Hi all, bit of a long post to follow, but I'd appreciate any help you are able to give. I've never brewed a sour beer before and have a few questions, and also wanted to run my recipe and process past you guys to see if you can pick up any no-no's before I make my first attempt. I'm going for a very easy drinking cherry sour ale that will be nice and refreshing, getting ready to go into the Aussie summer.
- I plan on using Wyeast 3763 Roeselare to sour my 10L 'wort A' before the boil - will there be any benefit to using a mixed blend like that in such a short time, or would I be better off using a single lactobacillus strain? I'm guessing all of the potential flavours in the Wyeast concoction would take many months to develop, so maybe no point in using it?
- If I do go with the 3763, should I be leaving it to sour at 40°C (104°F)? Wyeast say it's temperature range is 65 - 85°F, but I'm guessing that's for the yeast strains in there, but as I'm not looking to use it for the yeast, I'll be better going with 104°F?
- I plan on aiming for a pH of around 3.1 in my 10L wort A before the boil, so that when it's diluted to the full 22L, I should end up with a pH of around 3.5. Does that sound right?
- I plan on just doing a 20min boil as I can't see the point of doing a longer one - am I missing something? I'm not wanting any hop flavour or aroma that will get in the way of the cherry.
Proposed recipeOG: 1.036
FG: 1.006
IBU: 6
ABV: 3.9%
Volume into fermenter: 22L (6G)
38% Pale Ale malt
30% Wheat malt
21% Extra Light DME
6% Crystal 40L
6% Dextrose
10g Magnum
Wyeast 3763 Roeselare
US-05
500mL (1.5lb) tart cherry juice after primary
ProcessI plan to do my partial mash with the pale ale malt, wheat malt and crystal, top up to 11L (3 gallons), boil for 15mins to sanitise, cool to 104°F, add lactic acid to bring the pH down to 4.5, add the Wyeast 3763, cover and leave for a couple of days at 104 in an incubator, checking pH every 10 hours. When the pH reaches 3.1, add the DME and dextrose, bring to the boil, add hops and boil for 20mins. Business as usual from there, until the beer is a couple of points off FG, then I'll add the cherry juice, and carry on as usual.
Thoughts, comments and advice welcome!