Bootleg Biology Beta Berliner Blend

[brownni5]

I just brewed with the alliterative blend mentioned in the title, and will plan to track my thoughts and experiences as I go. Since I just brewed a couple nights ago, it's still in primary, so no results yet.

The website describes it as a blend of sacchromyces, brett, and lacto. My guess is L. brevis, since they recommend low (not no) hopping, and I'm hoping that the Brettanomyces is the strain that was being traded around the Milk The Funk group a couple years back, since it was isolated from a really old bottle of a traditional Berliner weiss. They don't give any good clues on the Sacch strain though. A Kolsch strain? Their own S. arlingtonensis?

I brewed a wort according to https://wilder-wald.com/2017/12/08/historic-berliner-weisse-homebrew-recipe/ - high percentage of wheat malt, short decoction, just a few grams of Mt. Hood in the decoction. Wort ended at 1.032 with no boil, but I didn't account for evaporation during the decoction, so I ended with 4.5 gallons of wort.

I chilled to about 68 and pitched the packet. Since this was low gravity and short in the volume, and since its a "beta" blend and I wanted to be able to give true feedback, I didn't make a starter (also, it was packaged only a few days before and shipped/arrived cold). Since it is just beginning to be spring here north of the 45th parallel, my basement stays pretty cool, so getting too warm isn't my problem. Quite the opposite. 30 hours post- pitch, there were still no signs of active fermentation so I put it on heat set to 70 and started thinking of yeast I could pitch to save the batch. Well, it wasn't necessary because at 36 hours post- pitch, it got going.

I have not had issues direct pitching Bootleg cultures into low OG wort in the past, so this surprised me. My guess is that in this blend, the Sacch cell count must be pretty low. Knowing what I know now, I'd have made a starter and hoped for the best.

More on the blend can be found at https://bootlegbiology.com/product/berliner-blend-beta/

Edit: this blend probably should not be used for the modern fast sour method explained in the sticky above. There's nothing wrong with that method, but this Lacto strain likely won't sour a wort as quickly, that is, if I'm right and it is L. brevis.

 

[IslandLizard]

Sounds interesting and promising!
I like mixed fermentation sours, don't care much for most kettle sours. This could be the ticket.

How long are you estimating this will take before it's done?

 

[brownni5]

How long are you estimating this will take before it's done?

Who knows? My hope is that I can begin drinking it this summer, but that might not be realistic. I've had other beers with L. brevis sour well inside 6 months, even with hops, but the Brett character takes longer to develop. I'd have been a lot happier to get this blend in December for summer drinking.

On his blog, Mike Tonsmeier keeps pretty detailed accounts of brew dates, packaging, and tasting dates with notes, and he's got several mixed-ferment Berliners listed there, so that might give me some idea if I'm looking at 3 months or a year.

 

[radwizard]

Are you going to be bottling this? I think it would be interesting to sample some of this very young, and continue as it ages. I don't age my Berliners on the Brett very long (1.5-2 months).
I have not used that Blend, but it sounds super cool. Brevis is by far my favorite LAB .

 

[brownni5]

Are you going to be bottling this? I think it would be interesting to sample some of this very young, and continue as it ages. I don't age my Berliners on the Brett very long (1.5-2 months).
I have not used that Blend, but it sounds super cool. Brevis is by far my favorite LAB .

I've never kegged a sour, but I was actually planning on kegging this. You do raise a good point - young and aged would be interesting. Maybe I'll keg half for quick consumption and bottle the other half for later enjoyment.

 

[cmhaynes]

I've never kegged a sour, but I was actually planning on kegging this. You do raise a good point - young and aged would be interesting. Maybe I'll keg half for quick consumption and bottle the other half for later enjoyment.

Have you packaged this one yet? If so, how did it turn out?

 

[brownni5]

Have you packaged this one yet? If so, how did it turn out?

I actually just bottled the whole batch yesterday - keg rotation wasn't going to work out. I think this could be very good. Very nice tartness despite the decoction hops, which I expected since this isn't L. plantarum. Also a nice fruitiness, I suspect from the Brett. I'll know more in a couple weeks after they bottle condition.

Note: I do not take pH readings of my sours - I don't see what it would change and it isn't a measure of "goodness."

