Stakem
Member
Berliner Weisse is one of my favorite styles of beer. For my first batch of it, I did a sour mash that came out pretty darn good.
To further my experience with the style I brewed 10 gallons (70% pils/30% wheat ~4 ibus and 2.8% target abv) and split the wort into 2 carboys. One of them got a stepped up starter of lacto for a week prior to pitching some clean german ale yeast the other carboy got a packet of the wyeast pc 3191 Berliner blend.
Fast forward 5 or 6 months to today.
The 3191 carboy has a small pellicle, great. I took samples from both carboys and I am completely under whelmed. For a style that is already light, it seemingly tastes watered down without the tartness you look for.
The 3191 carboy smells perfect. It's lemony, grainy and has a minor Brett influence. The taste however has none of that character other than a light grainy flavor. It is not tart at all.
The lacto carboy I was expecting to be a little more tart considering the amount of lacto pitched and it's head start it got prior to pitching the ale yeast. It too is a failure with no tartness.
I have already planned to brew 10 more gallons to pitch on top of each carboys yeast cake assuming additional batches would increase in tartness. However is there anything that can be done to salvage the current batches?
I've considered adding some form of sugar (maybe fruit like acidic grapes) to give the bugs something different to eat. I've wondered if maybe carbonating the batch would increase the "perceived" tartness with some bubbly to it. I want to stay away from just adding lactic acid at bottling but I guess that might be a last resort.
To further my experience with the style I brewed 10 gallons (70% pils/30% wheat ~4 ibus and 2.8% target abv) and split the wort into 2 carboys. One of them got a stepped up starter of lacto for a week prior to pitching some clean german ale yeast the other carboy got a packet of the wyeast pc 3191 Berliner blend.
Fast forward 5 or 6 months to today.
The 3191 carboy has a small pellicle, great. I took samples from both carboys and I am completely under whelmed. For a style that is already light, it seemingly tastes watered down without the tartness you look for.
The 3191 carboy smells perfect. It's lemony, grainy and has a minor Brett influence. The taste however has none of that character other than a light grainy flavor. It is not tart at all.
The lacto carboy I was expecting to be a little more tart considering the amount of lacto pitched and it's head start it got prior to pitching the ale yeast. It too is a failure with no tartness.
I have already planned to brew 10 more gallons to pitch on top of each carboys yeast cake assuming additional batches would increase in tartness. However is there anything that can be done to salvage the current batches?
I've considered adding some form of sugar (maybe fruit like acidic grapes) to give the bugs something different to eat. I've wondered if maybe carbonating the batch would increase the "perceived" tartness with some bubbly to it. I want to stay away from just adding lactic acid at bottling but I guess that might be a last resort.