adding lactic acid to finished beer...

[inda_bebe]

so, a brewery asked me to brew a 12 gal. batch of beer that should finish in 4 weeks. i thought a perfect summer beer would be a farmhouse with a bit of tart finish. but they said they absolutely dont want any bugs or brett in the building. lol.

i asked if i can sour mash some wort at home, pasturize it and add it to the rest of the wort and boil. havent heard anything yet, but im guessing they'll say no. so, im just gonna do a 1.050 OG saison, 15 IBU and add some puree in primary. once its finish, ill be adding some Lactic Acid to tart the beer.

anyone have any recommendations on how much Lactic acid for 10 - 12 gal. for a slight hint of tartness?

 

[dantheman13]

Don O had a cool video on this a while back:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atCAKLzPvkg[/ame]

 

[inda_bebe]

cool. ill try 10ml per gal.

 

[BzurkoBrews]

That's awesome you got picked for the Phantom Ales contest. The day after they announced it I went to put my application in and they had already picked everybody. I'll have to come try your beer!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[inda_bebe]

Damn. Your good. You have to come by. I'm allowed to use Lacto. I'm gonna make this beer stand out

 

[BzurkoBrews]

That is awesome. If I had been picked I was going to brew a farmhouse/saison as well. Are they letting you ferment with it there or bring in your pre boiled wort? You have to post when your flight is. I'd love to try your beer. I'll even bring in a Brett or sour beer I brewed for you to try.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[sfgoat]

Don O had a cool video on this a while back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atCAKLzPvkg

I was thinking of using this process to fake a lambic. I just dont have the patience to wait it out.

 

[fearwig]

Why would they say no to sour mash? They just don't wan't live bugs. You also don't need to pasteurize your sour mash because you're boiling it...

But if you're adding lactic to taste to a finished beer you can just start with a little and scale it up, tasting as you go.

 

[inda_bebe]

Why would they say no to sour mash? They just don't wan't live bugs. You also don't need to pasteurize your sour mash because you're boiling it...

But if you're adding lactic to taste to a finished beer you can just start with a little and scale it up, tasting as you go.

They just told me Lacto is okay, so i wont pasturize it prior to boil. the beer im adding it to, will also have 20% acid malt in the grain bill. hopefully this gives me a tart/funk beer in a month. we'll see how it ends up, im the minority in the group that is into wild beers.

 

[fearwig]

What I mean is that boiling pasteurizes (and then some) everything, so you don't need to pasteurize after a sour mash, ever.

If lacto is OK you could presumably finish with lacto as many people do, though it's a different sort of result.

 

[inda_bebe]

Bad News. was notified that i cant make anything sour. what if i accidentaly sticked my arm in the cooled wort? j/k.

 

[dantheman13]

Bad News. was notified that i cant make anything sour. what if i accidentaly sticked my arm in the cooled wort? j/k.

So you can't even add lactic acid?

 

[inda_bebe]

So you can't even add lactic acid?

No cause they don't carry it. I could only use what they have in inventory. I couldn't even use the Conan yeast for an IPA. What about using acid malt as my base malt to make a saison? Hmmm

 

[helibrewer]

No cause they don't carry it. I could only use what they have in inventory. I couldn't even use the Conan yeast for an IPA. What about using acid malt as my base malt to make a saison? Hmmm

Try it with a nano mash:

1 pint Mason jar and lid
enough crushed grain to fill jar to the bottom of the threads
add 172F water
cover with lid for 1 hour

This should produce a wort in the 1.05x range simulating a 155F mash. See how it tastes. Tweak the percentage of acid malt until you are happy with the taste.

 

[BzurkoBrews]

No cause they don't carry it. I could only use what they have in inventory. I couldn't even use the Conan yeast for an IPA. What about using acid malt as my base malt to make a saison? Hmmm

I would be concerned with using too much acid malt as your base. I've noticed that just a couple ounces will lower the mash ph by a tenth or so. Maybe use something like 4oz for the entire mash then add a pound in the last 15 minutes. This will ensure you get good conversion and your mash ph doesn't drop too low.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[ChugachBrewing]

What about doing a separate mini-mash of just acidulated malt, if that's what you're looking for? I've never tried this but you could see what flavors come out, and add during the end of the boil.

Whats with the acid addiction? I think you'll find just adding lactic acid is somewhat 1-dimensional and isn't quite as awesome as you'd think. I tried it on a berliner I made and the one with the lactic was tarter, but not as flavorful. Most people preferred the less tart, more flavor (even thought they were tart fans)

 

[italarican]

I could only use what they have in inventory. I couldn't even use the Conan yeast for an IPA. What about using acid malt as my base malt to make a saison? Hmmm

Can you use adjuncts, or do those have to be in inventory too? I'm not seeing any brewing options that will get you a tart beer you'd be pleased with other than perhaps adding something in the secondary for tartness (e.g., yuzu juice).

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Perhaps post a list of what you have access to and we can all argue over what you could make


Sent from my PG86100 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[inda_bebe]

I have access to all popular and basic hops, yeast and malts. Just cant use any wild bugs and yeast. I can use adjuncts, lactic acid and acid malt. Problem is, I only have 1 day to brew, so no sourmashing and has to be ready in 1 month

 

[fearwig]

If you want something sour that's ready in a month I suggest 4-5% ABV. I'd maybe make a tart rye saison, but that's just a whim. You can bump the ABV a little if you dry it out with sugar, but too big an OG and I think you might make a beer that needs to mellow (I only say this since you want a sour).

If you use lactic acid you can dial it to taste, while acid malt will take some calculation (they're accomplishing the same thing, though).

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Try making a no-bittering-hops IPA, yet with a full boil. Add them all at the end during knockout, hoprocket, dry hop. I think that would be fun.

It is a cool project that would normally require TONS of hops and since you're using theirs you would have to pay out the arse.