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Author Topic: Building body into a sour ale  (Read 4994 times)

Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #15 on: July 21, 2015, 05:40:41 am »
I agree, Dave.  When I taste my uncarbonated beer it seems to lack a fullness that is present when that same beer is carbonated.  I even had a Barleywine that seemed thin until I carbonated it - and then it was fine and I was glad that it had attenuated fully and wasn't cloying.
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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #16 on: July 21, 2015, 09:39:48 am »
What I meant was there is a difference between blending and back-sweetening.  From what I've read about sour styles and heard in interviews with Jean Van Roy, is that blending is traditional, done to achieve balance.  The sugars in the younger beer come from using raw grains that provide unfermentable (or slowly ferment able) sugars to the beer.  Back-sweetening with sugars (aspartame and saccharine) and syrups is a newer practice meant to attract a younger demographic to Belgian beer (think Bud Light Lime or wine coolers) Yes, both methods add sugar to the finished product but from different sources and for different purposes if my understanding is correct.

http://sourbeerblog.com/designing-and-brewing-a-flanders-red-ale/

https://byo.com/stout/item/2989-flanders-red-style-profile

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/751

http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine-and-Drink/A-Beer-Called-Lambic

I understood your point and only meant to clarify my own.

Backsweetening with aspartame and other unfermentable sweeteners is definitely a newer practice and those beers are often targeted towards younger non-beer drinking crowds although I probably wouldn't say that is true of Monk's Cafe, Duchess and some of the other backsweetened reds that aren't quite as sweet or fruity as the Lindemans or Timmermans sweetened fruit lambics.

However, backsweetening is not itself a new practice with sour beer. There is a good history of adding syrups and rock sugar to casks to sweeten them. Faro, for example, is a good example of this although it is a disappearing presentation of lambic. The difference with the historical practice is that, like unpasteurized blends, the sugar will be fermented and eventually the beer will lose its sweetness. That is different from the practice of backsweetening with unfermentable sugars or adding sugar and pasteurizing that is more often seen in the sweetened sour beers on the market.
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Offline brewinhard

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #17 on: July 21, 2015, 10:47:34 am »
Two sugars available for building body in sour beers are maltodextrin and lactose.  Lactose will have a bit more sweetness than maltodextrin when added back to a sour beer so be forewarned.  Both can be a bit of a pain boiling up to add back to a thin beer, with maltodextrin being more of a PITA (easily boils over).  As brett and bacteria can consume both of these products, albeit fairly slowly, you need to be able to keg your sour beer and keep it cold so the microbes don't continue to consume the sugars and thin out the beer again. 

As much as this procedure will work, I would only do this if you are at your last resort (and you keg).  Blending beers (a non sour or less sour with your very thin sour) is a much more traditional method and preferred. 

Offline shearej

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #18 on: July 21, 2015, 05:26:08 pm »
Thanks for all the comments.  To my taste, the beer is just a bit too 'thin' on the palate.  By wanting a bit more body, I mean just a bit.  Not looking for a 'full mouthfeel' like a stout or porter.  Just mean increase the FG (currently at 1.004) a few points to reduce the thinness I feel on the palate.  I'll look into blending it when I have a similar style that may work for blending.  Cheers!

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #19 on: July 21, 2015, 09:54:46 pm »
You could add 1/4 pound of lactose per 5 gallons just to take the edge off.  You'll just barely be able to tell any difference.
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Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #20 on: July 21, 2015, 10:01:07 pm »
You could add 1/4 pound of lactose per 5 gallons just to take the edge off.  You'll just barely be able to tell any difference.
Won't lactobacillus and pedio touch lactose? Seems like it would.

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #21 on: July 21, 2015, 10:23:00 pm »
So then drink it before they eat all the sugar!
Dave

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Offline brewinhard

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #22 on: July 23, 2015, 11:30:44 am »
Or as I stated above, keep it cold in a keg to minimize activity. 

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Building body into a sour ale
« Reply #23 on: July 23, 2015, 03:48:59 pm »
Better yet, just realize that sour beer often is thin bodied. That method allows for aging and enjoying the changes over time.