So I brewed my first sour, a recipe for a "Sour Brown Ale" in January, and curiosity got the better of me last night- it has now been 10 months and it was time to see what this sucker tasted like. I pulled a small amount off and to my surprise it was nowhere near as sour as I was expecting.
It was fermented with a Belgian strain for primary, and then after about 6-8 weeks I racked it onto 3 lbs of raspberry puree, some medium toast french oak spirals that were soaked in Johnnie Walker Red, and I added Brett, Pedio & Lacto. It's been sitting there ever since- taunting me from the corner of my bedroom to prematurely drink it.
It is much more malty than I wanted. But I think this could be a good thing if I can get more tart character to it- but how? You can definitely tell that there is a slightly acidic after taste, but I want to be puckering up like I just had a Thanksgiving dinner composed entirely of Warheads. How can I sour this thing up? Here are the options I am considering:
-Do nothing- leave it to grow old and sour peacefully. It is sitting at room temp (~68).
-Add heat: Could those bugs speed up the process if I wrapped my carboy with a low intensity heating blanket or something?
-Rack it onto some strawberries to add some more sugar for the bugs to work on- I am afraid they are out of food.
-Chalk this up as a learning experience
Another factor is that this thing has turned out with a WAY higher ABV than I anticipated. I was shooting for ~8%, but with the raspberry puree, it is currently sitting at like 14%. Could the high ABV cause the Lacto & Pedio to be inactive?
Anyone with experience who would like to lend some advice from a similar situation would be appreciated!