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added section for very fast mixed fermentation approach via Gareth Young
# Age for 6-18 months, or longer if desired.
# For the last two months of aging, fruit, spices, and/or oak can be added directly into the fermenter. Also consider [[Blending]] with other sour beers.
===Fermentation in Less Than 3 Months===
Some brewers have been experimenting with mixed fermentations that can finish within 3 months. This approach to mixed fermentations takes some knowledge of the cultures being used and is considered an advanced topic. In general, use cultures that don't produce a lot of off-flavors early on in fermentation. Omega Yeast Lab's ''Lactobacillus'' blend (OYL-605) and The Yeast Bay's Lorchristi ''Brettanomyces'' blends are good choices, for example. Warning: if mixed fermentation beers are bottled too early, they can result in bottle bombs or gushing bottles. Gareth Young offers his advise to brewers wanting to try mixed fermentations that finish within 3 months <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1262504037111141/?comment_id=1262518747109670&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D Conversation with Gareth Young on MTF regarding fast mixed fermentations. 03/24/2016.]</ref>:
<blockquote>
I typically turn around funky beers, especially roughly saisonish things, pretty fast. One of the things I like about them is the way they change over time, so I like being able to drink them when they're very young, then drinking them sporadically over the next months as they develop.
Looking through stuff I've posted here, I've found one that I posted about 5 weeks from brew day, and it was good a while before that. It was also dry-hopped and had honey added, which meant it took longer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1108334109194802/
Here's some stuff about my process:
1) As you suggest, lower ABV stuff will be quicker. It doesn't need to be super low, but below 6% is probably wise.
2) Make your wort very fermentable. The more fermentable, the quicker it will hit a stable gravity. I do this by mashing at 63 for two hours, then not sparging too hot, so it's becoming more fermentable all the way to the kettle. Also, don't use any grains with unfermentable (or slow-fermentable) sugars. Just base malt, and maybe some oats/wheat or something.
3) Pitch plenty of yeast. I'd use a culture with lots of healthy ''Saccharomyces'' and lots of ''Brettanomyces'', and maybe bacteria, right at the start of primary. This lets ''Brettanomyces'' character develop more quickly and helps you hit a stable gravity quicker. I always do this, and there are ''Brettanomyces'' aromas coming out of the airlock almost immediately. If you reuse this culture, you'll start selecting for things that get the job done quickly.
4) Pitch your culture low, but then let it rip, and warm it up a bit towards the end of fermentation, if necessary. That should get most of the sugars fermented pretty fast but without the off flavours you can get from pitching hot. Brettanomyces can often clear those up, but it takes time. The less mistakes you leave for your bugs to clear up, the sooner it will be ready.
5) Bottle as soon as you hit a stable gravity. If you do it right, your final gravity should be 0.998-1.002 pretty quick. If you bottle soon, I find you don't get any [[Tetrahydropyridine|THP]] (presumably because there's enough healthy ''Saccharomyces'' around to ferment the priming sugar without producing it). It was only when I decided I wanted my beer to be a bit clearer, and so started leaving it in primary until it cleared, that I started regularly seeing small amounts of THP developing early in bottle conditioning.
For 4-5%-ish beers, the soonest I've started drinking was 1.5 weeks, but I've started in 2 weeks quite a few times. Typically, they hit the final gravity I want within a week, then I bottle them and they're properly carbonated in another week (sometimes less). They obviously develop and get "brettier" and more refined over time, but they're still good, and still funky that quickly.
</blockquote>
==Finishing Mixed Fermentations==