Batch: 3 gal
Grain bill: 75% Maris Otter, 25% Red Wheat Malt
Mash: overnight mash at 150F (about 10 hrs, dropped to about 144F)
Boil: x5 mins
Hops: 1 oz Citra at flameout
SG: 1.051
chilled to 75F
I split the 3 gal batch into 1 gal and 2 gal batches and plan on fruiting the 2 gal (tons of backyard raspberries) while leaving the 1 gal neutral. I direct pitched 1 packet (so right at about 1 g/L pitch rate) split accordingly between the fermenters and let it sit at 75F.
Well, I just bottled my batch last night. Unfortunately, it didn't attenuate as much as I wanted it to, only 71% (1.051 to 1.015). This is especially interesting as I typically get a high attenuation when doing an overnight mash. Fermentation temperature held pretty steady between 74-75F. I'm pretty sure it was finished as it was at 1.015 when I checked it on Day 5...and when checked on Day 8 it was still at 1.015 so I just bottled it then. The unfruited batch finished at pH 3.34 while the batch with raspberries finished at 3.31. Both samples taste like a tart fruit juice. The unfruited sample has lots of juicy peach, nectarine, and some background fleshy apple. The batch with raspberries tastes like raspberry lemonade. I'm actually super stoked on the flavor profile! I just wish it would have gotten a little drier. Although, I can see these 'sours' being crowd favorites as they are very easy drinking with that added sweetness. I am looking forward to playing around with Philly Sour and brett in the future. If doing another batch of Philly Sour by itself, I may be inclined to add some extra simple sugars (~10% or so).
In terms of bottling, I always like bottling straight from the fermenter using 'Domino Dots' sugar cubes in order to minimize oxygen. So I did the same here, but before capping, added just a bit (maybe 5-10 granules) of EC-1118 yeast to condition. I left two bottles without any conditioning yeast just to see if Philly Sour can condition on its own. I will try to give these two bottles plenty of time before checking. Regarding the yeast cake, I added a fresh bottle of water and swirled (in an attempt to bring the pH up a bit) before transferring some of the slurry to a mason jar. I will try to repitch this on something soon to see how it does.