I've made few sour beers, but my first Berliner Weisse last year took a long time to make, then missed the mark of being really good, it was acceptable, but not great.
I have my first sour mash in progress as I type this, but something fairly important I've never asked is how does the sour character transfer through the rest of the process? At 18 hours my mix is very active, and smells great, I haven't measured the pH, but a sample tastes like a Sweet Tart. I intend a 30 minute boil, then "normal" fermention. Will the rest of the process affect the tartness? My assumption has been that it should be similar before and after.
Second, I have a RR Consecration kit from Morebeer that is over a year and a half old now that turned out very good, although slightly less sour than the real stuff. It scored 39 at Wizard of Saaz recently. The sour mash I'm doing now made me wonder if a partial sour mash of the next batch might enhance the sour character a bit, and jack the complexity in addition to the post boil souring strategy. Anyone have any thoughs on either point?
I have my first sour mash in progress as I type this, but something fairly important I've never asked is how does the sour character transfer through the rest of the process? At 18 hours my mix is very active, and smells great, I haven't measured the pH, but a sample tastes like a Sweet Tart. I intend a 30 minute boil, then "normal" fermention. Will the rest of the process affect the tartness? My assumption has been that it should be similar before and after.
Second, I have a RR Consecration kit from Morebeer that is over a year and a half old now that turned out very good, although slightly less sour than the real stuff. It scored 39 at Wizard of Saaz recently. The sour mash I'm doing now made me wonder if a partial sour mash of the next batch might enhance the sour character a bit, and jack the complexity in addition to the post boil souring strategy. Anyone have any thoughs on either point?
