Sour Question

[RLinNH]

I brewed a Sour on 4/10/2010 and racked to secondary 10 gallons on 5/10/2010. I made a few rookie sour mistakes, but that's not the issue here. I Kegged and drank one of the carboys last year. Yes, I thought it was a decent sour, but not an award winner. So, I have left the second carboy alone. Here we are 2 1/2 years into the secondary, and I still have pellicule on the top of the beer. I really want to keg this carboy as I have not paid attention to it, but never letting the air lock go empty. Last year I was all about adding the dredges of different sour beers to the carboy. What the hell I figured, it's a sour experiment. I never got those big bulbous pellicules that I saw in Frank's beer a couple of years ago. I know why. But, here's my question. Think it's safe to keg this beer now? It looks infected (I know, what sour isn't ), but I would at least like to rack to a keg tomorrow, carb it up, and try it. I am at odds. Ever hear of anyone getting sick from an experiment like this. No, there is not any black fungus in the carboy. Just a firm white film of pellicule on the top. I find that very wierd as I thought that the pellicule was supposed to fall out after a year of sitting. Thoughts?

[spiderwrangler]

Adding dregs may have kept the pellicle going? If you want to taste it, you may be able to pull a small sample with a piece of tubing that you can push though/past the pellicle without disturbing it....

[brewinhard]

Pellicles can stay intact for many years especially if not disturbed. I currently have a 3 year old lambic in secondary with a pellicle on top and I have moved that sucker several times (each time it reformed). A pellicle forms in response to the amount of available oxygen in the headspace. Your sour will not make you sick as no pathogens can survive in alcohol. You can easily push a wine thief through your pellicle and take a taste of the beer to see where it is at. I would bet that not only is it done, but also probably pretty sour by now. Rack it to a keg and drink it, or save it in the keg to blend with another beer if you deem fit.

[SouthHouseBrew]

I'd say its about time you taste it!

Tasting is really the only way to figure out when a sour beer is 'ready'.

Since you've been collecting bottle dregs, I'd say rack off and immediately transfer a new beer on top of it. You've got a nice house culture going now.

[brewinhard]

I'd say its about time you taste it!

Tasting is really the only way to figure out when a sour beer is 'ready'.

Since you've been collecting bottle dregs, I'd say rack off and immediately transfer a new beer on top of it. You've got a nice house culture going now.

Agreed. And with those subsequent "pitchings" each beer can sour and get funked up much faster than the previous ones. My buddy has been brewing strictly sour repitches from batch to batch for about 1 year and has found that his beers really only needed to sit in secondary on the repitched dregs (in oak cube form) for about 3 mos before being noticeably sour and not needing to be blended yet. I would say that is a win in my book!