Can alkaline fruit be used to counter sourness?

[Brew_Meister_General]

I want to brew a farmhouse beer but without the sourness, so my logic is to add alkaline fruit such as mangos or strawberries to my primary/secondary in order to counteract the sourness/acidity of the yeast. Would this work? Or perhaps not enough?

 

[Yooper]

I want to brew a farmhouse beer but without the sourness, so my logic is to add alkaline fruit such as mangos or strawberries to my primary/secondary in order to counteract the sourness/acidity of the yeast. Would this work? Or perhaps not enough?

The fruit isn't alkaline. But anyway, the sugar in the fruit will ferment out. When the sugar ferments out of fruit, it gets very tart.

If you want to brew a farmhouse beer without tartness, maybe use a neutral yeast?

 

[Calder]

If you want to brew a farmhouse beer without tartness, maybe use a neutral yeast?

The Farmhouse style is pretty broad, and I guess it would actually fall into style (Biere de Garde). Never figured the point of brewing a Farmhouse ale without the yeast being part of the profile.



For the OP:

As Yooper pointed out, fruit is generally acidic (sour) so it would not do what you want.

I don't think Farmhouse Ales (Saisons) are any more acidic than other beers. Yes it has a lower PH than plain water, but so does every other beer. There is nothing added to the typical Saison that would make it more 'sour'.

 

[blizzard]

If I'm understanding the question correctly, you want to brew a saison or biere de garde style beer, but you don't want a sour beer. No problem at all, and you don't need fruit to do it. There are plenty of saison and farmhouse yeasts that will make a great beer without sourness. Look for a yeast that is just yeast and not a blend of yeast+Brett+ Bacteria.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

If I'm understanding the question correctly, you want to brew a saison or biere de garde style beer, but you don't want a sour beer. No problem at all, and you don't need fruit to do it. There are plenty of saison and farmhouse yeasts that will make a great beer without sourness. Look for a yeast that is just yeast and not a blend of yeast+Brett+ Bacteria.

How would I get that horsey/barnyard flavour though? Do all brett yeasts create tartness?

The two I was looking at was the WLP653 Brett lambicus which has 'intense brett character' and WYeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale which is only 'slightly tart'.

 

[blizzard]

How would I get that horsey/barnyard flavour though? Do all brett yeasts create tartness?



The two I was looking at was the WLP653 Brett lambicus which has 'intense brett character' and WYeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale which is only 'slightly tart'.

Ah, in that case you want a saison yeast strain and a Brett strain, (lambicus is a good choice) but no pedio or lacto. You can also try one of the blends from The Yeast Bay. I think they have some sacc + Brett blends that don't have bacteria.

Some Brett strains can produce acetic acid when oxygen is present, so don't use a bucket and make sure the stopper/airlock has a good seal, and keep sampling to a minimum.

 

[tgmartin000]

How would I get that horsey/barnyard flavour though? Do all brett yeasts create tartness?

The two I was looking at was the WLP653 Brett lambicus which has 'intense brett character' and WYeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale which is only 'slightly tart'.

Saison yeasts don't create sourness. Nor does brett, for the most part. Lacto bacillus and pediococcus create sourness.

The 'slight tartness' is in comparison to ale yeasts. They don't create sourness. Pitch any standard saison yeast and you'll be good.

But no, adding alkalinity won't counter sourness. I suppose technically it might, but it's not going to taste good.