East Coast Bugs

Any not particularly roasty or bitter.

 

I bought one as well and plan on using it this December when I have time and carboys available again. I'm going to keep it pretty traditional, pale color, some pils malt and wheat malt, mash high for extra dextrins for the bugs.

 

I have a beer going with this stuff now. I agree, keep it as simple as possible. This blend has an incredible amount of complexity and there is no need to muddle it with a complex grain bill or over the top hops.

Edit: Also let it sit for months to develop complexity, do not rush this beer. Mine is about 9 months old at this point still in primary. I am looking to bottle it right after the new year and let it condition there for a couple more months.

 

That's what I did with my last sour. It's been about a year in the bottle and it has significantly improved since the first few months. Time and patience are definitely key for all sours.

 

What yeast did you pitch with it? Did you pitch both at the same time? Or one before the other? Also the saccharomyces and brett like oxygen and the lacto doesn't so what do you do about aeration? Not trying to thread jack I think it might be helpful for the OP also.

 

I just pitched bug county and that was it. It contains all type of yeast and bugs you would need for fermentation of a sour. I did not use oxygen or any aeration technique for this batch at all as fermentation can (and did) still take place. I did not want any of the off flavors, or lack of performance, associated with oxygen + pedio or lacto.

 

I had the same question, and Al Buck's answer was to pitch the blend alone.

 

Did you let it sit in one fermenter the whole time or transfer to a secondary?

 

I haven't gotten the ECY 20 yet, though I will do as I normally do for my sours: primary for 3-4 weeks, then transfer.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I ordered some as well and think I am going to do a Flanders Red or Brown. But am still trying to do some research on process. From the research I have done so far some people let it sit in the primary the whole time and others transfer to a secondary. But a lot of the people who transferred to a secondary added the bugs at that time. I'm worried that if I transfer to secondary I might leave some of the bugs behind that I need to end up with a good sour beer. I'm also not sure about letting it sit on dead yeast for a year. Debating which route to take.

Edit: Not trying to turn this into a primary vs secondary argument. Just looking for people that have experience with adding bugs during primary and what method they used and how it turned out.

 

Technically you can let it sit in primary the whole time. Brett will feed off the autolyzing yeast. I would also recommend throwing some oak into with your beer. The Brett and bugs will live in the oak. Brett will actually metabolize the cellulose in the wood.

 

Leaving some of the bugs behind shouldn't be a concern. They don't need a large population to produce sour beer. But if you have Brett in there then you technically shouldn't be worried about leaving the beer on the yeast cake either. I've done it both ways.

 

So are you not supposed to aerate with o2 before pitching? Also, is it worth doing a turbid mash?

 

I dont aerate sours and they have turned out fine so far. I attempted a turbid mash once and I dont think it did anything for my beer, I would just say to mash high and give the beer time.

 

Cool thanks oddnotion, I just bought two vials and plane on doing a ten gallon batch. Ive promised the lady is do 5 gallons of raspberry lambic for her. From what I've been told I need to primary for about a year then transfer on to the fruit, which should sit for a couple months. Does this sound about right?

 

It does sound about right. I am going to let this sour sit for about 10 months then 2 months with apricot puree then bottle the batch. I find that the ECY strains make the beer very complex very quickly, definitely more complex than the Wyeast stuff I have used in the past.

 

Nice! That sounds good! Thanks for your help!

 

depends what you're brewing. flanders red? transfer. lambic? let it ride.
i made a sour stout and left it for 7 months. but if you have a huge sacc cake, then maybe transfer it.

 

Hi folks!

New to the forum, had to sign up to ask about sour beers.

atomeyes: why rack the Flanders Red?

I am making a Flanders Brown experiment - split batch with 3 dif yeasts (WLP Flanders Ale, Roeselare + Lambic Blend and Berliner Weisse + Belgian Strong Ale) and was planning to leave in primary for 8-12 months.

Thanks!!!