When to bottle?

[tacks]

Hi all, I've been sitting on my first sour for about 8 months now, and I know that I still have a significant amount of time to go before bottling, but I just wanted to get some info ahead of time from people who have more experience with these kind of beers. I brewed a lime rye beer and put in a Wyeast 3278 initially. Since then I have added dregs from a Rodenbach Grand Cru, Jolly Pumpkin Bam Noir, and a Bruery Mischief. I have pellicles which shows me the bugs are active, but I'm not exactly sure about how long I should continue to let it ferment. Do I need to take gravity readings like with an unsoured beer? I was under the impression that about a year was the standard time it took to allow proper development for a beer of this type, but I am now seeing several people are aging their beers for up to and over 2 years before bottling/kegging. Any insight into what my timeline should be would be appreciated.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

Stable gravity is a must, however it should be stable for a month or two, since brett works slow. On the other hand, you put a double dose of one of the most powerful and fast dregs out there, Jolly Pumpkin. Rodenbach is pasteurized so that didn't add a thing. Bruery dregs can get very sour as well on their own, but the JP is doing the heavy lifting.

There is no set time, the beers done when it's done, and you like the taste. You can probably check gravity now at 8 mos, and the flavor. Check it again in 2 months. If its stable, you're good to go.

 

[dcHokie]

Also Bruery Mischief is a clean beer, 'Mischief Gone Wild' has brett but no bacteria.

 

[tacks]

Thank you both, wasn't sure if the top would "clean up" before it was ready to bottle. Also - after I bottle this beer, should I designate those bottles so as not to use them in the future for non-soured beers, or does star san make sure all is sterile? I'm assuming it does but I got a second set of gear such as racking cane, hydrometer, etc dedicated solely to sours to avoid cross contamination. I've heard that others do this as well.

 

[youreanimpulse]

I don't use separate bottles, glass should sanitize well enough. Separate plastic equipment is wise.

 

[dcHokie]

Thank you both, wasn't sure if the top would "clean up" before it was ready to bottle.

If you are referring to the pellicle, it isn't an indicator that the beer is ready or not. You don't need to wait for it to fall. As others have said, once you have stable gravity and are happy with the beer you can go ahead and bottle/keg regardless of pellicle.

For long aged beers, you may also want to consider using a few grams of champagne or wine yeast when bottling to ensure carbonation.

 

[sweetcell]

Also - after I bottle this beer, should I designate those bottles so as not to use them in the future for non-soured beers, or does star san make sure all is sterile?

assuming that you clean the bottle well (say, with PBW) before you use star san, you should have no problems re-using the bottles.