Bug Farm fermentation temp

[hirschb]

I'm planning on brewing an Oud Bruin (using the recipe from American Sour Beers, pg 312), and using a vial of ECY Bug Farm. The vial says that fermentation temps should be between 60-74 F. This is a huge window! Does anyone have any experience using Bug Farm at different temps? I was planning to start fermentation at 60F for two weeks, and then bring the beer inside to room temp for aging (78-80F in the summer, and 68-70 in the winter). Alternately, should I just ferment the beer inside at current temps (78-80 F) to avoid the eventual rise in temp after two weeks (my fermentation chamber also doubles as a kegerator, so I'll need to drop the temp after two weeks)?

 

[Oldsock]

I'm planning on brewing an Oud Bruin (using the recipe from American Sour Beers, pg 312), and using a vial of ECY Bug Farm. The vial says that fermentation temps should be between 60-74 F. This is a huge window! Does anyone have any experience using Bug Farm at different temps? I was planning to start fermentation at 60F for two weeks, and then bring the beer inside to room temp for aging (78-80F in the summer, and 68-70 in the winter). Alternately, should I just ferment the beer inside at current temps (78-80 F) to avoid the eventual rise in temp after two weeks (my fermentation chamber also doubles as a kegerator, so I'll need to drop the temp after two weeks)?

For most sour beers it's best to keep the temperature between 60-80F in general. Early in the fermentation you should defer to the brewer's yeast (saison in the case of Bugfarm, so warm would be fine).

After that I usually age/sour in the mid-60s. I find that produces a cleaner/rounder flavor. Hotter temperatures can be more aggressive in terms of acidity as well. Just make sure the airlock stays filled to the line, close to 80 Acetobacter will go crazy if it has access to oxygen.

Sounds like a nice combo, although likely it'll end up more sour/funky than the traditional oud bruins (not that there is anything wrong with that).

 

[Coff]

In my experience with all of Al's blends, they tend to lag if you start them too cool. A few times I have pitched at 60F and had no activity until I warmed it up to 70F. Like Mike said, the sacch in the blends are Saison strains so they do like a warmer ferment initially.

 

[hirschb]

OK, cool. It sounds like I can let these ferment inside at 78-80.
On the other hand, I'm totally worried about acetobactor now! I have a quasi-lambic (actually, Oldsock's American sour recipe, pg 326) fermenting in a bucket with Wyeast 3203-PC now. The instructions say to start it off with no O2, and then aerate it periodically, which makes me think that acetobactor is going to be a tough problem with that beer.

 

[Oldsock]

OK, cool. It sounds like I can let these ferment inside at 78-80.
On the other hand, I'm totally worried about acetobactor now! I have a quasi-lambic (actually, Oldsock's American sour recipe, pg 326) fermenting in a bucket with Wyeast 3203-PC now. The instructions say to start it off with no O2, and then aerate it periodically, which makes me think that acetobactor is going to be a tough problem with that beer.

I hate to disagree with a yeast lab's suggestion without trying it first, but I'm suspicious of Wyeast's suggestions for de Bom.

I'm also not a big fan of buckets for long term aging, just too hard to know for sure if the lid is sealed perfectly.

 

[hirschb]

I hate to disagree with a yeast lab's suggestion without trying it first, but I'm suspicious of Wyeast's suggestions for de Bom.

I'm also not a big fan of buckets for long term aging, just too hard to know for sure if the lid is sealed perfectly.

Yeah, there was some discussion of these instructions on another thread. I think the consensus was that this would give an aggressive lacto strain a head start. It's supposed to be ready in 1-2 months (in optimal conditions), so I decided to use a bucket.
I take it the best way to detect potential acetobactor is monitor the beer for vinegar odors?

 

[Oldsock]

Yeah, there was some discussion of these instructions on another thread. I think the consensus was that this would give an aggressive lacto strain a head start. It's supposed to be ready in 1-2 months (in optimal conditions), so I decided to use a bucket.
I take it the best way to detect potential acetobactor is monitor the beer for vinegar odors?

Pressing down gently on the lid and smelling the airlock is probably the safest way to go. Opening the bucket to pull a sample just lets more oxygen in. Any vinegar or nail polish remover is bad news.

 

[HollywoodMX]

I prove out the guess work in this thread. I followed the directions..mostly. Zero off flavors in my samples.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/wyeast-3203-pc-de-bom-sour-blend-impressions-487911/#post6324593