moving in 6 months - and brewing on monday

[Rivenin]

So my club is doing a brown ale that we will be sampling here in about 2 months or so, so i'm making my batch and i bought everything to double it and toss some bugs into the second batch to make an oud bruin.

i'm going to be moving in about 6 months (beginning of december) and was wondering if that is enough time in the carboy and i can bottle right before i move... if it'll be safe in 6 months, then i can just leave it in the bottle for 6-12 more months before i drink any to let the souring take place. This way i wont have to move a carboy full of wort splashing around and such....

 

[ICWiener]

Probably not enough time. It's been my experience that the gravity might not stable enough at 6 months. It won't be safe to bottle.

The thing is, the souring process makes the gravity drop. So, if you bottle before the beer is ready, say at 1.010, there's a very real possibility that they can explode on you.

I mean, I could be wrong...it might be done and stable at 6 months. Stranger things have happened. But usually an oud bruin or a Flemish red is going to take upwards of a year to age, possibly longer.

 

[Rivenin]

may have to spring for a "sour only" keg then if that is the case... thats what i was wondering with the fermentability of it, i've heard the gravity can still drop after 6-9 months.

 

[ICWiener]

That will be a good bet. I had to move recently, with 4 ot 5 sours in various stages! It's all about purging the headspace and being as gentle as possible.

And yes, they can just keep dropping and dropping. I have one right now that's still dropping at 13 months.