Potentially first souring experience - guidance needed (interesting scenario)

[bmulari]

Greetings, all!

Okay not that interesting of a scenario, but I'm trying to solicit some feedback here :cross:

I’ve got a project going on that I could use a little feedback on. Please read through and provide any thoughts/ridicule/comments/recommendations:

To celebrate the completion of my CPA exam last year, I brewed a strong ale In February ’13 that has been aging on bourbon soaked oak cubes. As my last exam was not until May, and the subsequent license application process took a little bit of time, I decided I’d do something different with this brew. In June '13, I brewed a second batch (with some slight changes based on samples of batch 1); after it had completed fermenting, I blended the first and the second batch (with the intention of this being an ongoing process). Half of the blend went into the keg for consumption, while the other half of the blend still sitting in a carboy to this date.
So if you’ve been able to follow the story, I’m now 13 months past the first brew, and 11 months past the second brew, with a full 5 gallon blend of the two batches still sitting in the corner of the basement. I've now decided it’s time to brew another batch for blending. I was hoping to solicit some suggestions from the group:

The gravity of the beer currently sitting in the carboy is approximately 1.018, and my target FG of the next brew will be about the same. I’m debating whether or not it would be possible to pull 2-3 gallons of the current blend and pitch a souring agent. I’ve never done a homebrewed sour, so I’m relying on the forum’s expertise on whether or not the current FG is high enough to pitch a souring agent, and if so, recommendations on what I should use?

Thanks in advance!

 

[sweetcell]

The gravity of the beer currently sitting in the carboy is approximately 1.018, and my target FG of the next brew will be about the same. I’m debating whether or not it would be possible to pull 2-3 gallons of the current blend and pitch a souring agent. I’ve never done a homebrewed sour, so I’m relying on the forum’s expertise on whether or not the current FG is high enough to pitch a souring agent, and if so, recommendations on what I should use?

what are you aiming for, as the final product? sourness? funk?

1.018 is plenty for bugs or brett to eat, that's not going to be your issue here. the high alcohol of your strong ale is going to make souring difficult. lacto is inhibited by alcohol, i've read that 8% ABV is where is stops doing its thing. Wyeast lists their pedio and lacto as having an alcohol tolerance of "approximately 9% ABV".

brett will tolerate higher ABV, but it won't sour. depending on the strain you choose (again, depending what you want as a final result), you could have barnyard funk, cherry notes, fruitiness, etc.

 

[dantheman13]

The Wyeast lacto only likes simple sugars, so I wouldn't pitch that into a finished beer. I used it in an oud bruin where I pitched it along with Sacch at the same time, and the beer barely got acidic after 8 months. The Brett or Pedio/Brett idea sounds interesting to me!

 

[bmulari]

Unsure if anyone cares at this point, but I went ahead and pitched a pack of the Wyeast 5526. About a month later, I started to notice an oily looking film develop across the top of the wort, which has now developed into what I hope is a pellicle (smells like the 5526 is doing what it should be, so not overly concerned with infection). Pretty excited for this one. Thanks for the pointers!

I've attached a poorly taken photograph for anyone's enjoyment.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

Looks funky!