souring beer in keg

[one_dead_soul]

ok. i'm making a flemish red and its fermening away. i'm going to add the bugs in the secondary. i was wondering if i could just use a keg as the secondary. so it would be easier to sample and when its ready i could just through it in the fridge. then keep that keg for sours from there on. anybody know a down side to this? i though maybe it would suck up the pellicle on the bottom so i will just shorten the tube by an inch or so. any help would be nice.. thanks guys

tommy b

[PhillyBrewer]

I'll speak from my limited sour experience (0 finished sour beers, 3 currently aging), but oxygen permeability of your fermentation vessel is one of the key concerns. If too much oxygen gets in, you have vinegar and/or a final beer that has too much of one characteristic. If too little oxygen gets in, it doesn't sour/sour enough. I don't think much oxygen would get into a sealed keg if any at all.

AFAIK, the ferm vessel of choice is a glass carboy with a rubber carboy hood. From what I've read, it seems to be the best/easiest method of getting in the proper amount of O2.

[thatguy314]

When I spoke to Phil Leinhart at Ommegang, he told me that Oud Bruin is typically a stainless-steel fermented beer (in contrast to west Flanders Red style being aged in oak). Oud Bruin is typically a milder beer by comparison, with noticably less vinegar character as well. Not sure if that helps.

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

I think it kind of depends on your keg seal. I have some sours mostly in carboys but also a couple in kegs. I figure if the top is sealing well and it can build pressure (which I release from time to time) it is probably getting about the same amount of oxygen pickup as it would in a carboy.

[PhillyBrewer]

Chupa: I'm confused. You're saying if the seal is good and the pressure can build up that it's getting all the oxygen it needs? The gasses being produced are clearly CO2. Are you saying enough O2 gets in when you release the pressure?

[BrewerJ]

You are going to get far less acetic character if you age in a keg. It will still develop some lactic and brett. However the level of sour is much milder than if you use a carboy with some head space. So it all depends on what you want out of your sour. You could always just open the lid to the keg once a month and a little oxygen will enter allowing more sour character to develop.

[boobookittyfuk]

the only things that would keep me from doing a sour beer in a keg is that I wouldn't want a keg sitting around that long with a beer in it AND most importantly, I like to look at my sour beer from time to time to see the pelicule (sp) and overall clarity of the beer.

[Quin]

I did a brett beer where I added brett at kegging to an amber lager. The brett carbonated the keg. I was well pleased with how it turned out and am planning to repeat the process again shortly.