This is my first sour ale attempted. I took a half batch (2.5 gallons) of a belgian golden strong ale just before it finished fermenting and added Oregons Sweet Cherry puree (49 oz.) to it in a 3 gallon carboy. Then added Wyeast Roselare blend. It has had a pretty good pellicle on it for the last 4 months. I’ve been told not to disturb it. Once the pellicle falls, how do I bottle condition it? I want to bottle condition instead of force carbonate because I don’t want to contaminate a perfectly good keg. Do I bottle condition like regular beer or is there a secret for sour beers? Will another pellicle form in the bottle?
I’ve seen pellicles in commercial varieties, pretty sure it is just the nature of the beast.
I have just bottle conditioned all of my sour beers. There is something to be said about hearing that “pop” when opening the beer. It gets my salivary glands ready for something special.
Otherwise, I keg all my other beers.
I’ve bottle conditioned sour ales with no problems. Sometimes you’ll get a pellicule again, but this shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve seen it in commercial’s and it came up on the BN Jamil Show as not being an issue.