How To Sour A Brewferm Kriek.

[LeeH]

I'd like to make my better half a cherry sour and the most simple way I can see is to use a kit.

The idea is (an expensive one) is to buy 2 of the Kriek kits and add candy sugar and a sour yeast.

Like to get this right due to the cost.

https://www.geterbrewed.com/imperial-sour-batch-kids-f08/

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brewferm-kreik.html#customer-reviews

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/candi-sugar-white-500g.html

 

[IainM]

Wow, that is expensive. Perhaps it would be easier to use the sour batch kids (great blend btw) with a one can kit and DME and let it sit on some frozen cherries from the supermarket.

Another thing to consider is that many people, including myself, keep separate equipment for fermenting and bottling when doing sours and brett beers.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I'd like to make my better half a cherry sour and the most simple way I can see is to use a kit.

The idea is (an expensive one) is to buy 2 of the Kriek kits and add candy sugar and a sour yeast.

Like to get this right due to the cost.

https://www.geterbrewed.com/imperial-sour-batch-kids-f08/

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brewferm-kreik.html#customer-reviews

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/candi-sugar-white-500g.html

I have doubled up on a brewferm kriek and brewed it a little short you do get cherry, not as strong as other krieks I've had. I can send you a beer to sour it if you like - use the dregs from it to sour ? - but as iain says best to have separate kit.

 

[Zephyr259]

Asda do morello cherries in their frozen section which seem reasonably priced and a good variety for kreik. The wort for a kreik is pretty simple, 60% pilsner and 40% malted wheat is the easy version of a lambic, under 5 IBUs to ensure the lacto works and pitch a sour blend or regular yeastyand sour dregs then wait, adding cherries after a few months. Good luck.

 

[LeeH]

Thanks all, I’ll do a bit more digging and make it from AG and cherries.

 

[Zephyr259]

I've also had a nice cherry saisons made with Funkin cherry puree, it was very nice and probably a lot easier than fresh cherries, also works out about the same price I think.

 

[IainM]

Actually, yeah, zeph makes a good point. The lacto won't work if the IBUs are too high, and with the pre-hopped kits you don't know what you're getting. Many krieks have no hops at all, so you could just make it up from 50% wheat DME and 50% barley DME, diluted to whatever strength you like, then add the blend, leave it for a week, add the defrosted frozen cherries, mushed up a bit in the bag, then leave it sitting on there for a month or two. Should make a fine drink.

 

[LeeH]

Sitting at fermenting temp all that time or can it just sit in the cool garage?

Also would you rack it off onto the cherries from the primary? I never use a secondary but if it’s sitting in the yeast for all that time....

 

[IainM]

Sitting at fermenting temp all that time or can it just sit in the cool garage?

Also would you rack it off onto the cherries from the primary? I never use a secondary but if it’s sitting in the yeast for all that time....

I've only racked on to cherries, but only because I'd split a batch. Sitting on the yeast for two or three months isn't a ridiculous amount of time; just last week I had a beer called Rince Cochon which is purposely aged on the yeast and it doesn't seem to have done it any harm. Similarly, I had a lambic-style beer sit on a Sour Batch Kidz yeast cake for 4 months before bottling and I love it. The lacto and brett take their time, so you need to keep it warm to keep them going.

 

[IainM]

Also, I'm not sure what type of beer your wife likes, but anything soured in the fv will end up dry, not sweet like a Lindemans or a Timmermans, which are pasturised, sweetened and force carbonated. If you want to keep some sweetness, then it is better to kettle sour. The flavour won't be so complex, but the lacto is killed off before the normal brewers yeast is added, so some residual sugars remain. It'd might work out a bit cheaper too.

 

[Zephyr259]

Extended time in primary isn't an issue if you have brettanomyces in your blend as it will alter any autolysis character, lambic beers are aged entirely in primary for a year or more. Flanders red/brown beers are aged in a secondary.

 

[cheeseyfeet]

Be careful of oxygen exposure when leaving in the FV for an extended period, I aged an all grain kriek on cherries for 6 months and ended up with litres of cherry vinegar

Thinking of getting a stainless fermenter to combat this for my next one.

 

[Zephyr259]

Ah yes, don't leave sours in a plastic bucket FV for too long as they let in way too much oxygen which encourages acetic acid and ethyl acetate which give vinegar and nail polish remover. Transfer to a glass (or PET?) carboy for ageing will be much better.

 

[LeeH]

I have a SS brewbucket thankfully.

I could use that and a spunding valve set at a couple of PSI for extra assurance.