Owly055
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- Feb 28, 2014
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I'm wondering how to gauge sourness in a sour beer, and balance it against IBUs to achieve a pleasing result. Does anybody have any guidelines? I'm working on a semi sour saison, and winging it. The mash is souring right now... but not very fast, and I'm hoping to hit the "sweet spot" by tomorrow morning.
I will be measuring PH before the boil, and documenting the PH and or course the IBUs as per my recipe. I'm already having second thoughts on using 30 IBUs from the hops with a sour mash, and thinking about cutting the IBUs nearly in half......... I'm really winging it on this one, but based on experience with my Hibiscus wedding brew where the hibiscus tea is pretty tart, I'm thinking IBUs in the teens or even low teens might be best. This is a saison, and the sour is to add a bit more complexity to it.
Any advice based on experience? I know we have some sour beer folks here. I do not want a really intense sour/bitter experience here. Since I'm "kegging" with the tap-a-draft, I could of course back sweeten and kill the yeast, and that may be the best approach for all I know.
H.W.
I will be measuring PH before the boil, and documenting the PH and or course the IBUs as per my recipe. I'm already having second thoughts on using 30 IBUs from the hops with a sour mash, and thinking about cutting the IBUs nearly in half......... I'm really winging it on this one, but based on experience with my Hibiscus wedding brew where the hibiscus tea is pretty tart, I'm thinking IBUs in the teens or even low teens might be best. This is a saison, and the sour is to add a bit more complexity to it.
Any advice based on experience? I know we have some sour beer folks here. I do not want a really intense sour/bitter experience here. Since I'm "kegging" with the tap-a-draft, I could of course back sweeten and kill the yeast, and that may be the best approach for all I know.
H.W.