Want to sour some left over wort

[thebrewersgrimm44]

I brewed an American Amber ale and I have 5 gallons of wort left. I had plans to dry hop snot out of it. But I think I want to sour it for sh*ts and giggles. I have never soured any of my beers before.

With that said the OG was 1.057
It has already finished out at 1.014
It is in secondary right now until I figure out what I want to do with it. I would really like to sour this beer and add some cherries to it. But I have no clue which bugs would work the best for what I'm looking to do or if it is even possible!!!

Any thoughts????

Cheers!

 

[porterpounder]

Go for it. The hopping of an Amber may deter some of the bacteria from taking hold, but go ahead and pitch a pack of Roselare of Lambic blend and prepare to wait. Keep the headspace very small.

 

[Osedax]

What's the bitterness like? An amber might be a little too bitter for souring. Then again, you could age it a long time and let the bitterness fade. Sour and bitter don't usually go together.

A better option might be to go funky instead of sour. Throw some brett on it.

 

[abelapophis]

How many ibus is the Amber? If your ibus are high it might inhibit the growth of the souring bacteria. Also as already stated bitter and sour dont really go together.

 

[thebrewersgrimm44]

It was formulated to be about 31 IBU's.

 

[thebrewersgrimm44]

My Amber is more east cost style. Concentrated more on the malt than the hops!!

 

[youreanimpulse]

You can use a blend (I'd go lambic personally), and I highly recommend also pitching dregs from beers like Jolly Pumpkin, Cascade or Jester King. Those bugs are very robust and can handle IBUs. Also be prepared to age it for 9 mos to a year before adding any fruit. This means as little head space as possible, flushed with CO2 preferably (carboy, not bucket), and keeping that airlock topped up. O2 leads to acetic acid from Brett's metabolism or from acetobacter infection, which could turn your beer into vinegar. Your bitterness will be fine, it ages out anyway. Sounds fun, I think a malty Amber could be a good sour base.