jpoder
Well-Known Member
I just ordered a huge amount of bulk malt, and was thinking of how to maximize my brewing to a) get through it before it starts to go bad b) learn a lot c) keep costs low. I've been itching to get into brewing sour beers for a long time now, and am now ready to take the plunge. I was thinking of doing a few brews in fairly rapid succession (around 1 a week) to try out a few different ideas. here is what i am thinking:
week 1: Berliner Weisse - no boil (modified B.W. recipe from BYO) using 2/3 pilsner malt 1/3 wheat and mash hopping. pitching White Labs sour mix (is this even appropriate for Berliner Weisse?)
week 2: leave mash in tun, add a handful (or two) of fresh grain and let it sour (or should I just start anew and throw out grain from batch 1?). a few days later add new grain (on top of old) and brew second batch of B.W. using same recipe, but sour mash. rack week 1 B.W. to secondary and pitch week 2 B.W. on top of yeast/bug cake.
week 3: rack week 2 B.W. to secondary, brew flanders red and rack onto yeast/bug cake.
wait...bottle...wait...enjoy!
what do you think? am I crazy to try this? will I get the results I desire (testing sour mash vs. sour bugs added to wort + getting a flanders red underway)? will the yeast and bugs survive my crazy process/repitching? should I attempt to "clean" the yeast between batches?
Thanks!
Jim
week 1: Berliner Weisse - no boil (modified B.W. recipe from BYO) using 2/3 pilsner malt 1/3 wheat and mash hopping. pitching White Labs sour mix (is this even appropriate for Berliner Weisse?)
week 2: leave mash in tun, add a handful (or two) of fresh grain and let it sour (or should I just start anew and throw out grain from batch 1?). a few days later add new grain (on top of old) and brew second batch of B.W. using same recipe, but sour mash. rack week 1 B.W. to secondary and pitch week 2 B.W. on top of yeast/bug cake.
week 3: rack week 2 B.W. to secondary, brew flanders red and rack onto yeast/bug cake.
wait...bottle...wait...enjoy!
what do you think? am I crazy to try this? will I get the results I desire (testing sour mash vs. sour bugs added to wort + getting a flanders red underway)? will the yeast and bugs survive my crazy process/repitching? should I attempt to "clean" the yeast between batches?
Thanks!
Jim