Blending with a sour red

[brownni5]

This fall I put 15 gallons of a sour red into an oak barrel. The idea was to use this as a solera, and it still could be, but as I'm wont to do, I'm second guessing myself and wondering if I should have put a blonde in the barrel instead - a greater opportunity for blending, at least with beers I like.

But the other day I ran across a YouTube video by Clawhammer where they blended a sour red into a Saison base. Blending a darker, fruitier beer into a pale base hadn't occurred to me. Anyone have experience with this? Suggestions that I might not have thought of?

With the base beer, I can:
1. Add fruit
2. Dry hop
3. Blend with a younger beer - dark or pale
4. Package as-is

Obviously, a lot will depend on the base beer itself. In a smallish barrel, it might never be good or it could be award-winning as is. Who knows? What else should I consider?

 

[Kenmoron]

You can honestly do it however you want. The beauty of a solera is the ability to change the base recipe! If you want to make a small change, either add back a similar base beer or pull off only a smaller percentage. If you want to significantly change it, pull off a larger percentage and replenish with a significantly different base. You can go progressively one direction with it or another (whether that be from light to dark or dark to light). There is no rule to how you are supposed to do it.