Hello, I am making my first sour beer. Followed a recipe from the May/June 2015 Zymergy (page 28). I fermented in primary with ale yeast for a week, then racked to secondary. When adding to secondary I also added the Wyeast Roeselare blend. The cultures have been in the secondary for two weeks now. I have not seen any pellicle form and see no activity in the air lock. Should I try to agitate or swirl the wort and try to activate or leave?
It’s a nine month yeast, so it very likely will take some time for you to see the pellicle form. That being said, I’ve only used Roeselare as the primary yeast and it’s the most violent yeast I’ve ever used. When I’ve added Brett to the secondary it has taken awhile for the funk to appear.
Nothing to be alarmed about.
You probably won’t see any activity in the airlock. If you do it will be minimal bubbling generally due to slight warming through the summer causing CO2 offgassing. You should see a pellicle form soon but I would not worry about it, either. It will happen when brett decides it needs to happen. Roeselare is a highly reliable souring blend.
+1. No rush on this strain. It will take at least 12 mos to produce enough acidity for the style. Just put it somewhere dark/out of the way and temps are best kept between 65-low 70’s for best complex results. Be patient, and forget about it for a while.