Beer Forum

I'm getting ready to brew my first sour beeer – a Flanders Red. I will be pitching the Roeselare blend into the primary, but from my research it is still whether the blend needs a starter or not. Some sources (Jamil, etc) say that it can be pitched directly and that a starter may throw the bugs out of balance, others (The Mad Fermentationist) say that a starter is good and even with the starter the lag phase was really long.

Advice is welcome.

I did a 10 gal batch, 5 gal got the Roselear and the other 5 gal got the White Labs Belgian Sour Mix- both initially fermented right off well. No starter is needed, just pitch the vial. Keep your ferment temps in check according to mfg recommendations.

+1 to Aaron. The Roselare does not need a starter, and in fact by making a starter can throw off the ratio of organisms in the blend. Depending on the packaging date of your smackpack it should take off when directly pitched. Be patient as it might take some time. If you are looking for a more sour beer faster, then after primary is complete with the first batch, rack it to secondary for aging and reuse the yeast cake(part of it) for a second batch.

The primary for this beer is supposed to last what, 8-10 days? Don't think I'll be ready to brew another sour that quickly, but I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Also, I've never used Wyeast packs before. Do I activate (smack) it a few hours before pitching or earlier?

You can smack it 4-6 hrs in advance depending on the freshness of the packaging date. Do not be alarmed if the packet does not swell much as sometimes these wild yeast blends do not activate as quickly but are still quite viable.

I just transferred a F. Red after a month on primary. The primary was pitched on a full yeast cake of Belgian Sour Mix from the initial red. #2 tasted more sour than when I transferred the first off the cake. This really makes me want to do a third and use the pint of yeast cake I saved and see how it reacts in batch 3.

I would not worry about the length of time your beer is in primary, and urge you to brew a second red and throw on the cake.

Another note, all have been fermented in glass carboys- 2 months later no signs of pellicle.

I'd love to do another sour right away, but I'm constrained by storage, since I'm in an apartment.

By the way, Jamil advised using either Better Bottles or glass carboys with the carboy cap to allow a bit of oxygen diffusion.

Brewed it yesterday. Pitched the whole Roeselare pack. 12 hours later no sign of activity yet. Anyone know how long the lag phase might last?