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The final attenuation of a beer is very dependent on the wort production parameters. I always tell people with brett/bacteria present to simply wait for 2-3 consecutive stable readings (at fermentation temperature) separated by ~1.5-2 weeks each. If the gravity doesn't budge a single point...

Which Brett blend did you underpitch? The Lochristi? A number of people have done that with that blend and gotten massive strawberry esters, stronger than when using a large pitch. A lot of folks definitely don't make a starter for sours. I usually do a small (500 mL) quick (24 hours)...

To each their own! We actually had an interesting discussion about sampling sours for home brewers when I was on the Sour Hour with Jay Goodwin. Some people are of the "set it and forget it" mentality and others are more into tracking the flavor development. My opinion is if your process makes...

Nick from The Yeast Bay here. Seems as though the defoamer contains triethanolamine. Wonder if that is where the smell is coming from. Also, is that defoamer commonly used in brewing applications? I've never heard of it. Cheers!

No reason not to give it a check! I think 4 months is a good time to check it out and see where it's at. I checked my last one at ~8-9 weeks and the flavor profile definitely hadn't developed a lot of complexity yet (which will come as the Brett starts up), but the pH was already down to 3.34.

We have a hetero- and homofermentative strain of Lactobacillus and a single strain of Pediococcus in Melange. Pediococcus is homofermentative (all are, I believe), and I'm not sure they can metabolize large carbohydrates with large degrees of polymenrization like Lactobacillus brevis and...

Buffering the pH with CaCO3 is definitely an option to prevent the acidity from causing issues with the growth of the yeast. Either way, Sacch will dominate the front end of fermentation, so the development of sourness will have a lot more to do with your wort production methods and what remains...

Totally depends on what you're going for. I'd just check out the description of each and find one that suits your tastes.

Absolutely. I was very fortunate to get in with White Labs at the right time and cultivate a great working relationship with Chris White, Neva Parker and the rest of the staff. I had no interest in manufacturing a lot of yeast. It's taken White Labs over 20 years and massive amounts of capital...

Very true. There are so many factors that go into determining how quickly a beer will sour, it's impossible to point to just one. I made some turbid mash wort I split and pitched small starters of Melange and Farmhouse Sour Ale into, and both were noticeably sour at around 2 months. Didn't take...

Just replenished stock. Everything is back in except Melange Blend, which we will have back in 3/25.

People have pushed our Saison Blend and Wallonian Farmhouse into the upper 80's and reported good results, but I am always skeptical at that high of a temperature. Not sure how predictable the flavor profile production is at temperatures that high.

I agree. Not sure how active the Saccharomyces strains will be at 60 F. That's quite a bit lower than we have ever used them. Not sure the Brettanomyces strains or the LAB will be that active either that low. Definitely warm it to the upper 60's. Also, the cell count is a little lower in this...

There is both a heterofermative and homofermative strain in Farmhouse Sour Ale.

I would definitely say have patience with this one. Development of sourness depends on a number of factors related to the environment and the production of the wort. Two months is very short turnaround to be getting strong sourness in many cases depending on the wort production and fermentation...

As long as your sanitation practices are good, probably not a huge deal. It likely will take longer to start though. Really excited to be getting more feedback on these sour blends. Just finished making a beer to test Brettanomyces anomalus and Brettanomyces naardenensis strains I received the...

Ah! Right on. I personally always do a starter, if not to create a lot more new cells, to just get the yeast active. Even if only in 500 mL, you won't make a lot of cells but you will get the yeast active.

We actually recommend keeping it a little cooler and semiaerobic to prevent the LAB from becoming too active and lowering the pH too quickly in the starter, which can have a negative effect on Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth kinetics.

Never seen this with our Vermont Ale yeast. Were you using The Yeast Bay Vermont Ale?

By marked acidity, we mean clearly noticable. I haven't taken pH reading on anything I've made with our Farmhouse Sour Ale, but out Melange I have. My last batch of turbid mash lambic was down to pH 3.31 in 7 weeks. Haven't taken a pH reading since, but I have tasted it and it does apear to be...