Should it stay or should it go

[cmdrico7812]

My Flanders Red has been in the fermenter for about 6 months now (see this post for my recipe and other details).

It's sitting in a five gallon secondary right now without much head space (I didn't really think ahead when racking), and a pellicile hasn't taken shape. There's evidence on the surface of the beer that there are bacteria in there working away, but no solid pellicile. I'm thinking about transferring the beer to a 6.5 gallon fermenter and pitching a package of of the Roeselare blend to help sour it up a bit more (I'm shooting for something like Rodenbach Grand Cru; I originally pitched the WYeast Lambic Blend).

So I'm wondering, should I transfer the beer to a larger vessel and pitch the Roeselare or should I just leave it along and have faith in the Lambic Blend and the smaller fermenter and use the Roeselare I have to do another batch? Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Ksosh]

2 Things:
1. Your title made me think of The Clash song.
2. Don't really have experience with purposefully sour beers, but apparently drinking some the sample from the hydrometer beaker and dumping it back into the primary (stupidly before your brain knows what your hands are doing) is an excellent way to make Scottish Sour Ale.
Good luck!

 

[nealf]

should I just leave it along and have faith in the Lambic Blend and the smaller fermenter and use the Roeselare I have to do another batch

This is what I would do. Have you taken a sample for a taste? If you are really nervous about it, you could add some DME (boiled and cooled) to give the bugs some more to eat... but I would be more inclined to wait a full year before trying to alter it.

 

[cmdrico7812]

Thanks for your reply. I've tasted it and it's tastes fantastic, just not real sour. Granted it's only been 6 months. How much DME would you suggest adding? There's hardly any headspace at all so not much room to add more liquid, but a little wouldn't hurt.

 

[nealf]

Check out this blog entry (esp. the edit at 8/11/08).. this guy posts on here sometimes as "Oldsock" hopefully he will pop in with some input. In this case, he added .75 cups. I would hold off for a while personally, at least 2 more months just to see how the sourness develops; Did you preferment with a neutral ale yeast, or did you go straight to the bugs?

The Mad Fermentationist: Cable Car Clone - Brewed

 

[cmdrico7812]

I only pitched the Lambic Blend, so no, I didn't preferment at all.