Madbyrd
Member
So, admittedly this is my first attempt at souring a mash, but I'm worried I may have overlooked some part of the process. I'm just shy of 24 hrs in and the mash smells of a nice warm porridge...no funk, sour or foul smell whatsoever.
I began by dissolving 1lb of Briess golden light DME in 2 quarts water. I brought the temp down to ~127deg F and racked onto 1lb cracked German 2 row in a sanitized 1 gallon plastic water jug. I placed the jug on a heating pad and wrapped the whole thing in a sleeping bag. The temp has steadily declined to around 105deg over the course of about 23 hrs.
What exactly are the optimum conditions for lactobacillus to thrive? Is it possible that the malt was just devoid of bugs, or is it more likely that I accidentally killed them off? Has anyone else ever failed attempting to sour a mash? ( I thought it was supposed to be pretty foolproof - leave it to me to mess it up )
I began by dissolving 1lb of Briess golden light DME in 2 quarts water. I brought the temp down to ~127deg F and racked onto 1lb cracked German 2 row in a sanitized 1 gallon plastic water jug. I placed the jug on a heating pad and wrapped the whole thing in a sleeping bag. The temp has steadily declined to around 105deg over the course of about 23 hrs.
What exactly are the optimum conditions for lactobacillus to thrive? Is it possible that the malt was just devoid of bugs, or is it more likely that I accidentally killed them off? Has anyone else ever failed attempting to sour a mash? ( I thought it was supposed to be pretty foolproof - leave it to me to mess it up )