How to "fix" an astringent sour

[dougdecinces]

I brewed a dark saison about 11 months ago, to which I added burnt honey, caramelized figs, and sage and the bottle dregs of about 6 different sour beers. I have been tasting it regularly, and after about 6 months it developed a harsh astringency that hasn't mellowed out yet. I tasted it early and there was no astringency, so I know it had nothing to do with the mash. Something in the fermentation caused it. The only mistake was that I left the beer in primary too long. It spent about 5-7 months in a Better Bottle, so maybe being on the yeast cake too long goofed it up somehow.

The beer is still good, but as is I wouldn't want to bottle it. I know that this is still a relatively young beer, but I would prefer to be more proactive if possible. I'm not sure if this is something that will mellow over time. If I could reduce the astringency via blending or the addition of certain fruit or spirits, I will do that.

I don't have the recipe with me now, but I could post it if need be.

 

[TopherM]

It may still mellow somewhat over time, but won't disappear. Especially since it is a sour, you may want to consider blending the beer with a fresh, non sour or quickie sour, about 2/3 old sour to 1/3 new beer.

 

[Brewosaurusrex]

Is there any oak involved?

 

[smokinghole]

How much sage, where, and how long? My guess is thats the culprit.

 

[dougdecinces]

No oak and 0.4 oz of sage. I boiled the sage for about 10 minutes, so I figured that would extract all of the badness. But I poured the contents of my entire kettle into the fermenter, which included the sage. This may have been a mistake in hindsight.

 

[smokinghole]

If this is only a 5 gal batch you will likely have to blend. Sage is known for a high tannin content and its "astringent" action. The good news is that according to herbwisdom.com it is well documented in reducing menopausal sweats, so there's that....

 

[dougdecinces]

If this is only a 5 gal batch you will likely have to blend. Sage is known for a high tannin content and its "astringent" action. The good news is that according to herbwisdom.com it is well documented in reducing menopausal sweats, so there's that....

Well that was a mistake then. I just thought the sage would mesh well with the other flavors and I had a ridiculous amount in my garden. It sucks that something so small would have a huge effect on the final product.

 

[dantheman13]

Yeah, blending can resolve a lot of issues with sours. Most people think of blending finished beers, but you can also blend with young beer or even wort. In the case of blending with wort, I like to leave the blend in the fermenter for 2-4 days before pitching fresh brewer's yeast so as to encourage the Lactobacillus to produce lactic acid. I've been able to "produce" sour beers within 6 months with this method. Blending with young beer results in a much less sour beer over all.