mini sour mash fail

[jaythebassist]

I have 5 lbs of fresh peaches all sanitized, sliced, and waiting in the freezer. I'd like to make a nice tart Berliner Weisse to infuse the peaches with--a la DFH Festina Peshe (my SWMBOs fave).

So I did the following:

- mixed up 3 qts of 1.040 wort w DME and boiled for 15 min.
- began chilling
- sanitized a 1g jug and flushed w CO2
- once at about 110 deg F, transferred to jug, and flushed headspace w CO2 again
- pitched a handful of 2row and aluminum foiled the opening
- taped a temp probe to it and wrapped in a heating pad to keep warm

left the jug overnight, but the heating pad had an auto off, and it cooled to ~90 deg. Next morning I set up a water bath to keep jug warm, and successfully kept it at about 105 deg for the next 3 days.

Now I've pulled it out of the water bath. It def did something, but instead of tart apple aroma, I'm getting a musty and cooked corn aroma.

Where did I go wrong here? I really want to make some lactic acid for this batch!

 

[jaythebassist]

I did shut off the heat on the water bath a day ago and it's been at room temp since then.

btw, I never saw a pelicle of any sort, but I did see frothiness and bubbles in the airlock (once the temp was in control and on the up, I swapped to an airlock)

this is what it looks like now:

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

That's what my sour mashes ALWAYS smell like. Even after the boil it retains some of that smell but by the time fermentation is over the smell is gone and it's just clean lactic sourness.

 

[jaythebassist]

That's what my sour mashes ALWAYS smell like. Even after the boil it retains some of that smell but by the time fermentation is over the smell is gone and it's just clean lactic sourness.

I'm almost afraid to ask, but does it taste clean up front? Tonight when I get home from work I plan to pull a sample of it, test the pH, and (gulp) taste it.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I'll be honest -- I've never tasted it but I have never been dissatisfied with the end result.

 

[rorygilmore]

With the handful of sour mashes that I've done I've experience a similar corn smell, but it wasn't super pungent. The end result came out nicely each time.

You should be able to taste the sourness, but of course it will be masked by the residual sugars still in the wort. To be safe, I'd put the sample into a coffee cup, toss in the microwave and bring to a boil to be sure anything else in there besides lacto is killed off.

 

[jaythebassist]

Holy sheet! I poured a little of the wort into a plastic cup and noticed almost immediately that the musty and corny smells were much more distant in the cup.

I dipped a pH strip in, and while I waited for the result I took a taste. It was tart and good! I can't believe I lucked out with this. Here's where the pH strip wound up



Looks about a 3.5 to me.

So now I need some advice. What's the best way for me to store this until the brewday? I have to work 12 hr shifts for 6 more days, so I won't brew this until Monday 8/29. Should I boil it now and store in the fridge? Should I put it in the closet, where it'll stay about 77 degrees?

Thanks for your help, everyone!

EDIT: for now I just repurged the head space w CO2 and put it on top of my fermentation fridge as is.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

You need to stop fermentation if you are happy with how sour it is. The longer you let it go the more sour it will get. I'd also be concerned that other bacteria in there might produce some off flavors at those lower temperatures.

It probably wasn't a good idea to sour mash so far before your brew day but you can't help that now. I would boil it to kill off the bacteria and then refrigerate it if you can keep it in a very airtight container or I would say freeze it and thaw it in the boil kettle on Monday. Seven days presents a risk of nasty bacteria in your fridge making some VERY nasty smells and flavors.

 

[jaythebassist]

It probably wasn't a good idea to sour mash so far before your brew day but you can't help that now. I would boil it to kill off the bacteria and then refrigerate it if you can keep it in a very airtight container or I would say freeze it and thaw it in the boil kettle on Monday. Seven days presents a risk of nasty bacteria in your fridge making some VERY nasty smells and flavors.

I started the sour mash on Wednesday planning to brew Sunday (yesterday), but I had forgotten about a gig in the afternoon, so it didn't happen.

Freezing would be easier for me than refrigerating, since we have much more room in the freezer. I could boil and then chill to ~80, then pour it into a sterilized gallon water bottle and then freeze. Does that sound good?

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Yeah, just make sure the water bottle isn't overfilled because that wort will expand once frozen.