Want to Make a Berliner - Help!

[punkrawkgeek]

So I have ingredients to make a Berliner Weiss. And I would love to make it, as I love the style. But the only thing is, I cannot keep a full 3 gallons at 100-110F for a couple of days. Is there any way I can make a lacto starter and then add enough to the wort I make to make it a sour? Blend it and then Boil. Hops. And then cool to pitch my sacc...??
Thank you.

 

[feinbera]

You're probably better off trying to sour mash the whole thing at 90°; if you can't keep the whole three gallons over 100°, it's hard to imagine you'll be able to keep a gallon or two at 100°, either, and any less than that, you're going to have a hard time making enough lactic acid to get the whole batch sour.

Do you have temperature control equipment? A plastic fermentor bucket, wrapped in fermwrap, then the whole kit and kaboodle wrapped in a spare comforter, will hold 105°, 106° easily; I've got a lacto starter (which I plan on pitching into the whole larger batch, once I've verified it's not got anything gross growing in it) in that kind of setup as I type this.

 

[dwhite60]

You can buy lactic acid. Ferment out your beer
and add it to taste.

Problem solved.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[dozer5454]

Having made a few of these beers in this style I would first ask what type of mash tun you have. If its an ice chest your golden. What you will have to do is make a mash that is like oatmeal. Your using less water on purpose. Mash in like normal 148-152 with less water. Bring it down to about 110, close the lid and cover with blankets. Check on it about every 8-10 hours and add boiling water as needed. Usually about 2 quarts at a time to bump the temp back into the range. When it smells like cooked corn and its as tart as you want the taste, mash out and sparge as needed. You can even add fruit in the secondary if you want. I used strawberries in the past with great success. Hope this helps.

 

[cobrem]

I used a cheap reptile heater pad that maxes out at 100f, and threw my kettle on it. If you don't have anything like that, dozer's plan sounds pretty good - one modification - I'd put a layer of plastic wrap on top of the wort (like directly on it).

As for adding the lactic acid directly, I've heard it works, but in the words of Jamil on one of his Jamil Show/brewing with style podcasts, it's a bit like microwaving a steak. Taste may not be quite the same as letting the lacto do it's thing.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Lacto sours just fine at room temp, it just takes longer than it does at 110F. This process is based on the "A Perspective on Brewing Berliner Weisse-style Beer" presentation by Jess Caudil & Jason Kahler from the 2012 NHC. It works without requiring additional temp control/equipment. Prepare a 1.020 starter for your lacto culture (I like Wyeast 5335) one week before brew day. Avoid oxygenating the starter. On brew day after chilling (don't aerate), pitch the lacto starter and give it a headstart of 4-7 days at room temp before you pitch yeast (I like Wyeast 3191 when it's available, or WLP670 American Farmhouse when 3191 isn't available).

I've used this method on my past two batches of Berliner and they've turned out very well (and very sour). If you want less sourness, shoot for 4 days before pitching yeast. I like a lot of acidity so I usually shoot for 7 days. Make sure you keep your IBUs low. I think I remember from the presentation that they used a single pellet hop in a 6 barrel batch. I use about an ounce of aged/debittered hops in mine and it gets plenty sour (some judges complain it's too sour, too close to a lambic).

 

[microbusbrewery]

As for adding the lactic acid directly, I've heard it works, but in the words of Jamil on one of his Jamil Show/brewing with style podcasts, it's a bit like microwaving a steak. Taste may not be quite the same as letting the lacto do it's thing.

+1, don't do this. A friend of mine had a beer that he was getting tired of and decided to add lactic acid to the rest of the keg to try to simulate a barrel aged sour. It was sour, but it was also missing complexity. It's hard to describe, but it's very one dimensional compared to the complexity you get from using lactic acid bacteria.

 

[punkrawkgeek]

I may make a starter and let it kettle sour over the week... See how that does. I don't have any temp control at all... No room for it. Was looking for a cheap electric blanket or something... No one had one I could borrow. Doh!
Thanks for all the help. I'll let you know how it all goes.