Bottling a sour

I would like to bottle my first sour very soon. I pulled a sample of it today and it has a really nice flavor and lasting sour that reminds me of unripe grapes or a fruit along those lines. It has been sitting on WLP630 Berliner Weisse and Roselare for five months. My question is…I took poor notes with just a preboil of 1.060 recorded. I usually gain .3-.5 during the boil so I went with 1.063 as my OG and I’m at a FG of 1.004. How much sugar should I add? I was thinking enough for 2.5 volumes and then the bugs might take it down enough for 3? I planned to rack to my bottling bucket with the sugar and let it sit for a day or so…will signs of fermentation show and be a indication of the yeast being viable.

The sugar sounds reasonable. I bottled my berliner almost a year after brew date and it carbed just fine. I would not let it sit around in a bucket with sugar for a day though. Bottle like you normally do. Unless that is normal for you. Just mix the sugar solution into the beer as you’re racking it into the bottling bucket and go ahead.

Sounds good to me. I haven’t noticed excessive carbonation in my sours when bottle conditioning. I don’t know that all the bugs that continue to eat sugar, produce CO2. At six months your yeast will surely still be alive, I’ve seeded sours at 1 year with a little fresh yeast before bottling.

I wouldn’t short the priming sugar with the assumption that the bugs are going to work the FG any lower - just use the proper amount for the desired carb level.

Alright thanks boys. I haven’t bottled in over a year!

Planning to bottle my first sour in a few months. Plan is to keg it, force carb and bottle it. Any reason that wouldn’t work? Maybe add a touch of sugar to push up the carb a bit higher in the bottle (planning to use thick glass 750ml belgian bottles)

No that will work, you’ll just want to get the beer really cold and fill slowly so you minimize foaming and gas loss during bottling.

Would you stick with that recommendation for a 12-15 month sour that is hanging around 1.014. It has come down from 1.019 since this summer when I added dregs from a couple jolly pumpkin beers.
1.014 still seems high for a sour but it is starting to taste really good. I am anxious to bottle it so I can get more wort on these funky guts.

Does anyone know of a source for Orval-style bottles? I like that they’re nice and heavy as a hedge against bottle bombs, especially for anything that might get aged in the bottle for a long time.

I have never seen Orval shaped ones for sale but I was listing to something the other day that said the 357/375ml whatever they are bottles like the ones on NB are the same as Russian River? which is supposedly thicker then the regular Belgian bottles? This is all just hear say but if you don’t mind dropping the money I think they are pretty sweet.

Would you stick with that recommendation for a 12-15 month sour that is hanging around 1.014. It has come down from 1.019 since this summer when I added dregs from a couple jolly pumpkin beers.
1.014 still seems high for a sour but it is starting to taste really good. I am anxious to bottle it so I can get more wort on these funky guts.[/quote]
I would. The bugs arent making co2 out of the sugar. And after a year you arent going to see much more sg activity.

Would you stick with that recommendation for a 12-15 month sour that is hanging around 1.014. It has come down from 1.019 since this summer when I added dregs from a couple jolly pumpkin beers.
1.014 still seems high for a sour but it is starting to taste really good. I am anxious to bottle it so I can get more wort on these funky guts.[/quote]
I would. The bugs arent making co2 out of the sugar. And after a year you arent going to see much more sg activity.[/quote]

Thanks I know the bugs may continue to change the flavor in the bottle over time but wasnt sure if they would eventually over carb the bottles given the fg. since im not a huge sour guy and i usually have plenty of daily drinking beers around, I anticipate being able to sample theses bottles for a few years to come. Allowing me to taste how the batch changes over time.

I’m new to sours but brett makes a fraction of the co2. My carboy of sour hasn’t really bubbled in a long time yet the flavor continues to change.

Lacto seems to make a lot of off gas. I haven’t noticed this is beer but have been making lacto pickles where you use salt to make a environment geared for lactobacillus and it really takes off. Bubbles a decent amount and makes the jars murky as hell in a few days. Twangy pickles for sure.

How long in the primary for your Berliner Weisse? I am wondering if leaving it on the yeast is a problem after a couple months?

Not sure if this was to me? I pitched a vial of Berliner weisse along with a smack pack of roeselare. It has been sitting on that for about 5 months now and I have not noticed any bad funky smells or taste. Not a expert on any grounds but I think the yeast will be alright for quite some time if its a stable temperature and healthy environment.

I just couldn’t stay away from this… What do you mean bugs don’t make CO2 out of sugar? How does the beer carbonate at all then?

well in my case i would be adding a few grams of bottling yeast and priming sugar to carb the bottles. but i wasnt sure if the brett, lacto ect would also contribute additional c02 over time, enough that i should compensate by reducing the priming sugar some.

I know yeast eat sugar and produce c02 and alcohol. but the life of process of the other organisms in the beer im a little hazy on. I think I understand that they eat sugar and produce acid. Im definetily not an expert thats why im asking.

I thought Brett made a fraction of the amount of co2 as a regular brewing yeast?

Brett is a yeast you know… Acts very similar to Saccharomyces. Have you ever made an all-brett beer? Carbon dioxide production is the same, and over time they chew through the sugars that Saccharomyces can’t handle.
See “Size Matters?” post on my blog. May be helpful.

http://bkyeast.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/size-matters/