Lacto is nasty lookin stuff...

[BrewSkies]

Just tapped my first foray into the world of funky brews. Did a partial wild ferment of a dry stout, with a couple cups of wort fermented with some crushed grains. This has got to be the nastiest, smelliest ferment I've seen to date. My bathroom fermentation room still has a slight tinge of it three weeks after the fact...

Slow to start, but after a few days, finally started to show some signs of all the nasties at work:

And at the height of all of it's glorious nastiness. Stringy, bubbly, rubbery, and smelly:

Boiled and added to the rest of the wort as it went into the keg. After carbing and chilling, it has just a hint of funk. Love it! I'd love to make a Flanders Red someday, but I'm moving to Charleston in a few months, and I'm guessing full carboys don't move very well. I wonder if I could rig up some kind of seatbelt restraint...hmmm.

 

[Bsquared]

That's cool, I'm planing on doing a partial sour mash for my stout this weekend too. I'am debating pitching a vial of WL Lacto or a hand full of grains. I already have the Lacto, so i might go with that, but it looked like your hand full method worked well.

What was your recipe, if you don't mind sharing?

 

[Walker]

that's nasty. I've never liked the funky taste and now that I see what makes it, I like it even less.

Seriously... how hard up were the Belgian's for a buzz that someone looked at this kind of thing and said, "You know, if we skim that wretched smelling scuzz off the top, we can probably drink it..."

But... to each his own. I'm glad you like it!

 

[BarleyWater]

That's cool, I'm planing on doing a partial sour mash for my stout this weekend too. I'am debating pitching a vial of WL Lacto or a hand full of grains. I already have the Lacto, so i might go with that, but it looked like your hand full method worked well.

What was your recipe, if you don't mind sharing?

Use both. It will ensure that the lacto gets a strong foothold, but there's probably other bugs on the grain other than just lacto that may enhance the flavor.

 

[Bsquared]

Use both. It will ensure that the lacto gets a strong foothold, but there's probably other bugs on the grain other than just lacto that may enhance the flavor.

Good point, I'll try that. I'm, thinking of starting it tonight and brewing on Sunday to really get a good souring.

 

[BrewSkies]

I hear ya...if I didn't know any better, after one look this stuff would've gone down the drain. Even after researching it and hearing of other people's success with this method, I almost dumped it anyways. Definitely a leap of faith mixing it back in and hoping for the best.

B^2, I basically used the classic 70/20/10% ratio of base grain/flaked barley/roasted barley, shooting for a 1.040 or so OG. I put the roast barley through a coffee grinder until it was almost dust. I'm TDY right now so I don't have access to Beer Tools, but I can post the specifics when I get home this weekend. I think I used EKG hops, one IBU per point of gravity added at 60 minutes. For yeast, I used one vial each of past-best-by date White Labs english ale and dry english ale, pitched into a starter a few days prior. Starter kicked off strong and it attenuated just fine.

Once cooled, I pulled off 3% (~20 oz for a 5 gallon batch) into a sterilized mason jar and tossed a handful of grains I had set aside prior to the mash. I just put a solo cup over the top of the mason jar to keep nasties out (or maybe to keep them in?). After a week, I strained off the grains and nasty foam and boiled it for a good 10-15 minutes (get ready for some stink!). Cooled and added to the rest of it.

 

[BrewSkies]

Out of curiosity, I tested the gravity of the sour beer after boiling and cooling it just to see how busy the bugs were. Ended up being around 1.020, so those little guys did some work. Starting it earlier or letting it go longer than a week would more than likely get you a little more funk in there. I had SWMBO on my case about the smell in the bathroom, so I wanted to get it movin'.

Hope it helps!

 

[Bsquared]

Thanks, This is vary close to what I will be doing as well, I might put in some Oats to increase the body, and I'll be using Maris Otter for my base,but other than that mine about the same.

Thanks

 

[bhatchable]

nice pics!! It is some pretty nasty stuff. My roommate hated me for the vomit smell that filled the place when I did the open container/hand full of grain method.

 

[ChrisKennedy]

That isn't just lacto though. Every pure lacto fermentation I have had has been quite "clean" looking with a thin, fluffy white pellicle.

You have all sorts of bugs on grain, not just lactobacillus.

 

[BrewSkies]

good point...to be correct I guess I should have said "lacto plus grain yeast plus wild north texas bugs = nasty-ass fermentation"...whatever it is though, there's still a faint "musty" smell in the bathroom it fermented in, several weeks later.

if you're going to do this, you've been forewarned...

 

[ChrisKennedy]

Hah, if a stinky smell lingers in a bathroom for weeks, you know it is bad.