Best Souring Technique

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
gstrawn

gstrawn

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
374
Reaction score
28
Location
Athens
Well I've recently gotten into sour beers and i love them. So time to make one. I see there are basically 3 ways of doing this, sour mash, pitching of lacto, and adding lactic acid post-mash. I've been reading up on the three options and clearly adding lactic acid is the easiest and shortest, but doesn't seem to be as good of a choice; doing a sour mash is more work, but is difficult to control and can yeild a good, or maybe bad beer; and pitching of lactobaccilus is also easy and yeilds perhaps the best results but takes a loooong time. I would rather just add lactic acid, because it's so easy and takes the least amount of time.

My question is what do you recommend for a first time sour brewer? I just can't imagine myself being able to wait that long to see the fruits of my labor.
 
I use lacto, it doesn't take a long time at all...the idea it needs months is just mantra that people have adopted like secondaries. I go from brew day to bottle in about a week. You just need to make a good lacto starter at 100 degrees, then pitch your ratio between the lacto and sacc. By going to the bottle quickly it gets the lacto character much faster than bulk aging. The tough part is to figure carbing levels as the charts figure for much less residual CO2 than than is present when you go to bottle so quickly.

I haven't made a lactic acid BW, but have tried one and it was one dimensional like people say. As you said, sour mash has questionable results, it can be great or terrible and I don't want to risk wasting my time and making my equipment nasty to save a little money on a lacto culture.
 
Bensiff said:
I use lacto, it doesn't take a long time at all...the idea it needs months is just mantra that people have adopted like secondaries. I go from brew day to bottle in about a week. You just need to make a good lacto starter at 100 degrees, then pitch your ratio between the lacto and sacc. By going to the bottle quickly it gets the lacto character much faster than bulk aging. The tough part is to figure carbing levels as the charts figure for much less residual CO2 than than is present when you go to bottle so quickly.

I haven't made a lactic acid BW, but have tried one and it was one dimensional like people say. As you said, sour mash has questionable results, it can be great or terrible and I don't want to risk wasting my time and making my equipment nasty to save a little money on a lacto culture.
Click to expand...

That's really interesting. It seems like the only complicating factor is carbonation. This process seems easier than sour mashing. Do you use the same process for a lacto starter as you would a typical yeast starter, and do you purchase lacto or recover it from the grain?

Also how do you account for carbonation? Just use half the amount officiant sugar or what?

What is you're typical ratio of lacto to ale yeast? And how long do you age in bottles?

I think if I knew the answers to all of these questions I would be ready to brew! Sorry for all of the questions, but I like to think that you brought it upon yourself!
 
What sour beers do you like? Fairly important to know if you want to try and create something similar.
 
Calder said:
What sour beers do you like? Fairly important to know if you want to try and create something similar.
Click to expand...

I like a lot of the flemmish style sours. I haven't been able to try a whole lot because they're so expensive! Hence why I want to brew one.
 
gstrawn said:
I like a lot of the flemmish style sours. I haven't been able to try a whole lot because they're so expensive! Hence why I want to brew one.
Click to expand...

Unless you're specifically talking about oud bruins you need more than just lactic sourness to achieve the flavor profile. Flanders reds have acetic qualities and brett flavors.
 
ReverseApacheMaster said:
Unless you're specifically talking about oud bruins you need more than just lactic sourness to achieve the flavor profile. Flanders reds have acetic qualities and brett flavors.
Click to expand...

I do like some of that acetic flavor. I guess flanders reds would be a good description of what im going for. I want the most efficient way to make beer. I just wish it was that simple!
 

Similar threads

Ragman
Brewing first sour - what to use for Lacto besides goodbelly?
Replies
1
Views
667
Hoppy2bmerry
Hoppy2bmerry
R
Kettle Sour Not Souring (OLY-605)
Replies
2
Views
1K
RPh_Guy
RPh_Guy
T
Philly Sour Raspberry Sour
Replies
22
Views
6K
DuncB
D
J
Kriek doesn't sour after 14 month. Could lactose help
Replies
7
Views
2K
505-Brewer
5
G
A Question About Water Chemistry
Replies
10
Views
1K
Gerry D
G
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top