3 Gallon Kettle Sour split into Growlers?

[Hoppah]

So, I made a practice kettle sour that turned out quite well but now I want to experiment with a few different additives after souring (raspberries, peach, etc) and was thinking of working up the entire wort and souring it and then separating into several 1 gallon growlers with my additives and yeast to experiment with flavors. Any one done this or foresee any huge issues? If not, any suggestions on what to add?

Thanks in advance!

 

[VikeMan]

Yes, you can ferment in growlers, with an airlock.

With kettle soured worts, I do the clean yeast fermentation, then transfer to secondary for the fruit addition. The only potential issue I see with your plan, i.e. adding fruit at the same time as starting the primary clean fermentation, is that you will have very little alcohol (from the souring) at first, which may make make sanitation of the fruit more important. I normally use frozen-then-thawed fruit in secondary, but if I were to use fruit earlier, I'd probably pasteurize it first.

 

[Hoppah]

Yes, you can ferment in growlers, with an airlock.

With kettle soured worts, I do the clean yeast fermentation, then transfer to secondary for the fruit addition. The only potential issue I see with your plan, i.e. adding fruit at the same time as starting the primary clean fermentation, is that you will have very little alcohol (from the souring) at first, which may make make sanitation of the fruit more important. I normally use frozen-then-thawed fruit in secondary, but if I were to use fruit earlier, I'd probably pasteurize it first.

So, would you then suggest souring and fermenting first before putting in growlers for flavoring?

 

[VikeMan]

So, would you then suggest souring and fermenting first before putting in growlers for flavoring?

That, or pasteurize the fruit.

Also, keep in mind that either way, the sugars in the fruit need to ferment, and so you'd need an airlock to allow CO2 to escape. You probably know that, but I mention it because of the word "flavoring." i.e. it's not like adding a flavored extract, but rather something with significant fermentables.

 

[Hoppah]

Haha, yeah, I plan on popping an airlock on each growler and the only reason I said flavoring is because I'm only doing this to experiment what flavors fruit additions give. Any suggestions on what to add in the growlers?