My Dawson’s Kriek has been in the primary for 4 months now. I’m a huge fan of sour beers living up to their name… but I’m also a huge fan of fiddling with my beer. So, has anyone made this beer and really aged it (6months-1 year per primary/secondary/bottled conditioned) or made it young like an ale? I’m very curious to see how it turns out, and really eager to get it on top of some cherries so I can reuse the yeast to make an Oud Bruin style.
I think I still have a bottle thats nearly 4yr old. At 2 months it was a bright cherry beer with a hint of funk. At 6mth it had bad diacetyl from the bacteria, at a year it was a tart brash kriek, and at 2yr it was sublime. After that it got a little more spicy and lost a little of the tartness.
At 4mth you can certainly transfer to a carboy to let it sit for another 8mths+. It’ll grow a nice pellicle.
[quote=“tom sawyer”]I think I still have a bottle thats nearly 4yr old. At 2 months it was a bright cherry beer with a hint of funk. At 6mth it had bad diacetyl from the bacteria, at a year it was a tart brash kriek, and at 2yr it was sublime. After that it got a little more spicy and lost a little of the tartness.
At 4mth you can certainly transfer to a carboy to let it sit for another 8mths+. It’ll grow a nice pellicle.[/quote]
I have one of these dawson krieks going…i do not keep track of temps like my other beers…is this gonna cause a problem? I heard the bugs will eat the off flavors and excessive esters and byproducts is that true?..Right now i smell banana wheat aromas…For some reason sours make me nervous cause you wait then wait some more then wait for a beer that might taste horrible and undrinkable…sorry for the thread hijack but to the OP, sours are not good beers to fiddle with cause from what i read they need time… 1 year min…i would forget about it for another year and a half
It really is frustrating and here I tip my hat to all wine makers. How anyone can be expected to wait this long is criminal. The only saving/driving grace is that sours are amazing. While I plan on being patient I really want to get the ball rolling on a sour brown so freeing up that yeast is my eagerness.
cant be eager with sours…only patient
I couldn’t stay patient. I put a batch of Dawson’s Kriek I brewed last September in bottles last weekend. I’ve been hurrying it along the whole way, including enjoying some of it right now after only three days in the bottles. I have NO REGRETS. This beer is already delicious enough to make me more than happy.
Next batch I’ll let sit around for the requisite amount of time, maybe. But right now I say being patient with the beer is for people who already have a decent cellar going. I mean cripes, I’ve been drinking a beer I made with yeast I harvested from this stuff for a month already. How much longer was I really supposed to wait?
[quote=“bunderbunder”]I couldn’t stay patient. I put a batch of Dawson’s Kriek I brewed last September in bottles last weekend. I’ve been hurrying it along the whole way, including enjoying some of it right now after only three days in the bottles. I have NO REGRETS. This beer is already delicious enough to make me more than happy.
Next batch I’ll let sit around for the requisite amount of time, maybe. But right now I say being patient with the beer is for people who already have a decent cellar going. I mean cripes, I’ve been drinking a beer I made with yeast I harvested from this stuff for a month already. How much longer was I really supposed to wait?[/quote]
Two years is optimal. But of course this doesn’t mean the beer’s undrinkable younger.
[quote=“mattbrew83”][quote=“tom sawyer”]I think I still have a bottle thats nearly 4yr old. At 2 months it was a bright cherry beer with a hint of funk. At 6mth it had bad diacetyl from the bacteria, at a year it was a tart brash kriek, and at 2yr it was sublime. After that it got a little more spicy and lost a little of the tartness.
At 4mth you can certainly transfer to a carboy to let it sit for another 8mths+. It’ll grow a nice pellicle.[/quote]
I have one of these dawson krieks going…i do not keep track of temps like my other beers…is this gonna cause a problem? I heard the bugs will eat the off flavors and excessive esters and byproducts is that true?..Right now i smell banana wheat aromas…For some reason sours make me nervous cause you wait then wait some more then wait for a beer that might taste horrible and undrinkable…sorry for the thread hijack but to the OP, sours are not good beers to fiddle with cause from what i read they need time… 1 year min…i would forget about it for another year and a half[/quote]
I don’t think the bugs can be relied on to eat all off-flavors/esters. I’d watch ferm temps since the sacch yeast are doing their things first. That said, I’m sure your beer will be fine.
I wouldnt touch the lambic for a year, that’s even before you put the cherries in it to make it a kreik then another 3-6 months after putting cherries in it before you bottle or keg.
Mine is now 1.5 years old, added the cherries after 1 year. It is wonderfully tart now, perhaps a touch too much (but I love it). Planning to make another batch so maybe do some blending.
My dawson kriek kit is 2 months in…it smells like sweat socks and im a little nervous…pellicle is starting to form as well… In 10 months i will add the cherries…salude
