Berliner Weisse Experiment #1

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sddanc

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I finally started my BW experiment/project and will be leaving notes here

4# German Pilsner
3# Wheat
6oz uncrushed pale malt


2:30pm 5/15/12
-doughed in 8.75 qts and mashed at 150F for 60 mins.

3:30pm
-opened MLT and stirred mash until temp dropped to 136F, at which point I added 6oz American Pale malt to the top, covered with Saran Wrap, then poured a bit of club soda over the top to try and expel o2.

3:45pm
-sealed MLT, and secured all possible edges with duct-tape.
-affixed my thermo to the outside
-placed on front seat of the N.O. vehicle in my driveway (it catches a full days sunlight. Temps around here get up to 80F right now, so during the day time I aim for it to maintain a decent temp. At night I will wrap an electric blanket around it.)

3:50pm
-said my prayers



I will continue to update this as things occur, and hope this will lead to a nice beer.

:mug:

First update:

9:45am 5/16/12
- at the 18hr mark, temp of mash has dropped to 118F, hopefully the looming days heat will keep it steady


6:00pm 5/16/12
- mash temp at 126F, not sure if it went any higher than that today. . .
- drew a small sample and it smelled thoroughly of creamed corn.

Update 5/23/12
Took my first gravity reading today. Went into the carboy on 5/17/12 @ 1.041 OG. Pitched Wyeast German Ale smack pack. Thing took off like a rocket. 4ish gallons in my 6gal carboy krausened up intensely and blew off the stopper overnight. Slapped a blow off tube on it and its been bubbling up until today. Still an inch or so of krausen, current gravity is down to 1.010.

Pleasantly tart with some dry mouthfeel. Still not clean on the nose, a bit of residual 'musty'ness.

here is a shot
photobucket-4331-1337926789298.jpg
 
awesome. good luck - been the hardest style ive ever tried to make but never having had an actual BW, i can't tell how bad mine is... sending them to my commercial brewer buddy here shortly for actual feedback.
 
awesome. good luck - been the hardest style ive ever tried to make but never having had an actual BW, i can't tell how bad mine is... sending them to my commercial brewer buddy here shortly for actual feedback.

Thanks. I hope it goes well, this will be my first attempt at a sour.
 
I always think the bayerischer bahnhoff berliner weiss tastes a little dirty. Their gose seems much cleaner to me...
 
So guys, I have had brett b trois in my BW for a little over 2 weeks now and the gravity hasn't moved at all (still at 1.010). I can definitely taste a difference in the flavor profile overall. The pellicle is still clinging on, no signs of it dropping. A few large bubbles have appeared since dumping in some RR Beatification dregs. How long should I let this ride out before I bottle? Given it has brett, should I worry about bottle bombs if I prime it to a safe level? Thoughts?


I have a second batch in which I tried a lacto starter, but have no sourness whatsoever. Fermented out with hefe yeast cake and is down to about 1.012. I'm going to throw some fruit in it and bottle in about 2 weeks.
 
i would leave it on the brett for a while, unless you are planning to drink quickly- since you have a sacc strain in there, the brett will attenuate to a pretty low gravity, over time. For your lacto starter batch, how long did you leave the lacto in before you pitched onto the hefe? I leave mine go for 4 or 5 days and i still don't feel like i am getting the tartness that i want. not all BW's are quite so sour- bell's oarsman is pretty readily available, and is a pretty good commercial BW, though it isn't very tart.
 
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