Racking Sours?

[SamTheRed]

I have a sour that I started a while back and after letting it sit for about 2 months I racked it into a better bottle secondary so I could use my fermenting bucket for another beer. After it was done the thought occurred to me that maybe I should have left it alone.

So my question is rather or not my impatience will keep my beer from souring?

 

[solbes]

I don't think you will any problems with this batch continuing to sour.

My question is are you going to ferment regular beer using the same bucket and racking cane you used to ferment/rack the sour one? If so I'd be very careful that you address those bugs/wild yeast cells or you may end up souring batches you didn't intend to.

 

[SamTheRed]

Thanks for the reply I thought I would be ok but was a little worried. This is my first sour should there be anything noticeable about it that I should look for to help let me know it is progressing as it should?

I did reuse the racking Cain and bucket but both soaked overnight in a mild soapy solution then were wiped down throughly and rinsed with sanitizer just to be sure to kill off as much as I could to avoid cross contamination from the sour.

 

[solbes]

Your nose and taste buds will be your guides as far as whether its souring or not. It may taste pretty nasty at various stages early on, so don't get too excited if its not tasting good.

If you have any bleach around your house, you might want to fill your bucket 90% full of cool water. Then add 1 tablespoon of bleach for every gallon of water you added. Put your racking cane in as well and get the inside filled with bleach solution. Let it sit for 30 mintues. Fully drain. Then rinse the heck of it with hot water, dry, and store. This should kill almost all bacteria/wild yeast. And hopefully avoid having any issues with unexpected infections. In the future you might want dedicated buckets/racking canes to sour duty. Glass carboys are easier to clean and sanitize.

 

[SamTheRed]

Thanks for the advice on dedicated buckets. I have been thinking about it but just haven't bitten the bullet yet. Not that it is expensive just wanted to experiment with a sour before committing to new equipment for only sours.