24 replies to this topic

[strangebrewer]

Yea, I've heard of this. So, a pretty good option would be to ferment in a bucket and maybe throw some cubes in with it? After maybe a month in the bucket, I could transfer into a glass container too, right?

Yup and yup.My method is I primary in the bucket, let it settle down a little, add a couple cubes, then forget about it for 3-4 months. After that I taste it and decide if I want to move it to glass yet or not. I've found that moving the beer to glass significantly slows the souring so I get it where I want it in plastic and then move it to glass to free up my funk bucket.

[jayb151]

Nice, I'm about due to get a funk bucket! I've been sitting on a sour stout for over a year; Looks like I need to bottle that and get this flanders going. Thanks for all the help, especially strangebrewer!

[drewseslu]

I wouldn't bottle condition with a normal brewer's yeast. The sour environment can be quite hostile for those little dudes. I would pick up an acid tolerant wine yeast for the job.

[shaggaroo]

I've used Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast with success. here

[Jimmy James]

You've gotten lots of good advice and Strangebrewer has tons of experience in this area. On the bottle conditioning I've done a few sours that way and I've never pitched anything at bottling. Typically I am letting them age in the bottle for several months to a couple years anyways, and the carbonation will develop nicely if you just add some priming sugar as normal. The remaining yeast and bugs will carb it up - it won't be ready in a few weeks but if you're going to age the bottles for 6 months or longer you'll be fine. I agree though that mixing in some fresh neutral ale yeast is not a bad idea if you're going to need to open those bottles sooner. I'm not sure the aspect of OG/ABV has been touched on here, but most of these beers traditionally were on the lower end by today's standards - around 5% ABV. Some of the bugs don't really do much once the ABV gets higher. If you're going to make something higher gravity you may want to consider blending in a sour base. I have a very sour kriek in a keg right now that will be blended into a couple strong dark beers I will brew later this year.