Two long term sours, two different issues

[toddo97]

So I got around to taking a sample of my two aging sours this weekend. The first is a gose that never soured (I think I let it get too hot during the souring process) so I pitched some Brett C and some pedio and figured it would get good and sour given enough time. It's been sitting for 10 months and tastes barely acidic and I can't really taste any Brett character. The problem is that it's now sitting at 1.004 so I'm wondering what I can add to give it more character and sourness but so that it has enough to eat to develop. I have a pack of Gigayeast Sour Cherry Funk, a Bootleg Biology Sour Solera, and a BB Sour Weapon P on hand right now. Would I add maltodextrin (never used before) to give it food?

Sour 2 is a Tart of Darkness clone that's been sitting for around 8 months. I had a problem with stalled fermentation with that one (wouldn't get below 1.024 for some reason) so I thought it would drop given enough time. As of yesterday, it's only sitting at 1.020. Obviously I would like for it to drop more, but I'm afraid if I add some Brett, it will change the flavor. It tastes almost perfect right now and I would bottle in the next few weeks if it weren't for the SG reading.

FWIW, both of those were made before I switched to AG so they're extract batches.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Gose:
What is the pH?
If the IBU is 5+, you might need to just wait longer (up to 18 months) and/or pitch bottle dregs, which are generally more aggressive than commercial strains.
Adding 2-5 gravity points of MD would probably speed things up.

ToD:
What was the OG? What have you pitched so far? Do you know the gravity is stable?
It's still fairly young.
Might want to start with the basics of warming it up a little and rousing the yeast, if you haven't done that yet. Otherwise you'll need to pitch more Brett. Amylase is an option too.

 

[toddo97]

Gose:
What is the pH?
If the IBU is 5+, you might need to just wait longer (up to 18 months) and/or pitch bottle dregs, which are generally more aggressive than commercial strains.
Adding 2-5 gravity points of MD would probably speed things up.

ToD:
What was the OG? What have you pitched so far? Do you know the gravity is stable?
It's still fairly young.
Might want to start with the basics of warming it up a little and rousing the yeast, if you haven't done that yet. Otherwise you'll need to pitch more Brett. Amylase is an option too.

I actually didn't even bother to check the pH since it was so underwhelmingly sour I added enough Saaz to get it to 5 IBU (I no longer add hops to my sours besides dry hopping or during boil after souring). I also pitched dregs from an OEC sour that I really like. I think I'll try adding some MD and more dregs--any reason to try one of the blends that I listed or do you think that would be a waste?

For the ToD, OG was 1.094. I pitched WY3763 Roeselare Belgian Sour Blend and dregs from a bottle of ToD. This was the first time I checked gravity since pitching it (it was 1.026 several months ago). I haven't pitched any Brett which I think would help, but the taste is pretty darned close to ToD and I'm worried that Brett will affect the flavor. Are there any flavor-neutral strains of Brett?

 

[RPh_Guy]

I think I'll try adding some MD and more dregs--any reason to try one of the blends that I listed or do you think that would be a waste?

Sounds good. Any brett/pedio you pitch in there will help get it more funky & sour.
The salt makes it taste less sour, so you might want to check pH.
Goses aren't traditionally very sour or very funky.

Are there any flavor-neutral strains of Brett?

Probably not commercially.
Brett is going to have a hard time working in that high ABV (~10%) ... So it might still be attenuating very slowly. After warming/rousing, I would monitor to make sure FG is stable for at least a month and then bottle it.

ToD is only 6.6% ABV.

 

[guiriguiri]

If it tastes “almost perfect,” I would definitely not add anything. Just take a few readings to see if it’s stable and bottle if so. FG is just a number.

 

[toddo97]

Sounds good. Any brett/pedio you pitch in there will help get it more funky & sour.
The salt makes it taste less sour, so you might want to check pH.
Goses aren't traditionally very sour or very funky.


Probably not commercially.
Brett is going to have a hard time working in that high ABV (~10%) ... So it might still be attenuating very slowly. After warming/rousing, I would monitor to make sure FG is stable for at least a month and then bottle it.

ToD is only 6.6% ABV.

True on the gose--it didn't get at all sour when I made it so I decided to try brett/pedio for the first time and see if it would turn into something interesting. I'll add some MD and give a few months to see if that helps

I'll give the ToD a few months and see if it drops in gravity at all--if not, I'll bottle it and cross my fingers that I don't get any bombs. I'm getting a couple of packs of Kveik--think that would do anything?

 

[toddo97]

If it tastes “almost perfect,” I would definitely not add anything. Just take a few readings to see if it’s stable and bottle if so. FG is just a number.

Yeah the last thing I want to do is introduce an unwanted flavor to it. I'm fine with it having a high FG as long as it doesn't mean bottle bombs!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Kveik--think that would do anything?

Doubt it. All the "fermentable" sugar is probably gone.

Good luck!

P.S.
Lots of good info:
http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Packaging