Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer Really Easy Fruit Sour

[Guidry]

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 Pilsner malt. 1/3 Wheat malt. Aim for an OG around 1.045.
No hops.


Looking at several sour beer recipes, I see people using several different types of wheat malt. I see a lot of white wheat. Anyone use red wheat? Any opinions on that?

Also, someone remind me what amount of rice hulls to keep me from spending the whole day tending my spare.

Thanks,

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I only ever use normal red wheat malt - it's all I can get. I doubt there'd be much difference between them.

I don't need rice hulls at that ratio (RIMS). It's depends on your system and crush though. If you're worried, a couple of cups of rice hulls in a 5 gallon batch should be enough.

 

[Guidry]

I’ve read the wiki about use of fruit. I’d like to put a little lime flavor in with some raspberry. The wiki says something like “zest can be used in addition” but it doesn’t say if or how actual pulp or fruit should be added in reference to citrus. (I’m new to fruit additions) can someone offer advice. Thanks

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I haven't tried it, but I read somewhere that kaffir lime leaves work really well for lime flavour. If I was going to try lime fruit, I'd try something like the juice and zest of 10 limes in primary for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[Guidry]

Chill to pitching temps and pitch a packet of US05 per 5gal and 1g of Lallemand/Wildbrew Sour Pitch (Lactobacillus plantarum). That's half of what the instructions say to use for Sour Pitch, but is more than enough. I suspect pitching half a gram per 5 gal would get the job done.

Probably going to ask this question in one of the other sub-forums also, but I thought I would ask here since some of you might tell be how you did it. What scale are you using to measure a single gram accurately? My scale has grams as the smallest increment and I'm not sure how accurate it is for measuring a single gram.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I use a beam balance - old school!

 

[Jordan Logo]

Just brewed a version of this on my Clawhammer System

Dingeman's Belgian Pilsner
Rahr White Wheat
Flaked Oats
Lactose

OG 1.070

Cant wait to infuse with some blueberries!

What's your thoughts to just adding the fruit to the primary instead of racking to a secondary? Seems like an unnecessary step.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What's your thoughts to just adding the fruit to the primary instead of racking to a secondary? Seems like an unnecessary step.

I only rack to secondary because I split a big batch into two or three smaller batches over different fruits.

 

[Jordan Logo]

Vanilla Blueberry Sour - 6.8%abv

Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[TenaCJed]

I only rack to secondary because I split a big batch into two or three smaller batches over different fruits.

That is always what I do, once fermentation is done add fruit. Once fruit is done cold crash to get everything to drop to the bottom and then transfer to keg. I do not remember the last time that i transferred for secondary! Even when I do 10 gallon batches, it goes right into 2 fermentors.

 

[TenaCJed]

View attachment 687654

Vanilla Blueberry Sour - 6.8%abv

Thanks for the inspiration.

Love the color on that! The logo almost looks fake, like it was added to the picture! I think it is because of the almost glowing like color, really makes that logo on the glass pop!

 

[Jordan Logo]

Love the color on that! The logo almost looks fake, like it was added to the picture! I think it is because of the almost glowing like color, really makes that logo on the glass pop!

Yeah the logo was added ahaha!

 

[TenaCJed]

Yeah the logo was added ahaha!

lol, I did not mean to call you out like that!

 

[Guidry]

Help needed....first time sour brewer. Was ready to keg and this is what I found. Is this good or real bad? Used this recipe and added raspberries 10 days ago.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Help needed....first time sour brewer. Was ready to keg and this is what I found. Is this good or real bad? Used this recipe and added raspberries 10 days ago.

Looks to me like a pellicle. Did you pasteurize the fruit?

 

[Guidry]

Looks to me like a pellicle. Did you pasteurize the fruit?

No, I used frozen straight from the bag as was advised in the original post. I went ahead and kegged the beer, from under. Figured I could try it. So, from what I see online, it's common with sours. Think I'm ok?

 

[RPh_Guy]

No, I used frozen straight from the bag as was advised in the original post. I went ahead and kegged the beer, from under. Figured I could try it. So, from what I see online, it's common with sours. Think I'm ok?

The microbes you pitched do not form a pellicle. Therefore wild microbes were introduced somehow .... Most likely from the fruit, in my opinion, unless you had any other known lapse in sanitation.

 

[Guidry]

The microbes you pitched do not form a pellicle. Therefore wild microbes were introduced somehow .... Most likely from the fruit, in my opinion, unless you had any other known lapse in sanitation.

No known sanitation lapse but not saying it didn't happen.

Does this mean its ruined or should I just keep on and hope for the best. Dont want to waste time if it is going to be bad or even worse.

Thanks

 

[RPh_Guy]

It will very likely be fine. Just check for off-flavors before packaging. If you bottle, monitor periodically for over-carbonation.

 

[Guidry]

Holy crap! This was way too easy. Like I told my wife, this might kill me in a couple hours but the first taste is delicious! Raspberry sour following the OP guidelines. I may drink it all this weekend! I'm going to need a bigger keezer for different flavors.

 

[stealthfixr]

How does the souring taste as compared to a lambic or other “traditionally” soured beer (that takes too long)? Thin, one dimensional? Similar?

 

[RPh_Guy]

How does the souring taste as compared to a lambic or other “traditionally” soured beer (that takes too long)? Thin, one dimensional? Similar?

