Fruiting/Blending Carbonated Beer with Non-Carbonated Beer

[aerdman8]

Hey guys, I have 5 gallons of year-old, kegged and carbonated sour saison that I would like to blend with some younger brett saison and fruit. I am concerned about the carbonated beer blowing off a lot of fruit aroma as it degases. Is this something I should worry about? If it is, would the solution be as simple as just venting the carbonated keg periodically until it's not as carbed?

Also, the year-old beer has not seen any brett before (just sacch and lacto), so I'm expecting some new brett fermentation will pick up upon blending. If I decide to give the brett time to work before adding fruit (i.e. just blend the two beers and save the fruit for later), should I still degas prior to blending with the non-carbed beer?

Many thanks for the help. I thought I heard a similar question answered once on the Sour Hour, but I haven't been able to find the episode in my relistening.

 

[specharka]

If you have another keg available, you can easily blend and age both beers in the keg. Just add the younger fruited Brett to the level you're looking for and fill the rest with your old sour saison via a jumper to the beer out posts. If you are concerned about the Brett dropping the gravity of the sour saison you can always use a pressure relief valve a few times. I've aged Brett beers in kegs with fantastic results.

Otherwise, degassing the beer and using CO2 to push it to a carboy is another option. It's going to take just as long to reach terminal gravity, but it's not nearly as convenient. I wouldn't recommend adding carbonated beer to a carboy--you will oxidize the crap out of it.