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For sour beers that only use Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces, sometimes also known as [[Quick Sours]], aging is optional. Sour beer should be aged in an environment that minimizes high temperatures and exposure to oxygen. Drastic temperature fluctuations and changes in atmospheric pressure will cause a vacuum inside of the fermentation vessel causing water airlocks to "suck back" air into the fermenter. This could potentially contribute to acetic acid and ethyl acetate (nail polish aroma in high concentrations) production by Brettanomyces, however the development of a pellicle can help protect against this. Filling the carboy to the neck will also help minimize the surface area of the beer that can be exposed to air. Avoid over sampling the beer (once every 3 months at the very most). It should also be noted that micro-oxygenation is helpful for creating certain flavors in sour beer, and many homebrewers have reported not having any issues with over exposure to oxygen using water-based airlocks.
==Wort Production==
The grain bill for a short fermentation sour can be based on nearly any style. The wort, however, is generally designed to be highly fermentable, in contrast to the low fermentability of wort used in the long ferment method. This is because the order and timing of microbial inoculation is used to control acidity and fermentation characters rather than depending on the selective availability of carbohydrates to particular microbes in the long ferment method. A few modifications to grain bills can be made to increase the fermentability of the wort and accomplish the full attenuation of the wort in a relatively short period of time. These modifications include lowering or removing crystal malts from the recipe and mashing for 90-120 minutes at 149F. Extract brewers can steep 2-3 lbs. of crushed, malted 6-row at 149F in their kettle with their extract in order to increase the fermentability of their wort.
== Multi-Stage Fermentation==
[[File:Fast Sour Graph.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|Conceptual graph of Fast Souring microbe and media dynamics|Conceptual graph of fast souring microbe and media dynamics. Y-axis for each microbe group depicts relative activity which combines in a conceptual sense: growth, acidification of wort, attenuation and production of flavor compounds. Plot drawn by Drew Wham based on concepts discussed in American Sour Beer <ref> Tonsmeire, M. (2014). American Sour Beers. Brewers Publications </ref> and Wild Brews <ref> Sparrow, J. (2005). Wild Brews: Beer Beyond the Influence of Brewer's Yeast. Brewers Publications</ref> . ]]