Traditional sours have Brettanomyces (Brett) yeast, so you can't really compare them to a beer without Brett.

It's certainly possible to make fast sours with Brett:
https://modernbrewhouse.com/wiki/Sour_beer
In my experience, beers soured with these modern methods have way better flavor and more complexity vs kettle souring. My modern sours with Brett I would say are generally better than traditional sours, to my taste, but the flavor is a bit different.

 

[SanPancho]

how are we dealing with berries and filtration? i had some blackberry puree and dumped it in, and now there's just suspended bits of berry all in the beer, pieces floating on top, etc. etc. totally screwed. i let it ferment in the corny with a floating diptube thinking that'd be enough to be able to pull clear beer off of it. no dice. foamy beer with tiny berry bits and likely clogged posts, etc.

it tastes great, but its like all foam...and bits.

 

[Harleybrew32]

how are we dealing with berries and filtration? i had some blackberry puree and dumped it in, and now there's just suspended bits of berry all in the beer, pieces floating on top, etc. etc. totally screwed. i let it ferment in the corny with a floating diptube thinking that'd be enough to be able to pull clear beer off of it. no dice. foamy beer with tiny berry bits and likely clogged posts, etc.

it tastes great, but its like all foam...and bits.

can you cold crash it down to 31-32F for a week or two then check it, if it cleared rack to another keg or let it sit another week. good luck.
cheers

 

[SanPancho]

I’ve cashed, but some of the bits are bound up with co2bubbles and won’t drop. Gonna have To open up keg, so I’m. Gonna wrap the floating dip tube with stainless steel scrubby and try to transfer into new keg.

 

[Ken Buckley]

This has become a staple beer at my house. It's loved by non-beer drinkers, lager drinkers and craft beer drinkers. Kegs go faster than anything else I make. This is really simple, using the co-pitching method (sacch and lacto go into the ferment at the same time) which is easier than kettle souring. It gives a bit more complexity from the lacto and always seems to end up at about the right acidity level. The OG and mash temp give the right body and sweetness to work with the acidity, and allow the flavours from the fruit to shine through. There are some really good threads about co-pitching simple sours including Fast Souring - Modern Methods
Importantly, don't be worried about contaminating equipment. It WON'T happen. L. plantarum is so hop intolerant that it won't infect your other hopped beers.

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 Pilsner malt. 1/3 Wheat malt. Aim for an OG around 1.045.
No hops.

PROCESS:
Mash at 155F for an hour.
Collect wort and boil for 10 minutes.
Chill to pitching temps and pitch a packet of US05 per 5gal and 1g of Lallemand/Wildbrew Sour Pitch (Lactobacillus plantarum). That's half of what the instructions say to use for Sour Pitch, but is more than enough. I suspect pitching half a gram per 5 gal would get the job done.
Ferment at around 66 to 70F until primary is nearly finished then rack onto fruit. Try to rack just BEFORE reaching FG so the yeast are still active to scrub oxygen picked up during transfer. It normally takes about 4 to 5 days to this point.
Rack onto fruit (explained below) and leave for a further 2 weeks. Try to minimise oxygen/splashing during transfer as it seems to reduce the fresh fruit flavour.

FRUITING:
I mostly use packaged frozen fruits which work really well. There's no need to pasteurise or sanitise. Fruit should go into a grain bag (or paint strainer bag) into the secondary fermenter, then rack beer on top.
Raspberries: Use about 1.5 to 2lbs in 5 gal. Tip them straight into the grain bag.
Mango: Mush up thawed, chopped frozen mango. I bash it with my grain paddle. Use about 3lbs in 5gal.
Blueberries: As per mango.
Passionfruit pulp: Use about 3lbs per 5gal. Tip it straight into the grain bag. Others have reported good results with passionfruit puree.
These are the only fruits I've tried so far, and all have been great. Raspberries have definitely been the favourite.
There's lots of other good fruiting info on the Milk the Funk Wiki Soured Fruit Beer
but I find I use a lot less that what is suggested in this beer.
Cheers and enjoy!

Brewed this weekend. Adding tart cherry concentrate next week. I also am using Imperial Suburban Brett instead of the sour pitch. Homebrew shop had it in the free bin since it was close dated. So far so good. Curious to see how this wild beast finishes!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Brewed this weekend. Adding tart cherry concentrate next week. I also am using Imperial Suburban Brett instead of the sour pitch. Homebrew shop had it in the free bin since it was close dated. So far so good. Curious to see how this wild beast finishes!

What you're brewing there is going to be a completely different beer. Brett gives funk, not sourness (although it can contribute some tartness, as well as acetic acid if there's oxygen available). I'd suggest you get some hops in there - I don't know how a hopless Brett beer would go. Leave it for at least six weeks, possibly longer, until it reaches a stable gravity. You should end up with a nice, funky cherry wheat beer!

 

[jbeerman]

View attachment 687654

Vanilla Blueberry Sour - 6.8%abv

Thanks for the inspiration.

Wow That is a nice looking beer how many #s of Blueberries did you use?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

how are we dealing with berries and filtration?

Mine go in a grain bag. I haven't had a problem with bits or seeds.

 

[jbeerman]

How many Swanson's Probiotics caps would you use when you co-pitch?