Beer Forum

howdy, im wondering if i can get some advice from the sour funky beer veterans.
ive only done berliner wiesse/ orvalish clone things and need help with some more ambitious funky brews.

im getting ready to brew up a belgian strong dark/brown ale to inoculate with the Wyeast lambic blend/and or roselare and then age with some fruit. the initial (pre inoculated brew) is a 1.080 ale, that fermented optimally should finish around 1.012- 1.016.

my question is about how optimal that initial ferment should be. should i pitch a healthy mr.malty recommended 1L of starter... or the much easier 2 pack plus strong o2.
the experienced brewer in my head says... just brew it as clean as a strong dark, then pitch. the newbie funky beer brewer in my head says, a FG of 1.012 + bretlactopedio + fruit will be way too acidic.
help?

and as long as i have your attention... if i wanted to brew an all brett, 1.050ish gravity beer. should i pitch the brett like a normal yeast? or the all sugar consuming beast i know it as?

Just because you are "dirty-ing" up your beer with a brett/lacto/pedio pitch, doesn't mean your first ferment should be taken for granted. If you are eventually going to put fruit in there, then the esters might be OK - but not diacytl or fusel alcohols from an underpitch or over temp ferment.

If your intent is to pitch the Roselare when the primary ferment has slowed - you might be in for it. Jamil talks about this on pg. 219. You might have a too alcoholic brew for the sourness to take hold. Maybe scale that first brew back to Abbey strength.

I don't really have too much advise for you here. It sounds like you are going out on your own limb here.


Mylo

I think on the Flanders Red show the Jizzer talks about getting a low attenuation on the inital ferment with Cal Ale yeast and then adding the bugs. I don't recall what he did (pitch vile, small starter, etc.) but he was shooting for a low initial attenuation. He also mentioned something about not brewing too high a gravity for a sour beer.

i wonder if pitching the bugs and the yeast at the same time is the best way to go about higher gravity sour ales ala' cuvee de tomme