First Sour Beer - 2 years old

[Chris7687]

Hey guys,
So I brewed my first sour beer, Saison, back in Jan 2015. I put the thing in a glass carbon and threw it in the closet. I have completely forgot about it, as it's in my winter coat closet and I live in Florida. Clearly the yeast has dropped out of suspension by now, so I was wondering on what to do for repitching before bottling. What type of yeast to use and how much sugar? I rarely bottle, so I'm not sure where to begin here.

Also, the air lock is completely dry. Could the beer be ruined with exposure to oxygen? Should I even waste the time and money on bottling this?

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1485802745.582864.jpg

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[2trout]

As to the how to's in regards to bottling a sour I cant say, but I certainly would not throw it away. At least not without a taste. Do you have a wine thief?

 

[secondbase]

It's likely that the beer could be ruined but you won't know until you taste and smell it. If it tastes and smells good, package it. If it smells like nail polish or vinegar, dump it.

 

[Chris7687]

I have a wine thief, but I am hesitant to use it as it will be "tainted by the sour bacteria". Maybe I will just pour it out the top and try. Also, I have only had 2-3 sour beers in my life, so I really couldn't tell if it was bad or just how sour beers taste!

 

[secondbase]

A wine thief is a cheap tool. If you plan on brewing more, it would be worth it to just hand it down to your sour and funky brewing. I don't know if would recommend pouring a sample out to taste it. That sounds like recipe to add even more oxygen to your beer.

 

[beergolf]

Go to the store and get a cheap turkey baster. You can use that to draw a sample to taste. If you like it you should add some yeast at bottling. If it tastes good then bottle it up. You will have to dedicate your auto siphon and bottling bucke and wand to sour beer production. Buy new for you regular brews and move you existing stuff to sour beer production.

I use 2g of champagne yeast, rehydrate and add to the bottling bucket.

 

[Chris7687]

Thanks beergolf! Excellent support and just what I was looking for.

 

[signpost]

The pellicle in the picture looks like it hasn't been disturbed, so chances are the oxygen exposure has been limited. That's one benefit of sour brewing, the pellicle acts as a bit of a barrier. I just recently bottled a 21 month old sour beer that had the airlock go dry for a good stretch of time. It turned out fine.

As for bottling, I usually use a little T58 in the bottling bucket and use a little more priming sugar than I would for a regular beer. Although, I've got some champagne yeast that I'm going to try when I bottle my next batch. After sitting in the fermenter for so long, it's likely lost some residual carbonation that would normally be there after a regular fermentation. Another option is to add some fresh yeast and sugar (4 or 5 ounces) to the fermenter, let that ferment, and then bottle as normal. This will restore the typical levels of residual carbonation, so you can get your desired level of carbonation through your normal process.

 

[Weezy]

Look for off flavors like vinegar and soy sauce.

Let us know how it goes! Good luck.

 

[BGBC]

Looks like a lot of head space. Don't be surprised if a regular turkey baster isn't long enough to get to the liquid level.

Otherwise, go with the wine thief or the outer part of an auto-siphon, then dedicate those to your sour brewing.