i made a sour and used ECY20 bug county yeast. It’s been 4 months. Everything tastes good and looks great but it is still sitting at 1.017. OG was 1.063. I am sure I mashed too high 160*. It has been the same for 2 months now. Is there any strain to add to chew through the last bit of sugar? Or will time do it? I don’t want to bottle until she is done. I also made another sour with ECY20 a month ago and mashed right and sits at 1.010 so I am guessing it was my mash temp of the first batch. Any help would be great.
That high of a mash temp will result in a higher final gravity. Is it overly sweet tasting? Or is the sweetness taking from the acidity ? If you're ok with the taste just monitor it for another month or 2 and if the gravity doesnt change bottle it up and let it condition.
Correct me if I am wrong because I'm wrong alot, but doesn't mashing at high temps (160) make less fermentable sugars? Meaning that the higher the final gravity means there is more sugar left that did not ferment out. Meaning more sugars left in the beer would leave a sweeter beer? I know 1.017 is not a sweet beer(depending on the style), but a beer is that is 1.025 and above has much more presence of sweetness vs a beer that's 1.005 and below which is much drier and no presence of sweetness.
Mashing high does produce more unfernentable sugars However those dextrins/sugars aren’t as sweet so there is less perceived sweetness. Most sour beers are made with a Saison yeast of some sort. Brett does wonders with the esters and phenols that Saison and other Belgian yeasts product. Have you tasted the wort? Is it sour? If the PH is pretty low you’d be wise to create a starter for the 3711 and use a portion of the already soured beer in that starter. It will help acclimate the yeast to the low PH environment and you will have a more successful fermentation. Google terminal acid shock for more info. It’s used when breweries are refermenting sour beers in the bottle for carbonation.
Not that 3711 isn't a fine idea, but pitching a healthy starter of B. bruxellensis would be an equally good, if not better, idea, IMO.
It all comes down to alpha and beta amylase doing their jobs. Beta amylase is less proficient at breaking down long chain carbs into fermentables sugars. These long chain carbs aren't sweet like sugars are. It's a great way to brew a session beer that still maintains body.
Thanks for all the replies guys. It’s not sweet and my palate would not be able to tell if it was 10 or 17 so maybe I will bottle it. It tastes great. But who knows maybe I’ll throw something in it to see if it changes one way or the other.
