Lack of activity in Oud Bruin

[PhillyBrewer]

IMO, the key to making sour beer is to have as many going at one time as you possibly can.

[AdamWiz]

IMO, the key to making sour beer is to have as many going at one time as you possibly can.

That is my new strategy. Given my impatience, I am going to be doing another sour at least every month or so, that way soon I'll have one ready every couple months - rather than waiting a year at a time. Plus, I can get into some blending once I have several ready. I already have brewed a Berliner Weisse since this, and have plans to try a Kentucky Common soon. Once the summer comes and the temp. is higher, I want to try some funky saisons. Any and all who have played with bacteria, keep the info coming. Sour beer is one of the primary reasons I started brewing to begin with, as many of my favorites can not always be found in most stores(and when they can be found, they ain't cheap). BTW, I have a few bottles of Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour, are the dregs of those of any use, or are they pasteurized?

[NMWildAles]

Adam, use Jolly Pumpkin dregs, they will work great.

[PhillyBrewer]

BTW, I have a few bottles of Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour, are the dregs of those of any use, or are they pasteurized?

Monk's is what got me into sours. You might want to check this site out. Besides being interesting, it has a list of bottles which have dregs. Oddly, he lists Monk's as one with viable dregs although every bottle I've ever had has been pasteurized and without any dregs.

Brewing a sour every month or so seems quite ambitious to me. At the minimum, you'll need a ton of carboys. For me, having 3-4 going at one time while continue to brew normal beers satiated my sour yens.

[AdamWiz]

I've got a fever, and the only cure is - MORE CARBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[brewinhard]

I've got a fever, and the only cure is - MORE CARBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I approached it the same way until my wife looked around the house and counted 13 carboys and kegs all with different sour/brett beers aging away. Needless to say I still brewed up a few more in early winter. If you want to keep your house flowing with sour beer your best bet is to make about 4 serious agers a year. I typically will brew at least 1 flanders red, 1 oud bruin, 1-2 lambics, and 1-2 wild funky personal brews (no real style) and augment with 2 berliners's or so just for fun. That way you keep your secondary fermenters filled and still have room to brew your everyday normal beers for family, friends, yourself, and comps.

[AdamWiz]

Monk's is what got me into sours. You might want to check this site out. Besides being interesting, it has a list of bottles which have dregs. Oddly, he lists Monk's as one with viable dregs although every bottle I've ever had has been pasteurized and without any dregs.

So I talked to a pretty knowledgable beer guy at my local beer/wine shop, and according to him, The big corked bottles are pasteurized, but the lesser seen small bottles are not(seems to me like it would be the other way around). Fortunately the small bottles are what I currently have.

[PhillyBrewer]

I bought a case (11.9 oz bottles) Monk's 2 years ago and they were all pasteurized. At the Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting they sell 4 packs of the small bottles. I was in there last week and they're all pasteurized too. Not sure how unpasteurized bottles are accessible to you and not me.