% Acid malt for a sour ale?

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johnnyjumpup

johnnyjumpup

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Hi All,

I want to make a 5 gallon batch of some kind of sour brett. I would like to get the lactic acid in from acid malt rather than pitching lacto bacc into the wort. My question is, how much acid malt is right? The grain bill is going to be about 9 lbs total. I don't want something that is puckering sour, but I do want noticable sourness. Would one pound ( ~ 11%) be too much?

Many thanks!
 
I would skip the acid malt and just add straight lactic acid. Your LHBS should have it. Don't ask me how much, you'll have to play around with it on your own, although it's all guesswork anyway, since you don't know exactly what the Brett will do with the acids and with the rest of the beer. You can use any leftover lactic acid to adjust mash ph in future brews.
 
I have a saison/brett that I brewed with 8% acid malt. I'd say that it's lightly tart, but definitely not sour. Ithaca Brewing does a sour using only acid malt (and brett), and they use 15%. That may be the range you're looking for.

I think most people would recommend adding the acid malt later in the mash, if you go that route.
 

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