Very Sour Lambic style beer

Reads 2654 • Replies 6 • Started Saturday, July 8, 2017 3:47:32 AM CT

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Jdizzle1
beers 3 º 03:47 Sat 7/8/2017


How’s it going folks, quick question(s) here.

When it came time to bottle/ transfer on to fruit my "Lambic" ( after aging for 14 months)
I tasted it, and it was very sour. I thought to myself "nice one"
I kept some back to drink flat.
As I was drinking it the sourness of it became extreme to the point I couldn’t finish the pint.
I Racked the Lambic over Blueberries and Cherries


My questions are

1) Will time and Carbination mellow the sourness, and make it more drinkable?

2) Will the fruit sugars mellow the sourness?

Any input, ideas are welcomed

 
ekstedt
beers 8338 º places 434 º 04:54 Sun 7/9/2017

No on both questions. The fruit sugars will be consumed, the berries will add further acids even though these two may not be the most acidic berries.

You probably had to much oxygen ingress into the fermentation vessel creating acetic acid.

 
ALLOVATE
beers 3849 º places 111 º 08:40 Sun 7/9/2017

What was the base beer, the ferment and the yeast used?

 
HornyDevil
08:57 Mon 7/10/2017

Originally posted by Jdizzle1
As I was drinking it the sourness of it became extreme to the point I couldn’t finish the pint.


Not for nuthin’, but you probably shouldn’t drinking 16 oz. of sour beer at one time.

Originally posted by Jdizzle1
1) Will time and Carbination mellow the sourness, and make it more drinkable?


Usually not.

Originally posted by Jdizzle1
2) Will the fruit sugars (Blueberries and Cherries) mellow the sourness?


Fruit will add additional acids to the acid profile of the beer. Since fruit is a product of agriculture and agricultural products are variable from season to season due to differences in growing conditions, fruit will vary a bit in its acid profile.

Now that those questions are out of the way, here’s some in return.

1) Did you take a pH or TA on this beer?
2) Besides sour, what did your beer taste like before fruiting?
3) How much fruit did you add per gallon?
4) Are you a member of any other homebrewing boards?
5) Are you aware of a FB group called Milk the Funk?

and most importantly

6) If this beer ends up still being too sour after fruiting, would you be willing to blend it with another, less sour beer?

 
NobleSquirrel
beers 3437 º places 209 º 10:15 Mon 7/10/2017

Intense acidity speaks to other organic acids that are less pleasant in my experience. Acetic Acid is likely a bigger proportion than you’d want. I wouldn’t suspect there to be much in the way of tartaric or malic acids, which are really sharp. Lactic, in my experience, is super drinkable, which is why lambic/gueuze is not particularly "sour".

 
HornyDevil
15:39 Mon 7/10/2017

Originally posted by NobleSquirrel
Intense acidity speaks to other organic acids that are less pleasant in my experience. Acetic Acid is likely a bigger proportion than you’d want. I wouldn’t suspect there to be much in the way of tartaric or malic acids, which are really sharp. Lactic, in my experience, is super drinkable, which is why lambic/gueuze is not particularly "sour".


I would think that this is a distinct possibility, as well, but without a pH or a sensory evaluation, it’s impossible to tell.

If it still tastes good after fruiting, but is too acidic, blending would be his only option to decrease that acidity.

 
HaStuMiteZen99
beers 1111 º places 27 º 09:14 Thu 7/20/2017

If the flavours are good and the problem is just that it’s really sour, I’d blend the beer into something that’s not sour but has a very low finishing gravity, like a nice, funky (or even non-funky) saison. Measure 100ml of each and try some different proportions to get it right. I’d guess somewhere between a third and a half sour beer.

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