I was planing on brewing a Kriek (Cherry Lambic) and was looking at a couple recipes for lambics as well as Oud Bruin and was wondering how much does the grain bill effect these sour beers that ferment out for a long time and very dry? It seems like an odd question but since most if not all of the sugar is converted and surely over 12 months any hop bittering is gone is the grain bill so crucial? Most of the recipes are fairly simple, base malt and maybe one other grain some crystal or special B. Do those grains flavors retain over time (the raisin from the special b for example)? I was planing to brew a batch of my house pale ale (maris otter + carafoam) and then a kriek (2-row + flaked wheat) and I thought maybe I'd just mash a double batch of my pale and split it before I boil. Any thoughts or exprience? My plan is to brew a kriek and then have it ready to server next year at Christmas.
If you pop over to http://www.themadfermentationist.com you'll find lots of recipes and with a little searching of older posts there, you'll definitely find discussion of grain bills and how they affect flavor in sours. I realize I'm punting on actually answering your questions, but when it comes to sour home brewing, that's the blog you want to read. Hope that helps.
Good question. I would not waste Maris Otter on it. You're on the right track. You can't use crap because you do need something behind it, but it will be mostly lost. On the other hand, you do need to have a solid malt base rather than crap (Briess), so any decent pilsner malt should do, along with whatever you want to add as far as crystal malt goes.
I can't answer your question but @OldSock (aka madfermentationist) probably can. If you want to brew sours, you should get his book http://www.amazon.com/American-Sour-Beers-Michael-Tonsmeire/dp/1938469119/ it is well worth the small bit of money.
