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So I had a surprising experience tonight. About 70 hours ago I brewed my usual Berliner weisse. I tweaked the recipe slightly by adding a little acidulated malt to jump start the lacto and some oats hoping to add a little body. I pitched Omega lacto blend around 95 degrees into a keg...hit it...

Did you get anywhere on wrangling those beer lines? I’m about to order the John guest fittings and lines. Looks like a great build by the way!

Great post! Halfway through my build right now. Two questions... 1) how are you liking that fan? 2) what temp regulator did you go with and how is that working out for you?

I’d be shocked if the temperature was any issue. I regularly ferment at the low end of recommended fermentation temp and lower in some cases. Did your starter have an active fermentation that you noticed? Was your starter exposed to any conditions that may have damaged some of the yeast? Was it...

I would take measures to lower your fermentation temperatures. A swamp cooler is cheap and easy. If you can’t do that for some reason, use a yeast that tolerates high temps. I haven’t tried it yet but Omega’s Hothead is touted as a neutral strain that can ferment up into the 90s without becoming...

You can absolutely handle a 5-gallon batch in an 8 gallon pot...especially a kettle sour, which you’ll barely boil....so your pre boil wort can be much less. I’ve done all grain high gravity imperial stouts and barleywines in an 8-gallon kettle and 10 gallon mash tun. It can be sketchy in some...

I agree with mirthfuldragon...maybe your cooler was crappy for some reason? My 10 gallon igloo maintains temperature very well.

I use a single Wyeast smack pack without a starter for everything with an OG up to 1.080 with no problems. Freshness makes a big difference though. My homebrew store moves a lot of product so I’m always getting yeast that’s less than a month old. Which is great...because I don’t like making...

@TxBrew Thanks for the cool giveaway! Here’s a pic of my first gold medal I won a few months ago for an imperial stout!

I wouldn't worry about it. Tons of homebrewers and commercial brewers are making quick lacto sours with a very short boil or no boil at all. My recipe is 50/50 Pilsner malt and wheat, so much more pilsner than the recipe you're looking at, and I have had no DMS issues. Like I said, I mash for an...

Two of the best things I’ve added are a copper immersion chiller and a submersible pump. So in my case, I hook the immersion chiller to my hose, cool it down to around 120 fairly quickly like that, but the process slows down at this point, especially with warm FL water. So I put the submersible...

I boil my berliners for 15 mins, sour for a few days, boil again for 15 mins and rack to fermenter/yeast.

I used 8 oz in an imperial stout. Toasted and added to secondary. Had great results.

What temperature are the fermenters at? What was the manufacturing date on your yeast? I wouldn’t be terribly worried after 30 hours. Some yeasts are slow starters (can’t remember if London is one of them).

Make sure you check the manufacturing date on your yeast. I'm just guessing here, but I bet you've got old yeast. Maybe supplies takes a little bit longer to get out to Alaska or your homebrew store doesn't move a lot of product. If older yeast is all you have to choose from, you'll need to make...

I would think about whether there could have been other factors hindering those fermentations that did not create the expected krausen. Maybe the yeast you pitched was old (do you make starters for all of these?). Or maybe you're using a yeast that likes warm conditions. I pitch very fresh yeast...

Yeah if you want a little hop character in the beer then that makes sense. In my case, I'm doing heavy fruit additions and I don't really think its going to contribute to the beer. Although I do wonder how some tropical hops might add to my pina colada berliner and also am planning a sour ipa.

Just toast in the oven for a few minutes and add to the fermenter. I’ve done a ton of secondary additions (coconut several times and cacao a few) and have never soaked anything in alcohol and never had an issue. Usually I freeze and thaw fruit...but I’ve added fresh peeled/chopped cucumber...

Just dry hopped with whole hops in the keg for the first time and very happy with the results.

I almost always ferment in the 50s or low 60s...and I live in Florida! [emoji51]