Sauerkraut Starter Gose

[fantomlord]

have you checked your gravity?

 

[burninator]

have you checked your gravity?

I haven't. I probably should at some point, but with only 2 gallons of beer, I don't want to do it too frequently, so I'm waiting until activity appears stopped. I did sneak the tiniest taste (sanitized straw got a few drops out), and it's still quite sweet, though there are some really interesting sour and fruity notes coming through.

 

[BrewHound]

This is a very interesting post. Thank you! I've had a long running interest in both lacto fermentation and Gose and plan to get started in the coming months. I'm not sure if this would have occurred to me to combine the 2. Brilliant! I hope it plays out successfully.

 

[burninator]

This is a very interesting post. Thank you! I've had a long running interest in both lacto fermentation and Gose and plan to get started in the coming months. I'm not sure if this would have occurred to me to combine the 2. Brilliant! I hope it plays out successfully.

Heh...I hope it turns out potable.

I'm going to try to warm this up when I get home this evening. One bottle (the fast starter) is bubbling along, with airlock activity 2 or 3 times a minute. The other is basically still. I still can't tell you what the difference is.

I am thinking about making a second 2 gallon batch using a more conventional souring/boiling/yeast technique, in hopes of comparing the finished products.

 

[burninator]

When I got home from work today I wrapped my two jugs in a heating pad, inside a towel. I set the heating pad on high and left it there for almost two and a half hours, to bring the temperature up into the 80's. As you can see, there's still a good bit of action, encouraged by the heat infusion.

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The one on the right was my fast starter, and it's never really calmed down. I still can't say what the reason is for the difference in fermentation activity. Maybe I didn't mix well enough before pouring the wort into my jugs, and that one got a heavier dose of sugar. Doesn't matter a whole lot, as I'll blend these before bottling, either in secondary or in the bottling bucket.

Here you can see the stratification I mentioned a few posts back. If anyone has ideas about why it's doing this, I'd love to hear them.

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I'm really happy with the way this has progressed, so far. It could be weeks or months before I even glimpse the finish line, but at least I know this is possible. Of course, whether it produces a good final product has yet to be determined.

 

[burninator]

For a while, I've had a suspicion about the difference in fermentation activity, I think I may have now confirmed it. Using a sanitized straw, I transferred a bit of beer from each jug into the other. I was out of town yesterday, but when I got home today, I found this. There's still a significant color difference, but I now have active fermentation in both jugs, as you can see in the pics below.

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The foam on top isn't quite the same from one vessel to the other.

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[chefchris]

This is a very interesting post. Thank you! I've had a long running interest in both lacto fermentation and Gose and plan to get started in the coming months. I'm not sure if this would have occurred to me to combine the 2. Brilliant! I hope it plays out successfully.

You can make a Gose from the left over whey from yogurt.


Great thread!

 

[burninator]

Want to see something weird? Of course you do. You're in a thread about sauerkraut beer.

My light colored, more active jug has developed some new action. The trub, which was previously so clearly stratified, has developed a layer of bubbles above the hops sediment and below the lees.

No idea what this is about, but I'm open to being educated.

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[BrewHound]

That. Is. Odd.

 

[burninator]

For the past week or so I've gotten into the habit of coming home and wrapping these jugs in a heating pad to give the lacto a boost. Doing so has resulted in an increase in surface bubbles and faster airlock activity.

However, a couple of days ago, something interesting happened, first in one jug, and then in the other. Both jugs have lightened up considerably, and when I place a heating pad around them, surface bubbles actually clear up, except around the edges, to the point that it appears that fermentation has nearly stopped. Airlock activity slows, but remains fairly frequent, at a few bubbles per minute.

Any ideas from folks more experienced with wild or bacteria fermentation about what I might be seeing here? Is fermentation wrapping up? Have proteins been broken down to the point that CO2 exits the beer more quickly, without forming surface foam?

If so, should I continue to warm this or let it ferment at room temp from here on out?

 

[GluStick]

subd

 

[40watt]

Ha.
I just had the same idea.

For whatever reason, my kraut never gets mold. Although I know it isn't uncommon and not much of an issue.

 

[40watt]

It won't take much brine to innoculate.
You know how lacto can multiply!

 

[electrolight]

subd

 

[burninator]

It won't take much brine to innoculate.
You know how lacto can multiply!

Oh, yeah, it didn't take much, at all. In fact, I inoculated a jar of 1.020 wort from the same batch of kraut on Saturday, and this morning it was still, and it smelled completely sour. I have a strong culture.

