Rank_Amateur
Member
Forgive the newb questions here... I've been brewing for just under a year and on brew 35 I've finally had my first infection.
I brewed a base porter beer and racked half into a 3 Gal carboy and topped up with a minimash of peat smoked / rauchmaltz beer which has turned out to be a stellar smoked porter.
The other half I racked into another 3 Gal carboy with two tins of black cherries (about 2lb) - Just regular tins of cherries in syrup from the supermarket, along with a dry hop of Bramling Cross and Pacific Jade (hoping for a complimentary berry aroma's from the hops). I heated the cherries with some pectinase to 65C (so about 149f) for 10 mins to pasteurise them. Dumped it all in and everything fine for two weeks... then the pellicle starts to form.
Having read a bit about sour beers but only tried one (not widely available in New Zealand) I figure no sweat lets just see what happens. Its now been a month or so since the pellicle formed and its definitely got a good hold as you can see from the pics (two down the mouth of the small carboy and one from the outside which doesn't show much except that the infection is a solid one now)
I'm guessing the possible vector is the pieces of string that I tie to the bags that the fruit and the hops were in. On reflection I don't know why I bothered as its not like I am going to pull them out... but ce la vie.
So today I plucked up the courage to take a taste test... and very nice. not much hint of cherry but a nice coffee aroma to the porter. The beer itself has started to smell a little "sour" but other than that no other unusual smells.
So my question really is what next... should I just wait, taste test occasionally to see if it sours and bottle when the pellicle falls.... or should i innoculate with a bug mix to encourage it to sour anyway. (The only bug mix we can get at the moment is White Labs Belgian Sour mix)
I didn't take a gravity reading but FG of the base beer was 1.023 (og 1.052). I expect that the gravity based on the taste will be down to about 1.012-1.015...
If it naturally sours do I bottle when the pellicle falls or should I wait until the Gravity heads south of 1.008?
Sorry for the newb questions. I didn't post this in the beginners forum as I read a couple of thread on infections and I am 100% sure that this is one although i don't know what... I'm hoping it maybe lacto as its smelling a little sour now and the pellicle seems similar to pics of other Lacto Pellicles (in my very limited experience!). As it hasn't started to smell or taste bad I've decided to go with it - just need some advice on whether to wait it out and take a chance on the microbes eventually making it turn yuck, or hit it with the right bugs and hope they overcome whatever is already in there. Its only a small batch so not that worried if it turns out bad and have to chuck it...
I had planned to eventually move into some brett only and sour beers - just not this early!
I brewed a base porter beer and racked half into a 3 Gal carboy and topped up with a minimash of peat smoked / rauchmaltz beer which has turned out to be a stellar smoked porter.
The other half I racked into another 3 Gal carboy with two tins of black cherries (about 2lb) - Just regular tins of cherries in syrup from the supermarket, along with a dry hop of Bramling Cross and Pacific Jade (hoping for a complimentary berry aroma's from the hops). I heated the cherries with some pectinase to 65C (so about 149f) for 10 mins to pasteurise them. Dumped it all in and everything fine for two weeks... then the pellicle starts to form.
Having read a bit about sour beers but only tried one (not widely available in New Zealand) I figure no sweat lets just see what happens. Its now been a month or so since the pellicle formed and its definitely got a good hold as you can see from the pics (two down the mouth of the small carboy and one from the outside which doesn't show much except that the infection is a solid one now)
I'm guessing the possible vector is the pieces of string that I tie to the bags that the fruit and the hops were in. On reflection I don't know why I bothered as its not like I am going to pull them out... but ce la vie.
So today I plucked up the courage to take a taste test... and very nice. not much hint of cherry but a nice coffee aroma to the porter. The beer itself has started to smell a little "sour" but other than that no other unusual smells.
So my question really is what next... should I just wait, taste test occasionally to see if it sours and bottle when the pellicle falls.... or should i innoculate with a bug mix to encourage it to sour anyway. (The only bug mix we can get at the moment is White Labs Belgian Sour mix)
I didn't take a gravity reading but FG of the base beer was 1.023 (og 1.052). I expect that the gravity based on the taste will be down to about 1.012-1.015...
If it naturally sours do I bottle when the pellicle falls or should I wait until the Gravity heads south of 1.008?
Sorry for the newb questions. I didn't post this in the beginners forum as I read a couple of thread on infections and I am 100% sure that this is one although i don't know what... I'm hoping it maybe lacto as its smelling a little sour now and the pellicle seems similar to pics of other Lacto Pellicles (in my very limited experience!). As it hasn't started to smell or taste bad I've decided to go with it - just need some advice on whether to wait it out and take a chance on the microbes eventually making it turn yuck, or hit it with the right bugs and hope they overcome whatever is already in there. Its only a small batch so not that worried if it turns out bad and have to chuck it...
I had planned to eventually move into some brett only and sour beers - just not this early!
Of course I've been making sours with everything I can get my hands on lately so if you're inclined I'd add the bugs.
