Beer Forum

Hi All,

Brewed an Oud Bruin just pitching straight Roeselare blend, Wyeast 3763.
About 3 monts in the secondary I got about an 1/8" of white coating that resembles cottage cheese on top. 11 months later little roots are starting to grow under neath this layer. It smells great, like real dy cherry sweet tarts. Aroma wise I would say it is time to bottle but am not sure I want to disturb the pellicle. It is now aboyt 14 months old.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Fritz

I've got the same thing going, almost 4 months along - cottage cheese was stable for the last month & is now beefing up a little bit. No ropes yet

Take a sanitized s/s racking cane & carefully poke a hole through the pellicle as gently as possible. Remember playing with your McDonalds drink as a kid, plugging the end of the straw & lifting it up? Same idea. If you're 14 months along, I'd start pulling samples every 2-4 weeks. Monitor the changes & once you get to "Goddamn that's good!!", bottle it.

Thanks Ozwald, sort of what I thought. Some people say to wait for the pellicle to fall, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I've heard of folks racking & another one forms shortly after. Go by the flavor. Bottle it when it tastes right. Sometimes they get another pellicle in the bottle. Purge well before filling to keep it minimal & let it age out. Sours are so fun.

Pellicle or not, go by taste. I have disturbed many a pellicle, and most will reform if given time. I have recently resorted to purging the headspace after each sample taken with CO2 to minimize oxidation which really seems to help with the final product.

After 14 mos, I would venture to say that your beer is most likely ready to package. You can try cold crashing for a couple days and see if that drops out the pellicle, but it doesn't always work especially if they are a stubborn one. You can just rack from beneath the pellicle when packaging with no worries. As Oz said, don't be alarmed if they form a small pellicle in the bottle too. You may want to add some fresh rehydrated yeast (wine or champagne) to help carbonate the bottles properly in a timely fashion.

Agreed, except for the purging the head space. I like the acetic touch in those styles. I believe it's even listed in the BJCP Flander's Red guidelines. Other sour styles, such as a Berlinner Weisse where a softer lactic sourness is desired, I'm with ya 100%.

Ozwald wrote:Agreed, except for the purging the head space. I like the acetic touch in those styles. I believe it's even listed in the BJCP Flander's Red guidelines. Other sour styles, such as a Berlinner Weisse where a softer lactic sourness is desired, I'm with ya 100%.

Yes, but Fritz brewed an Oud bruin which should not have any noticeable acetic/vinegary aromas or flavors. They should have considerably less acetic notes than a flanders red. But I definitely have had a couple commercial oud bruins that have had a touch of acetic acid in them for sure.

Yeah, I think a lot of commercial examples have it blended back down. I was thinking the Oud Bruin had it listed as well, but I just reread the BJCP guidelines & you are most correct sir.