I'll get some new pictures up tonight, but one jug of this is entirely still, and clearing beautifully, with just a few bubbles hanging out on top. The other still has a sparse film on top, and the airlock bubbles about once or twice a minute. Still have no explanation for why they're acting differently, but I'm looking forward to blending them before bottling.

It'll probably be another month or two before I think about trying to bottle. I really want to give them some to finish up when the weather warms up (we're still mid 60's here), and I don't want to take any risks with a slow-acting wild culture.

 

[burninator]

It's tough to see here, but there's a thin film across the top of the beer, like a broken ice sheet. Pay no mind to the big circle in the middle. I should have turned off my flash.

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The other jug is, strangely, still bubbling somewhat vigorously.

 

[burninator]

This is better, without the flash.

 

[burninator]

I want to get a new picture of this up tonight, but I thought I'd post a quick update on where this is, and what I plan to do with it over the next few weeks.

Our impending addition to the family (11 days and counting) has me thinking about putting my brews in order, as I have a few mid to long term projects underway and planned. As such, I can't afford to have this stuff tying up my glass jugs any longer. Those things are valuable, and I have other plans for them. So, this weekend, I'll rack the beer to a 2 gallon plastic bucket with airlock and store it in the garage during the hot spring and summer weeks ahead. With any luck, the added heat will revive the microorganisms in my beer, which are no doubt really tired by now, and get this thing finished up.

Airlock activity has basically stopped, but there's now a sparse layer of large, filmy bubbles on top. This, I assume, is some late stage of lacto development, as the bacteria struggles to survive in an increasingly hostile environment. I haven't been shy about removing the stopper for a look and a smell, and the beer smells really nice, if not a little more plain that I'd expect.

So, into the bucket it will go to make room for another experimental sour (secondary storage of a Belgian pale with saison, brett, and the same lacto culture). As pictures have been rare lately, I don't think this will impede things too much.

I'll also get a gravity reading when transferring. This will be the first since brew day, when gravity was 1.040.

 

[burninator]

One pic of each jug. These are probably the last I'll take until bottling time. The beer is in a dark corner, so you can't tell the nice golden color it actually has. I think here you can see a pretty nice lacto pellicle, though.

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[burninator]

Well, I lied a little bit. I racked this to a bucket to secondary last weekend. I needed the jugs to secondary a pale ale/saison thing, and it looks like this one is going to be in the fermenter for a while longer, anyway.

Last night I walked out to check on a lambic, and I decided to pull the airlock on this for a little peek. Well, when I saw a distinct change in color, I just couldn't help but pull the lid for a pic or two. Hope the little critters in there can forgive me.

 

[burninator]

It's been almost three months since I brewed this. I suspect that's ample time for the bugs to have done their work, and they're probably exhausted.

I need to take a gravity reading and think about bottling this. Should I take one tonight and another on Sunday, or wait a week to take a second reading before bottling?

 

[TAK]

It's been this long, what's another week? If gravity does happen to be moving, it's probably at a pace too hard to track over just 2 days. I'd take readings a week apart.

 

[burninator]

Good points. I opened it today to take a reading -- 1.010 -- considerably higher than I'd expect. I'm not sure what kind of distortion the lactic acid is causing, but it had a really nice taste and aroma, with tons of fruit. Think tangerines and apricots.

I'll take another look next week and hopefully get it packaged.

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[joe_four_strings]

Nice! I like the pellicle pics. Looks like the surface of an alien planet.

 

[burninator]

Any advice from hivemind on that SG? Is that high, or does the lactic acid production distort it that much?

 

[slym2none]

Good points. I opened it today to take a reading -- 1.010 -- considerably higher than I'd expect. I'm not sure what kind of distortion the lactic acid is causing, but it had a really nice taste and aroma, with tons of fruit. Think tangerines and apricots.

I'll take another look next week and hopefully get it packaged.

I want to pop one of those little, dusty bubbles...

 

[burninator]

I want to pop one of those little, dusty bubbles...

They're thinner than tissue paper, but the pellicle is tough. The jostling caused by removing the lid didn't break it, and even after I put a syringe through it to draw out a sample, you couldn't tell where it had been broken.

I'm really happy with this culture, and I'm currently using a later version of it to sour a berliner weisse and a saison.

 

[burninator]

Time to bottle, I think. Soliciting advice on how high to bottle carb.

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[GluStick]

I've haven't bottle carbed a sour yet, but I don't think you'll have much head retention. Maybe bottle at 2 volumes of co2? Really depends on what you like though

 

[youreanimpulse]

Pretty high FG I'd think. I'd go 2.5, leave a little room but make sure it's carbed enough when it's done. 2.0 is too low for this style, I feel.