Accidental sour

[trevelynzx]

Earlier this week i brewed up 11 gal of the RR R2H56 clone recipe. Everything went great. I’ve been doing my mashing one evening, collect the wort, and boil the next day to reduce the impact of a brew day on my schedule.

This time i didn’t start the boil until 20 hours later. After a 90 minute boil i tasted the gravity sample - exactly as i had expected EXCEPT there was a definitive tartness! Figured i’d roll with it, and it’s fermenting away right now. Pulled a sample after 2 days of fermentation and while it’s not what i expected i actually think it’ll turn out quite good as a kettle sour.

Figured i’d share the story, i can’t be the only one separating my mash/ boil! Maybe from now on i’ll pasteurize the collected wort before calling it a night.

 

[IslandLizard]

A little tartness can make a beer definitely interesting, totally ruin the batch, and anything in between. I've tasted (accidental) sour Milk Stouts that were out of this world.

I'm not sure how long a mash can sit before souring begins. Have you done any research on that?
I've read brewers doing 8-10 hour (overnight) mash which doesn't seem to be a problem generally. Is 20 hours definitely too long? I'm curious myself.

 

[trevelynzx]

Only my own experiential research... 20 hours got me a pleasant tartness and a PH around 4.95. An earlier batch i did sat for about 10 hours with almost no noticeable affect.

Then again my 20-hour rest was done outside in the kettle (lid on) in the hot sun, so that probably sped things up a bit.

 

[IslandLizard]

Only my own experiential research... 20 hours got me a pleasant tartness and a PH around 4.95. An earlier batch i did sat for about 10 hours with almost no noticeable affect.

Then again my 20-hour rest was done outside in the kettle (lid on) in the hot sun, so that probably sped things up a bit.

After I drain my cooler mash tun, and let the spent grain sit overnight, the content is still warm, in the 100F region, when I take it to the compost the next morning. The grain and little bit of wort left on the bottom does not taste tart, although it is Lacto bacteria's ideal temp range. I sometime save a few quarts of the grain for bread. It's well possible the souring starts to progress more rapidly right after those 8-10 hours. The mash starts to get smelly after that too.

I'll measure the temp and pH next time.

 

[trevelynzx]

ugh. so it seems to be taking a turn for the worse. still bubbling now 6 days in and developed an astringency. figure it’s a dumper but i’ll let it ride a few more days to see if that cleans up. good thing i saved some of my starter yeast before pitching!