Wild yeast advice needed

[Ozwald]

Ok, rack off the cherries.

Again, I don't know how long you can leave it on the cherries. I just think that a year might be to long. Waiting for some experts to chime in.

Best way is to let the sour blend to do it's thing. When it's ready to be packaged, put it on cherries for a week or two, then package. If it kicks up another fermentation, it's more likely to be 2 weeks. At this point, the best thing to do is to get it off the cherries & let the sour blend eat the additional sugars that were introduced from them. It'll take out the cherry contribution, but again, they shouldn't have been added so early in the first place.

So using a glass wine thief, if I wash it with water then soak it in star San it will be ok to use with other batches?

But you will have to replace any tubing you use to transfer the sour beer. Your carboy stopper and airlock would have to be set aside. And if you bottle it, your bottling bucket has to be set aside. If you keg, you'd probably want to change the O-rings before kegging something else.

If you do keg it, you'll want beer connectors with check valves to keep the bugs from migrating to the other kegs. Ask me how I know. (I made the CYBI Bam Biere. It was great, but I had two other kegs on my system and they both soured.)

Again, waiting on an expert to chime in.

Rinsing it in water isn't washing it at all. StarSan won't do anything at that point. It needs to be actually washed with some PBW or caustic. Same with the kegs, the connectors, the check valves & any other hard parts that come into contact with it. All soft parts such as tubing & o-rings will need to be replaced.

[norfire0]

Thanks everybody.

[Pepi]

How is that beer doing? I did something similar last year with a Saison/Brett b blended into a simple wort, followed by splitting and some fruit additions over several months. I never got any sourness, but the horse blanket flavor showed up after a month or two of apparent inactivity.

I agree with Ozwald about the timing of the fruit addition- fruit flavors will fade quickly.

The other thing I learned was that, despite sampling often and taking a gallon here or there for experimentation, the beer never tasted oxidized. I guess the brett will take care of any oxygen.
-Brian

[morticaixavier]

If it's not too late, I would leave it on the cherries. nothing bad will happen because it's sitting on the cherries for a year. eventually the bugs will consume every last bit of cherry except the pits.

[sweetcell]

did something similar last year with a Saison/Brett b blended into a simple wort, followed by splitting and some fruit additions over several months. I never got any sourness, but the horse blanket flavor showed up after a month or two of apparent inactivity.

brett won't give you sourness. ok, technically it *can* create some acetic acid under certain conditions, but for 99% of brews it won't make a beer sour. you need lacto and/or pedio to get sour.

I guess the brett will take care of any oxygen.

yup. vinnie said as much on the 01-17-10 show.

[norfire0]

Last I checked it was at 1.014 from 1.022 tested good at 3 months. Not sour. After sampling a few sour ales I think its on track. I pitched the bugs around the first of the year so I am waiting to check it again till its been 6 months. I can see yeast on the wall of the carboy, so its doing something...

[Bad Goat Brewing]

If it's not too late, I would leave it on the cherries. nothing bad will happen because it's sitting on the cherries for a year. eventually the bugs will consume every last bit of cherry except the pits.

I agree, leave it on the cherries. Northern Brewer has an awesome Kriek recipe, and they say to leave the beer on the cherries for up to 12 months. I personally do six months. I would try to limit the head space in the carboy. My experience is that the more head space the more vinegar flavor.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documenta ... sKriek.pdf

[norfire0]

Its still in the cherries. I am looking forward to tasting it. I smelled it the other day and it smelled sour and good.
Cheers. Will up date...