 

[cmhaynes]

Sounds good. I don't own a pH meter, so I'm not taking readings either. How many volumes carbonation are you shooting for?

 

[brownni5]

Sounds good. I don't own a pH meter, so I'm not taking readings either. How many volumes carbonation are you shooting for?

3.4 sounded good this time.

 

[goodolarchie]

Reached out to Jeff about this blend, he has no plans currently to prop it for sale again.

I just finished my summer Berliner brew with TYB Brett von Berliner. It's almost out of primary so I'll bottle a few and keg or fruit the rest. I used American Noble Mosaic with it after souring, it's quite tasty before the brett does its thing.

 

[brownni5]

This is a really nice Berliner. Pretty funky on the nose, a little fruity, nicely tart. A little lemony? Best head retention of any mixed ferm beer I've brewed. I'm happy with this one - glad I have the slurry.

 

[quercuslupulus]

I bottled about a gallon and a half of my Berliner using this blend (after four months) and put three gallons on a little more than 3 lbs peach puree. I thought it was lovely and very complex at bottling, but have yet to crack a bottle. I am really looking forward to seeing how it evolves over time.

 

[moreb33rplz]

I just ordered this. If anyone else has experiences to share please do

 

[goodolarchie]

I pitched one into my Berliner, but it already had TYB's beta berliner culture going for a couple weeks in there, the beer is great but I hesitate to give any notes given I can't attribute solely to this one. I have another packet I intend to do later in the spring... will update.

 

[505-Brewer]

Brewing with this culture tomorrow while smoking a pork shoulder.
Going to do single infusion - thinking of mashing ~ 152 deg F so there plenty for the Brett - think it will get too sour? Aiming for 5 IBUs and maybe only a 15 min boil..........

 

[brownni5]

Brewing with this culture tomorrow while smoking a pork shoulder.
Going to do single infusion - thinking of mashing ~ 152 deg F so there plenty for the Brett - think it will get too sour? Aiming for 5 IBUs and maybe only a 15 min boil..........

"Too sour" is in the eyes of the beer holder. At 5 IBU, I'd say nicely tart, but could be way off.

 

[505-Brewer]

True enough. Only way to find out.....

 

[goodolarchie]

I blend my brett berliners back with another wheat beer that has some hops if it gets too acidic. Has worked well, and you can bottle to let the brett keep working.

 

[brownni5]

I've just brewed another Berliner with the second generation of this blend. Since it was harvested 8-10 months ago, and since I didn't want to make a starter, I got the wort going with Bootleg Oslo then added the slurry.

Similar beer - 60/40 wheat/Pils, a few grams of French Strisselspalt for a little buffering (no problem with hops inhibiting acid last time).

I'm interested to see how the slurry behaves - I'll try to remember to report back in a few months.

 

[505-Brewer]

Just sampled mine sg sitting at 1.010 but i didnt degas the sample so might be a touch lower.
will rack to keg to leave under pressure so brett n lacto can kick in before fruiting some of it. Barely tart at this point but was starting to show brett like bubbles similar to those observed on a pellicle. Time will tell.

 

[brownni5]

Just sampled mine sg sitting at 1.010 but i didnt degas the sample so might be a touch lower.
will rack to keg to leave under pressure so brett n lacto can kick in before fruiting some of it. Barely tart at this point but was starting to show brett like bubbles similar to those observed on a pellicle. Time will tell.

Yeah, probably don't have to worry about it being too sour if you already have it in a keg. Lactobacillus takes a long time to sour in the presence of hops.

For this blend, I pitch and forget for at least a few months.

 

[505-Brewer]

Keg will be my secondary. Its not kegged to drink. Want to harvest slurry for a friend. Plan on racking it off yeast for that. Then it’ll sit till the leaves fall. I have 2x6 gals so I’ll keg one (as described above) and leave one on the slurry. Cheers.

 

[brownni5]

Keg will be my secondary. Its not kegged to drink. Want to harvest slurry for a friend. Plan on racking it off yeast for that. Then it’ll sit till the leaves fall. I have 2x6 gals so I’ll keg one (as described above) and leave one on the slurry. Cheers.

Ahh, in that case, I'll think you'll be happy with it.

Cheers!