Help with fermentation problem

[AteCount]

In running into a problem with a sour beer I’m brewing. I decided to try a new yeast my local brewers shop got called Sour Pitch. After 36 hours and no action in my bubbler I did some research I read that the yeast needs to ferment between 86-103 degrees but I have to ferment around 70. My question is can I just add a sour yeast like Philly sour and that fix it or would that double the sourness? Or can I assume that the Sour pitch did the souring and just need at add a us05 kind of yeast to just ferment. I am new to brewing so sorry if this is hard to read. This is not a kettle sour

 

[hotbeer]

Have you checked the specific gravity of the beer with a hydrometer? That is really the only way to know for certain if something is happening or not.

For a yeast that want's a higher temp at fermentation stuff might just be happening too slowly for you to be entertained with bubbles.

Personally, I'd let it go and see what it becomes. Even if it takes months to be ready to bottle. Then based on the results, I'd decide what to do next time, if I ever make that beer or use that yeast again.

Why start throwing other yeast at it? Just get another bucket or other type FV and start making some other beer while this one finishes.

 

[AteCount]

Have you checked the specific gravity of the beer with a hydrometer? That is really the only way to know for certain if something is happening or not.

For a yeast that want's a higher temp at fermentation stuff might just be happening too slowly for you to be entertained with bubbles.

Personally, I'd let it go and see what it becomes. Even if it takes months to be ready to bottle. Then based on the results, I'd decide what to do next time, if I ever make that beer or use that yeast again.

Why start throwing other yeast at it? Just get another bucket or other type FV and start making some other beer while this one finishes.

Gotcha, I’m gonna check the gravity today or tomorrow so I can see for sure if anything is happening. I’m not in a rush so I don’t mind at all waiting it out. Tonight it will have been 96 hours, if my gravity hasn’t changed do you still suggest giving it time?

 

[hotbeer]

How big is this thing that you can't warm it up some? Even just putting a cardboard box over it and putting a heat mat or even just a light bulb in the box will gently warm it up. Though the light bulb might be more of a potential fire hazard. Any type of gentle heat source will get it to the higher temperature that yeast indicates it wants.

But still, I'd wait it out even if I did nothing to heat it. Then you'll know what happens with that yeast and that recipe at those temps. If you start trying to "save" it by adding other yeast, you certainly are unlikely to have the beer you started toward and will be even further away from that than if you just wait it out.

 

[Grizwold1]

Or a large tub of water and an aquarium heater

 

[VikeMan]

In running into a problem with a sour beer I’m brewing. I decided to try a new yeast my local brewers shop got called Sour Pitch. After 36 hours and no action in my bubbler I did some research I read that the yeast needs to ferment between 86-103 degrees but I have to ferment around 70. My question is can I just add a sour yeast like Philly sour and that fix it or would that double the sourness? Or can I assume that the Sour pitch did the souring and just need at add a us05 kind of yeast to just ferment. I am new to brewing so sorry if this is hard to read. This is not a kettle sour

Is it Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch? If so, that's Lactobacillus plantarum (a lactic acid bacteria). It will sour your wort, but it won't ferment it (to alcohol). You'll probably see a very slight gravity drop as some sugars are turned into lactic acid. And you won't see krausen or CO2 production. You'll need to add a Yeast strain to ferment this.

If what you pitched was not Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch, then ignore everything I just said.

 

[hotbeer]

Is it Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch?

That or anything else made just for souring might well explain the lack of activity. Good catch. The temp range should have been a clue to me about to the possibility you suggested.

 

[AteCount]

Is it Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch? If so, that's Lactobacillus plantarum (a lactic acid bacteria). It will sour your wort, but it won't ferment it (to alcohol). You'll probably see a very slight gravity drop as some sugars are turned into lactic acid. And you won't see krausen or CO2 production. You'll need to add a Yeast strain to ferment this.

If what you pitched was not Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch, then ignore everything I just said.

 

[AteCount]

It was the Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch, I am seeing some action in the bubbler now, but I do need to add some yeast to help ferment then?

 

[AlexKay]

For future reference, if you’re looking for something you can just pitch like yeast, ferment normally, and have a sour beer in a couple of weeks (or faster), Lallemand Sourvisiae is the product for you. (Though the beer will be pretty sour.)

 

[VikeMan]

It was the Lallemand Wildbrew Sour Pitch, I am seeing some action in the bubbler now, but I do need to add some yeast to help ferment then?

L. plantarum is a "facultative heterofermentative" strain, meaning it will produce very little CO2 (if any) in the presence of glucose (which beer wort has). Hopefully, you're not getting a lot of bubbling, as that would suggest a wild yeast infection.

Yes, assuming no wild yeast infection, you still need to pitch yeast.