First kettle sour, is this normal?

[shortyz]

Ive done normal room temp sours but this is the first time ive had a temp control on my brew. i pitched lacto deurki or whatever its called and been holding it at 90f for 3 days and this pellicle looks wacky. thoughts?

 

[shortyz]

the ph yesterday was 3.9 today its 3.7.

omg theres a little lacto bubble forming!

 

[RPh_Guy]

That looks like krausen on the top right. I think it might be fermented.
Check a S.G.

White Labs?

 

[Upthewazzu]

Hmmmmm...shouldn't get a pellicle on a kettle sour in my experience.

 

[shortyz]

white labs ya. i guess i ride this baby out.

i agree i saw krausen first and was like wtf. then the battle of the 2 has begun. hopefully the yeasts havent screwed up my OG, ill check when i goto boil this and make up for it i guess...

 

[ong]

That does look a little wacky. Was there a lot of flour in the mash? Almost looks like hot break.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Check the gravity now.
If it's fermenting, then you don't want to boil it

 

[Sadu]

Check the gravity now.
If it's fermenting, then you don't want to boil it

Could you elaborate on this comment please, I'm genuinely interested?

I thought the whole point of kettle sours was that the bugs get boiled so you can then ferment out with clean sacc yeast (and importantly, not get bugs in your fermenting gear).

I thought when you pitched lacto into the kettle it's job was to get the pH down to a certain level, and it seems to have done that.

Just interested to know - I've only ever done one kettly sour, which came out good, but also didn't have any sort of pellicle on top.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Under normal circumstances, that's right.

However if yeast ferment the wort during the souring process they convert sugars to alcohol. Boiling removes the alcohol, and leaves a sour wort with only unfermentable sugars.

S.g. will tell whether yeast got in there-causing a significant gravity drop.

 

[shortyz]

ok im back with some results. the gravity is at 1.054. pre boil OG should have been 1.058 so i think im in the clear on that one, the krausen has buggered off and the lacto invasion continues. ph is staying at 3.7 (id like it lower). also there is no bubbling.

should i let this baby sour for another couple days or boil it and pitch? (im going to pitch imperial dry hop yeast)

the dry hop yeast is similar to Saccharomyces "Bruxellensis" Trois – WLP644
and some other things, so who the hell knows what im making here

 

[RPh_Guy]

Glad it's all right!
The pH is unlikely to drop further. I'd boil it now.

Avoid WLP677 next time.
L. plantarum is best for kettle souring.

Cheers

 

[cactusgarrett]

Avoid WLP677 next time.
L. plantarum is best for kettle souring.
Cheers

This! I'm hesitant to use any WL souring methods since the issue they had recently regarding some of their strains purportedly containing sacc. L. Plantarum can't be beat - sours quick at reasonable (warm room) temps.

 

[shortyz]

shes carbed up and excellent. great reviews from mutiple brewers.
incase anyone was wondering it was a clone of four winds nectarious sour.

side by side the nectarious has slightly more acid due to the ph. the nectarious is 3.5 ph and my brew was 3.7

other then that its the same, if anyone wants the recipe send a msg im not posting it public due to where i got it.

 

[newtobrew1981]

I think it's just protein and pellicle mixed together