My sour beer experiment...thoughts/comments?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by ghostinthemachine, Jan 2, 2016.

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  1. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    I took about 6 gallons of second runnings from a belgian dark strong the lhbs was brewing. The og is ~1.020. I was planning on adding 2.5 lbs of DME and boiling it for 1.5 hours since it has pilsner malt. I figure that will get the OG close to 1.045. I have a vial of WLP655 belgian sour mix 1 that I was going to dump in. I'm not trying to get complicated with this. It's an easy, quick, cheap experiment. I was going to throw the carboy in a closet and forget about it for a few months.

    Thoughts? I may add an oak honeycomb to it.
     
    #1 ghostinthemachine, Jan 2, 2016
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  2. GeoSteve

    GeoSteve Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2014 Maryland

    Do it! No brainer. Might be worth adding dregs with the 655, but either way go for it.
     
    #2 GeoSteve, Jan 2, 2016
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  3. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    Are you thinking of oak for a couple of months? That might be a lot? Not sure, never used a spiral or honeycomb, but there is a lot of surface area there.
     
    #3 wspscott, Jan 3, 2016
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  4. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    Ive used this honeycomb for 2 weeks already. I think it said 4 weeks for full extraction. Like I said, this is an experiment that doesnt cost me more than 10 bucks so I don't mind getting crazy
     
    #4 ghostinthemachine, Jan 3, 2016
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  5. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    If you are adding nothing else to it, I would add the DME and just bring it to a boil and then chill it and pitch your bugs. This is how I brew my Berliner Weisses and Gose. If you dont know about Milk The Funk, you should check it out...best source for brewing with bugs on the Web! www.Milkthefunk.com
    http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Berliner_Weissbier
     
    #5 DrMindbender, Jan 3, 2016
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  6. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    I ended up leaving the wort sit over night and it smelled kind of like turnt grains. I added the DME, boiled for 1.5 hours and got the OG up to 1.052. I pitched the yeast/bug blend at about 75 degrees and threw it in a closet. I will put a heater in there in a couple of weeks.

    Will I need to put this beer in a secondary carboy? It is in glass right now....I was planning on leaving it in one but is autolysis a concern? Will I need to get a second bottling setup as well? I have a second autosiphon to use with it already.

    I guess I'm going to have a sour beer program going on ffrom here on out since Im getting the setup for it. I currently brew a normal batch every two weeks.
     
    #6 ghostinthemachine, Jan 3, 2016
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  7. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    Leave it in the primary...that blend of bugs may need to sit for a WHILE to get the sour funk you're looking for. I would recommend dedicating that carboy to your sour program and leaving the yeast/bugs in there after finishing a beer and just add more wort back into the carboy and onto the cake for a few generations. If you want to get more unique/complex, as mentioned above, add the dregs from a bottle or 2 of commercial funk or add another vial/starter of bacteria/yeast from Wyeast, White Labs, etc.

    You've also pitched Pediococcus, which many commercial breweries are scared of infecting their clean brewhouse...so IMO, sanitation and cleanliness is very important from here on out. I would isolate the fermenter from your clean fermenters and dedicate an extra set of soft equipment to your sour program. Pedio is a very strong bacteria that sometimes isn't destroyed by Star San...or at least many claim.
     
    #7 DrMindbender, Jan 3, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2016
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  8. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    Do i need to immediately add the wort from the new batch to the yeast cake or can it wait a while?? I haven't had many brett beers but i've loved the lactos i've had. Idk if that makes a difference haha.
     
    #8 ghostinthemachine, Jan 3, 2016
  9. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    Thanks, I'm reading through this now.
     
    #9 ghostinthemachine, Jan 3, 2016
  10. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    I would add wort within a week, as long as you're sanitary the bugs can safely go a few days to a week without any trouble. I like to brew my next Berliner/Gose while I keg/bottle my finished batch...keeps the pipeline going and with the easy "no boil" recipe on MTF, brewing is very quick.

    And there's a big difference between Brett and lacto/pedio...Brett produces the barnyard funk/horse blanket smell and flavor (with tropical notes usually) while lacto/pedio will create the sour pucker by dropping the pH near the low 3's.
    [​IMG]
     
    #10 DrMindbender, Jan 3, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2016
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  11. bushycook

    bushycook Zealot (681) Jan 31, 2011 Virginia

    Shouldn't need a heater unless you let your house get real chilly. You're in the bayou, right? As long as that closet stays at least in the 60's you'll be fine.
     
    #11 bushycook, Jan 4, 2016
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  12. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    It normally stays about 65 in my house right now. I was going to put the heater in after giving the sachh a chance to go for a while at low temps.
     
    #12 ghostinthemachine, Jan 4, 2016
  13. ryane

    ryane Initiate (0) Nov 21, 2007 Washington

    You want the cool temps for correct flavor development, if you add a bunch of heat you will get a sour that only has one flavor......an abrasive sourness, trust me Ive experimented with this, I used to live in the desert and a good 60% of my brewing then was sours, I would do what your suggesting to have an aggressive over the top sour beer to add into a blend in a small, small portion

    Keep it in the mid to low 60's for the entire go and you'll be much happier with the end results
     
    #13 ryane, Jan 4, 2016
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