Kettle (isn't) Sour - Despite PH of 3

[gerald8_kop]

Calling out to those who know more

I love drinking face scrunchers and so decided on my first kettle sour using Lallemand Helveticus as my Lactobacillus strain. It's pretty much the only option available to me, not having anywhere near enough room for dedicated sour fermenters so I was really looking forward to this and got giddy thanks to a reading of 3.12 on the morning of my boil. I tasted it at pitching time but although surprised by lack of sourness, hoped it was perhaps due to the wort's sugar and so might shine through during fermentation.

But no. Just took a sample at 1.018 and it's kinda tart but that's about it. Took another PH reading and it gives me 2.99

Any thoughts?

I calibrated the PH meter a couple of times, and triple checked it in buffers which were all spot on. I bought it especially for this brew with it's 0.05 accuracy

My PH Meter

Helveticus

I kept the Brewzilla at 100F (39/40C) and used RO water, following Brewfather's recommended profile. I actually used my quite hard Nottingham tap water with philly sour a while back (PH of 3.5 if the cheapo meter was to be believed) for another beer and frustratingly that seemed tangy-er.

I've read that acetic acid is much more cutting than lacto but even still - should a PH of 3 not be giving me much more perceived sourness? I did get my gf to confirm incase tastebuds were telling porkies. Hopefully the rhubarb going in will help matters but it's still a tad disheartening!

 

[VikeMan]

In my experience, sweetness does mask the sourness to an extent, until the sugars are gone. You mentioned teh beer is at 1.018. I assume you're ecxpecting it to go lower.

I don't know that you're ever going to get a real "face scruncher" with a Lactobacillus strain. Also, I believe this particular strain is heterofermentative, meaning some of its output is ethanol and CO2 (and not just lactic acid), which may not be the best choice for maximum sourness (even among Lactobacillus choices).