Strong Mango Sour issues with Wyeast 3278

[NeuroJoe]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f72/drunk-owl-mango-55227/ is the link to the recipe itself for reference, I wont replicate that whole discussion here.

Here's the issue I'm having:The first time I brewed this, a clean (little to no noticeable Brett flavor), sour flavor was surprisingly noticeable after only 1 month with the 3278. The last 2 times I've brewed it using the same protocol, there was very little noticeable souring after 1 month (which is fine, that's what I expected the first time) but the Brett funk is pretty intense. In fact, with a blueberry version I tried after 1 month, I actually gagged on the sample it was so overpoweringly nasty horsey-ass barnyard insert your Brett adjective here.

Now i know these usually have to age 1 year plus to develop their complex profile (although my first batch is really nice after 7 months), but my question is, how much will those overpowering Brett flavors disappear with age to be replaced by somewhat mellower acidity? I guess since the balance of microorganisms in the blends and how fast they replicate in the wort is always different, some will taste "sick" early on while others won't? Is there hope for those that a sick early?

 

[ryane]

bretty flavors really do not dissipate, they generally only intensify with time

in your link it looked like you used orval dregs? very different than 3278, you might try 3763 in future batches, as it tends to be a bit less fecal/horsey

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I used 3278 and some cuvee rene dregs in my lambic. I didn't taste it before but I recently bottled after a year and I got a lot of sourness and very little brett.

I think it's an issue of sampling too early. Over the year several pellicles of different textures and colors rose and fell. It's possible the brett is really active in fermentation right now so you're getting a lot of brett cells in your beer. I had a saison culture I harvested from a bottle. It either had some brett in it or my attempt at bottle harvesting didn't work out and I got some brett (it's very good either way). The first time I brewed with it I bottled after about a month. The first bottle I drank tasted like saison immediately followed by a nasty sewage aftertaste. I gave the bottles another three months and sure enough it had a strong brett flavor but it wasn't the sewage taste, it was the typical brett B kind of flavors. I'd suspect the same thing is going on in your beer.

 

[NeuroJoe]

@ryane, the original recipe used Orval dregs, I have used 3278 twice and dregs from Cisco Peccish Woods once. The Peccish batch is a bit less horsey than the most recent 3278 batch after ~1 month, but comparable.

@reverseapachemaster, I'm hoping you're right, it's tending towards sewage now early on. I'm going to store these away and not think about them (too much) for the next 6 months, although it's hard for me to do as a scientist. I love the data I get from timepoint sampling, even if it does make me gag.

 

[NeuroJoe]

Over the last few weeks I've been pushing a little bit of gas out of the carboy through the airlock to get a whiff of the aromas. It smelled like the medicinal/fecal aroma was starting to dissipate, so I pulled a sample out today with a pipet. The flavor is *much* better than 6 weeks ago, more sour than my last batch and is starting to develop a nice character. Very relieved it's heading the right way.