Berliner-weisse lacto question

Last night I started flyangler's spurhund zunge and pitched a white labs lactobaccilus d at 120 degrees. Should the bucket have an airlock on it? does lacto show visual signs, like a krausen of some sort? I want it to be on the puckering side of sour, I'm thinking like 48 hours or so before I pitch sacc. any insight'd be great

Lacto will often form a thin white layer of bubbles on the top of beer yes.

Did you build the lacto up at all before pitching it or did you just pitch a tube?

Just pitched a tube.

I'm sticking in a reply so this will show up in "my replies". I'm planning on doing this recipe soon, and also want it on the "puckeringly sour" side.

If you allow the L. delbrueckii to take hold before pitching the Saccharomyces, it will indeed be more sour. Don't wait too long, or the acidic conditions will not be kind to the yeast.

Since i had no starter for the lacto, I am going to wait to pitch the sacc starter until it looks like the lacto took hold...

You will get airlock activity from the lacto. At that point you know it's going to town.

120F is pretty high as well. They may be quite unhappy after that, if they are alive.

i pitched at 120 and let it fall to 100

well, pitched a tube with no starter at 120, let drop to 100 and maintained it. it took 36 hours and there is a thin layer of white bubbles going. how long should I maintain this before pitching my yeast starter?

48 hours is a good amount of time. I don't know how sour your beer will be by then, though. Pitching a tube at 120f isn't giving your lacto a much of a fighting chance. You might want to think about getting another tube of lacto and making a starter to pitch either before or with your yeast. Especially since you want it to be on the puckering side. Can someone else chime in on how long is too long to wait to pitch the yeast?

I was under the assumption that lacto thrived around 100 degrees... is that not the case?

100F yes. 120F no.

ChrisKennedy said:

100F yes. 120F no.

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Lacto d likes 120 when it is in milk.

It's not just the temp, though. It's also the quantity. I've read a few sources that suggest a 3:1 lacto to yeast ratio in order for lacto to do a thorough job. When I brewed my BW, I used a 1L lacto starter that I kept on a stir plate for three days at 100f. The lacto fermentation was FURIOUS. I had to use a blow off. That's why I recommend pitching some more lacto if you're comfortable waiting 2-3 more days before you pitch the yeast. If you haven't already, read this thread:

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=43587

It's a great discussion of different BW techniques.

I pitched it at 120 and let it drop over about 45 minutes down to 100 and held it there. this morning it had a small "krausen" and just now after a vigorous all day lacto-fest, I pitched the sacc. It was going crazy when i pitched the yeast. the krausen now looks like a weird hybrid lacto/sacc mess. I can't wait to try this one.

This may be a dumb question, but how are you guys maintaining 100*F? Heat blankets or something? Just interested in the mechanics of this...

I am keeping my carboy in a big cooler full of warm (100 degree) water. when it starts to drop i am just pulling out two gallons or so to boil and put back in. now I've brought it down to 65 for the yeast to take over. there is still a weird mixed lacto/yeast krausen going on though

I use a Fermwrap and temp. controller device such as a Thermostar. Keeps it right at 102 or wherever I set it. I know this is an old thread but the new stuff out there works.

-Zac

Munsoned said:

This may be a dumb question, but how are you guys maintaining 100*F? Heat blankets or something? Just interested in the mechanics of this...

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