really got to work. I tried to grow straight Pedio while out at Modern Times and didn't have luck with...
  13. Oldsock

    Wyeast PC July -Sept 2014 - Sourpalooza

    For me it is just about consistency. I don't see any advantage to a slow/unhealthy primary fermentation. That resiny flavor was in my first batch of lambic (eight years ago). No idea what the cause was. Who knows how old that pack of Wyeast Lambic Blend was, I certainly didn't check. If you are...
  14. Oldsock

    Greek Yogurt Sour?

    Rumor on the interwebs is that a few PacNW breweries are sourcing their Lactobacillus from a local yogurt. No issue with acetic acid, that requires oxygen and other microbes (Brett and/or Acetobacter). Sour worting seems like a good way to go for quick results. If you wanted to do the full...
  15. Oldsock

    First sour with Roeselare. Mash pH?

    You certainly can adjust the mash pH of a sour beer, but it is much less important than a clean beer. Why you ask? Because mash/sparge pH usually sets up things like the boil pH (affecting protein coagulation and hop utilization), reduces tannin extraction, and helps achieve the ideal finished...
  16. Oldsock

    Smoked Saison idea

    Jester King did a pretty good one as well: http://jesterkingbrewery.com/introducing-salt-lick-pecan-wood-smoked-saison
  17. Oldsock

    Bottling Brett Beer

    As far as I'm aware the yeast strain really doesn't change the character of the carbonation. CO2 is CO2. The classic amount to repitch is ~10% of the primary pitch. 2 g of yeast, rehydrated would be fine. Extra and you'll just have more sediment (not more carbonation - well maybe a little more...
  18. Oldsock

    Brett C - Slight Burnt Plastic

    It may change slowly, but you may just be particularly sensitive to that phenol (if anything Brett tends to convert the less "funky" phenols to more funky, e.g., 4VG to 4EG). For my palate I only get Band-Aid and burnt rubber from really hot fermentations (especially 100% Brett). Often...
  19. Oldsock

    is there a way to tell or control the sourness?

    As others have suggested, there are ways to encourage more or less acidity. Another thing to watch is exposure to oxygen, which encourages the production of sharp acetic acid. However, what sets Rodenbach apart from many American sours is stabilization and blending with younger sweeter beer...
  20. Oldsock

    Bourbon Barrel Char and Sour Bugs

    We did a couple turns in a 53 gallon bourbon barrel without repitching bugs. Beers two and three soured fine. (The comment on that post was from someone paraphrasing Lauren Salazar).
Back
Top