Using Yogurt Cultures?

[kinkothecarp]

Hi there,

I've got a yogurt which contains S. thermophilius, L. bulgaricus (both used in beer), L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, and L. casei. Think I could use these to sour a beer pre-boil?

 

[suprchunk]

I've used it to sour about a pound of the grains pre-mash. Kentucky Sour beer was the recipe I believe. I'll try and find it.

 

[suprchunk]

Here's a BYO writeup:
http://***********/stories/techniqu...ll-grain-brewing/1723-sour-mashing-techniques

Recipe from HBD:
http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/04_20.html

And it's called Kentucky Common. There seems to be a few threads on here about it. I tried it back in '03 and it was still pretty sour a couple years later.

 

[kinkothecarp]

So do you think I can just disolve my extract into water, inncoulate it with a few spoonfulls of yogurt, let it sit for a week, and then boil it as I would a normal beer, and then lastly ferment the thing with a French Saison yeast?

 

[rorygilmore]

A week is a pretty long sour mash. I've never heard of anyone going past 2-3 days. 7 days might drop the ph too low for the French Saison yeast to work properly, and it might give acetobacter or clostridium a chance to contribute off flavors. But who knows, the yogurt cultures might be slower acting than lacto d.

Are you planning to sour the entire wort, or just a portion of it?

Here's a good thread on souring using yogurt cultures: http://babblebelt.com/newboard/thread.html?tid=1108752780&th=1233511627

 

[kinkothecarp]

A week is a pretty long sour mash. I've never heard of anyone going past 2-3 days. 7 days might drop the ph too low for the French Saison yeast to work properly, and it might give acetobacter or clostridium a chance to contribute off flavors. But who knows, the yogurt cultures might be slower acting than lacto d.

Are you planning to sour the entire wort, or just a portion of it?

Here's a good thread on souring using yogurt cultures: http://babblebelt.com/newboard/thread.html?tid=1108752780&th=1233511627

Just three gallons. I cover it, yes?

 

[Revvy]

It's too bad they've pulled all their stuff but the australian "craft brewer radio" folks, or I should say Graham Sanders of Craft brewer radio did a lot of work with using sour cream cultures in his sour wits. I'm sure yoghurt would work too.

 

[Almighty]

During Brew Big a few weeks ago, I tasted a partial sour mash that was inoculated with the liquid off the top of commercial yogurt. It was a very clean sourness and not over the top at day 4. I think if you are souring before the boil this is a good technique. I just have no idea what will happen if you add it after the boil.

 

[kinkothecarp]

I'm doing a boil to sterlize the wort, then I'll be doing it pre-hops boil

 

[suprchunk]

Okay, I found my notes on my soured with yogurt recipe.

6.2# Pale Malt (Soured 20%, 1.2#, 2 days prior with 1 cup of yogurt with live culture)
13oz 120L Crystal
3.5oz Chocolate
2# grits
9grams Galena for 60m (don't have the AA written down for these and it was from 2004)
9grams Galena 15m
Irish Moss at 15m as well
9grams Galena 2m - or you can add some other hop for aroma here or at knockout

I cooked grits for about 25 minutes, then added the soured mash, grits and the rest of the grains until conversion. The sparge stuck a few times so I would suggest a half pound or so of rice hulls.

My OG was ~1050 and my FG was ~1022. Not the best, and I didn't write down what may have caused this, but I'm sure it was the stuck sparge that was adding to frustration and just trying to get it done.

Note for the souring; I had put the crushed portion to sour in a plastic trash bag, tightened it up and didn't expel ALL of the oxygen. I then put this in a small Styrofoam cooler (the kind just big enough to hold a six pack of delicious tall cans) to retain the heat for the bugs to work out their magic. Other than this and the grits it was a pretty straightforward brew.

I am now tempted to do this one again to see if I can perfect it a bit. Like I said above, it was a bit too sour at first, and I just let it sit for a very long time before I drank it again. And it did not lose much of it's sourness.

A week is really too long. And you will be getting plenty of sourness that would only be brought more forward with a Saison yeast. And I don't know what you would get from adding the yogurt to extract. I've only ever seen it described, successfully, with using the yogurt and grain.

Hope this helps, and let us know how it turns out. Good luck.