Tips on Berliner Weisse process

[agroff383]

Hey all, it has been a while since I have been on...haven't been brewing as much as I would have liked but now that it is warm, it is about that time...

I brewed my first Berliner and I want to make sure I mitigate any chance of infecting any equipment, etc. I have let the beer sit until the sour level is to my liking, I want to drink it soon but I want to know, do you boil it again after fermentation/aging, or do you just rack into a keg like a normal beer? Is the boil necessary to limit bacteria going wild in your brew area/equipment? Or is there another reason for the boil?

I was just concerned about oxidation in the finished product most of all.

Thanks!

 

[agroff383]

Anyone?

 

[wonderbread23]

Are you sour mashing, or adding lacto post boil? If you sour mash, then boil as normal, there shouldn't be any problems keeping bugs out of your cold side. I personally like doing a controlled sour mash, specifically for this reason (plus it's fast and effective).

 

[Yourrealdad]

You are asking if you need to boil it a second time to stop the Lacto from continuing to do work correct?

No.

Rack to a keg or bottling bucket as you would normally. If you want to mitigate the chance of infection then use a set of tubing and siphon that is only for sour beers.

Store the beers below 60 degrees and that should stop the lacto from being active. It likes temps between 60-100 degrees and really on the warmer side.

If you have good cleaning and sanitation practice then infection shouldn't be an issue. Star-san kills yeast including wild yeast and it takes care of bacteria and such as well as long as it is at the correct ratio and applied correctly.

I am no expert, but I also have a Berliner in the fermentation chamber, getting ready to try it. How long did you keep it in the primary?

 

[agroff383]

Thanks guys.

I used the Berliner yeast/lacto blend from White Labs, I was going to do a sour mash but then i did it that way instead.

This Berliner is 3 months old, I did want it pretty sour but it has been in there too long, we lost my wife's mom unexpectedly so I haven't had time to do much brewing activities. I don't know if I left it sit too long but I do like them sour.

I am going to brew another batch this weekend and put it right on the yeast/lacto.

My sanitation isn't an issue, I will do a separate siphon/tubing just to be safe, I don't mind spending the extra few bucks on another siphon. I am going to keg the Berliner and try entering it into a competition so I will just use my counterpressure filler for those bottles...I am getting thirst for it already!