Sauergut viscosity increase

[maltboy1]

I made a batch of sauergut using LODO techniques and a sous vide water bath. I let it go for about 4 days, then refrigerated it for a week. The resultant product was viscous when I took it out of the fridge, but not quite to the point of being slimy. It tasted fine. Is this typical?

 

[Red over White]

This is never happened in any my batches. Since I don't know your process, there seems to be something off. How was your pH?

 

[maltboy1]

Final pH was 4.1. I made a new batch yesterday with less SMB. The pH was down to 3.4 in less than 24 hours, but has much less of that "it" thing going on. The first batch smells and tastes amazing, but there's not much acid there. Maybe I used too much SMB.

 

[Red over White]

Sounds like your new batch is tracking well. I build an extra 5 liters into a helles brew and take my wort from 1st and last runnings for eventually 1.040 Sauergut wort. I use grain to inoculate so flavor is always a bit of a gamble, some have been stellar and some have been just pretty darn good. I don't add any smb, only what is left in the wort. The resulting beers are always distinctly German from the first whiff with Sauergut used at knockout.

 

[mashpaddled]

Some bacteria create exopolysaccharides that create this texture. It's often referred to as ropiness or sickness. Pedio is known to cause this in sour beer but it's not the only bacteria that creates these compounds. If it otherwise smells ok it's probably fine. If it smells like rotting trash, soiled diapers, etc., probably best to dump and start over.

For as much as lodo proponents insist on precise procedures in brewing, the sauergut process is as lax and far from the rest as it gets.

 

[maltboy1]

Thanks for the input. I used smb because I had to do a mini-mash to get some fresh wort. I built an extra 2 liters into my next batch for making more sauergut.

 

[maltboy1]

Some bacteria create exopolysaccharides that create this texture. It's often referred to as ropiness or sickness. Pedio is known to cause this in sour beer but it's not the only bacteria that creates these compounds. If it otherwise smells ok it's probably fine. If it smells like rotting trash, soiled diapers, etc., probably best to dump and start over.

For as much as lodo proponents insist on precise procedures in brewing, the sauergut process is as lax and far from the rest as it gets.

It's definitely ropey, but it smells and tastes amazing.