Berliner Weisse / Lacto Question

[Morkin]

I followed JZ's brewing classic styles recipe for my Berliner Weisse.

I pitched the yeast and the Lacto at the same time, per his recipe instructions and his podcast's directions.

It's been in the fermenter about 2 weeks, krausen has left, so I had a taste last evening, and to my surprise, it had little to no sour flavor. I had assumed that the lacto would take awhile to sour the beer, so I guess my question is, how long does it actually take to sour the beer?

Since I pitched the yeast and the lacto at the same time at 66 degrees, does this hinder the lacto? Is ther enought for the lacto to eat to sour it up now? Any info is appreciated, thanks,

 

[bierhaus15]

Wait a couple months then see; Lacto often takes some time to get sour. It took my berliner weiss about 3 months before it reached the tartness I was aiming for. Patience....

 

[babalu87]

It wont get nearly as sour as it would had you either pitched the Lacto a few days in advance
OR
Made a BIG starter of Lacto and pitched that

 

[Morkin]

What does the Lacto eat? Just curious. JZ said that it will be plenty sour if they are pitched together, is my low temp a problem for the lacto?

 

[Morkin]

I took the fermenter out of the swamp cooler after the krausen had sunk. It was 66 and now is about 73, and it seems to have a different looking krausen, hopefully from the lacto. It's very white and creamy, rather than just bubbles of greenish brown goop like krausen. I'll try and post a pic tonight.

 

[shanecb]

See this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/lactobacillus-delbrueckii-questions-183524/

I recently learned quite a few things about lacto. I got some information from White Labs about it that's relevant to your "What does the Lacto eat?" question. There's also some discussion about the temperature for lacto.

For the berliner I just made, I pitched the lacto ~60 hrs before I pitched my yeast, and held it at a good 90 degrees F (average. I started it higher and let it go down to an alright pitching temperature for my yeast).

Regardless of method, it's going to take a couple of months for the sourness to really come out. Mine right now is in more of an acidic phase (from the lactic acid), but it's getting hints of sourness already after a couple of weeks. You'd get MORE sourness from pitching the lacto beforehand, but you'll still get it from pitching them together. It's just going to take awhile. Park it in a spare bucket or fermenter and forget about it for awhile