So I wanted to try my hand at making a sour beer. I was at my buddies house (Saturdsay)while he was making an Amber. he was done with his grains and I thought "What the hell" might as well go for it. I took the grains and put them in a fermenting bucket. I added water in a 1# to 1.25qt ratio. It was 10# (dry) grains and I rounded to 3-4 gallons of water. (I didn't write down specifics because I didn't expect much to happen my first try.). I threw in a handful of crushed grains that have not been mashed. I then flooded the head space with CO2 and covered with plastic wrap.
I then took it home and gave it more CO2 and covered with a lid and airlock. I put it in a 120 degree water bath and put it in my warmest closet. It stayed pretty hot because I had some insulation and warmed it with a heating pad. But the next day (Sunday) it dropped to low 100s. I took a peek and I could see some bubbles inside the fermenter, so I knew it was doing something. Then over the next two days the temp kept dropping until Tuesday it was around 80. I took a look last night it had a pretty white film over it.
I wanted to check the gravity but didn't want to take a big sample with my hydrometer. So I used my refractometer and it was 1.016. I know it isn't real accurate because it has some alcohol in it, but I figured it would give a good reference for later. The original wort was 1.036 if that matters. Again I didn't expect good results so I didn't take notes.
I am going to take a look at it under a microscope tonight. I am going to swab it and give to my wife so she can culture at her work, but I am pretty confident I got Lacto. That was what I was going for anyway.
My question is I have several different ways I can go now. Should I make a beer just out of that wort and get about 2 gallons? Should I add this wort to mash/boil to sour a regular beer? ETC. What do you guys think. I will taste it when I get home tonight to see how sour it is. It will probably depend on how it tastes. Here is the wort when I looked at it last night.
I then took it home and gave it more CO2 and covered with a lid and airlock. I put it in a 120 degree water bath and put it in my warmest closet. It stayed pretty hot because I had some insulation and warmed it with a heating pad. But the next day (Sunday) it dropped to low 100s. I took a peek and I could see some bubbles inside the fermenter, so I knew it was doing something. Then over the next two days the temp kept dropping until Tuesday it was around 80. I took a look last night it had a pretty white film over it.
I wanted to check the gravity but didn't want to take a big sample with my hydrometer. So I used my refractometer and it was 1.016. I know it isn't real accurate because it has some alcohol in it, but I figured it would give a good reference for later. The original wort was 1.036 if that matters. Again I didn't expect good results so I didn't take notes.
I am going to take a look at it under a microscope tonight. I am going to swab it and give to my wife so she can culture at her work, but I am pretty confident I got Lacto. That was what I was going for anyway.
My question is I have several different ways I can go now. Should I make a beer just out of that wort and get about 2 gallons? Should I add this wort to mash/boil to sour a regular beer? ETC. What do you guys think. I will taste it when I get home tonight to see how sour it is. It will probably depend on how it tastes. Here is the wort when I looked at it last night.