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aknox · 01-26-2013, 11:23 PM

Brewed this up today with no boil and a homemade starter. I dumped the liquid from the starter in and have two heating pads on the carboy. It's currently at 120° and the airlock is completely still. It's been four hours and I don't know if I did the homemade starter correctly. I just heated a pint of water to 130 and put it in a mason jar with a cup of 2 row. I dumped as much of the liquid in through a strainer as I could but noticed that their was the cake at the bottom that did not get in. It smelled like sour apples and the temp was at 90 for the most part. I will post back with results. This was my first sour brew.

aknox · 01-28-2013, 03:34 AM

Still no airlock activity. I decided to dump in some WLP677 Lacto about six hours ago and still nothing. The temperature is currently at 110. Hoping for something tomorrow. Did I do something wrong?

**midfielder5** · 01-28-2013, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aknox

Still no airlock activity....
Did I do something wrong?

Lack of airlock activity does not mean it isn't working. Taste it (is it sour?) when you do a hydrometer reading.

aknox · 01-28-2013, 08:36 PM

Just came home from work and what a great sight. Patience...Something I still need to work on.

3x3is9 · 01-29-2013, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aknox

Just came home from work and what a great sight. Patience...Something I still need to work on.

Yeah! That's looking about right.

Patience.. ya, you and me both.

After bottling mine and feeling a little disappointed I stuck mine away for about 4 months. Cracked a bottle last night. Wow! Delicious. So, even after everything seems finished.. patience patience patience!

Morkin · 01-29-2013, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3x3is9

Yeah! That's looking about right.

Patience.. ya, you and me both.

After bottling mine and feeling a little disappointed I stuck mine away for about 4 months. Cracked a bottle last night. Wow! Delicious. So, even after everything seems finished.. patience patience patience!

100% correct. Just because you don't see your airlock going crazy, doesn't mean it isn't working. I use the 48 hour rule for my sourness only after I have tasted it. If it's sour enough for you, pitch the yeast. Hydrometers and your tongue are the best tools for this beer.

aknox · 01-30-2013, 09:47 PM

Just took a sample. 1.010 and the sourness was there, but only at the end. I just shut the heating pads off and I'm going to let it get down to room temperature and hopefully tonight pitch my German Ale yeast.

**musikguru6** · 02-07-2013, 03:01 AM

Took about 60-72 hours, but finally showing some activity! Will let this go for another 24, then will pitch.

t-ross · 03-25-2013, 11:47 PM

Here are some pictures of mine. Do these look right? Used a homemade lactic starter as described in the original post.

Mine was extract, OG 1.054. "mash hopped" with steeping grains (flaked week and two row), brought just to a boil then cooled. I used 0.5 oz of columbus for my 2.5 gallon batch.

The strange thing is that it looks like krausen @33 hours but I haven't added yeast yet.
http://s586.photobucket.com/user/leniotr/library/Berliner%20Weisse?page=1

Update: Just sampled @45 hours. Didn't get much sour. Actually smells and tastes like yeast. Should lactic smell like that? I guess I'll let it keep going and check it again tommorow night.

aknox · 03-26-2013, 04:51 PM

Made this recipe again two weeks ago with East Coast Yeast Bug Farm. My first batch is bottled and I'll crack one open and post a picture soon.

For my next batch, I'm thinking of pitching some lacto followed by Pacman yeast.