I’m thinking about doing an Oud Bruin next since I ordered the Flemish yeast from East Coast Yeast. My question is should I build a sweet brown ale to make this or would I go for a more dry brown ale? I love the style but never made one. The last example I had was a BA version and I remember it being sweet and tart. So, I think I want to go this route but down want to ruin it if this not the correct way for the style. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Personally, I would aim for the sweeter end of the spectrum, because my experience has been similar to yours (the good oud bruins I've had were both sweet and sour). But take that with a grain of salt, I have brewed only one oud bruin and it turned out very poorly. (Bad microbes, it never soured, and I over-oaked it.) Somewhere, I can't remember where, I read a pretty good explanation for what is going on with oud bruins. Maybe it was Mike Tonsmeire's book? I wish I could remember. Here are a couple of recipes from Tonsmeire's blog (obviously ignore the acorns unless they strike your fancy): https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2018/12/fermented-acorn-sour-brown.html https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/01/sour-brown-barrel-day-3.html
I've found that when taking your first crack at a style, Brewing Classic Styles is a good starting point.
Pretty tough to make a sweet mix culture sour. The Brett and bacteria will dry it out a lot. Most brown ale recipes will get you close to what you want. I like a little special B in a beer like this. Other advice would be to mash hot (156F) and be very patient.
Agreed with everything above. Best case scenario, I would blend a sour version with a clean version 1:4, let it hangout a bit, camden tablets to kill the microbes, then bottle. If you don't want to deal with that, I've found if you mash higher, carb slightly less for the style (more along stout carb) and make it a heftier abv 9-10%, you still have more body and sweetness at the end of the day even with a mixed culture.
