Sour Peach

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ndrice

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Back in late August a bought about 10lbs of the last peaches I could find. I cut them into quarters and threw them into the freezer.

The beer recipe was pretty straight forward:

7lbs Pilsen
3lbs Maris Otter
1lb red wheat malt
0.5lb Flaked Oats

1oz of aged (2 year old) centennial hops at 60 minutes.

I fermented 4 gallons of this with WLP 008, the east coast ale yeast. the other gallon I fermented with WLP 655, the Belgian sour blend.

After the fermentations were complete I racked the whole 5 gallons onto the 10lbs of thawed peaches in a fermentation bucket. I added the dregs from an Orval, a Bruery Tart of Darkness, and an Oude Gueze Tilquin. This was on 9/23/12.

I popped it open on 10/17/12, theifed a sample and added the dregs from a Bruery Oude Tarte and a vial of Lactobacillus delbrueckii. There was a massive pellicle and chunks of moldy peach floating at the top of the beer, but the beer itself tasted really good. Still had a solid peach character but also a lot of brett funk and just the beginning of some sour notes.

I thiefed one more sample at Thanksgiving and the funk is getting more pronounced, but the sourness hasn't increased much. Peach notes are still huge (and really pleasant).

So I'm wondering, how much longer should I give this before I bottle? The gravity is about 1.009 but I'm guessing it will continue to drop. I don't want to make vinegar, but I also don't want to make bottle bombs. I plan on aging this for a good long time. Maybe open a couple of bottles a month for the next couple of years.

Should I bottle now? Is it ok, hanging out in the fermentation bucket? Do I have to worry about oxygen transfer in the bucket? If I do bottle now, should I add priming sugar, or is that asking for trouble? This is my first real attempt at sour beer and I've been pretty happy with it so far, but now I'm starting to get all worried parent about the thing.
 
I've had some bucket fermented sours from other people that were fine, but others have been vinegar bombs. The permeability is less of an issue that the risk of a non-perfect seal between bucket and lid (the big/thick pellicle suggests some oxygen is getting in). I’d probably rack off the peaches into a carboy, they’ve given up everything they have anyway. If you keep oxygen out you’ll never get vinegar (acetic acid), just smooth tangy lactic acid.

It only takes .003 of gravity drop from fermentation to full carbonate a beer. Wait until your gravity is stable before bottling, then do it like normal (you can add a couple grams of rehydrated wine yeast if you want to speed things along).

Hope that helps, best of luck!
 
Thanks! I used your Deviant Cable Car (No More) recipe from the Mad Fermentationist blog to try to recreate what you were describing. I just used different bugs. I'm really happy with the results so far. I'll rack off into a carboy and let it keep going. How often would you suggest doing gravity reads?
 
Thanks! I used your Deviant Cable Car (No More) recipe from the Mad Fermentationist blog to try to recreate what you were describing. I just used different bugs. I'm really happy with the results so far. I'll rack off into a carboy and let it keep going. How often would you suggest doing gravity reads?

Sweet! Even with the same dregs it is pretty much impossible to recreate a sour beer.

I tend to ignore a sour for at least six months before I take a reading, then every couple months. Depending on how it looks/tastes.

Hope it turns out well!
 

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