I'm thinking about just bottling my BW and not waiting for a pellicle, or even for it to sour properly. Will this work? Will it sour properly in the bottle? How long?
I brewed up a Berliner Weisse 6 weeks ago. It is very mildly sour. Initially pitched lacto d., then S-05 a day later.
Kristen England (mashweasel) says he ferments for only 7 days, then bottles his BW. He suggests bottling with additional sacc and lacto. Then, condition bottles in warm area and they will sour up in the bottle. Here is that thread. 10th post is where Kristen gets started, then there are a zillion subsequent posts from him.
I brewed up a Berliner Weisse 6 weeks ago. It is very mildly sour. Initially pitched lacto d., then S-05 a day later.
Kristen England (mashweasel) says he ferments for only 7 days, then bottles his BW. He suggests bottling with additional sacc and lacto. Then, condition bottles in warm area and they will sour up in the bottle. Here is that thread. 10th post is where Kristen gets started, then there are a zillion subsequent posts from him.
The souring of the beer comes from the lactobacillus found on the grain when it ferments, NOT before fermentation. As I said before. A simple grist of 50% wheat and 50% pils is the way to go. Something like 10 IBUs of any german hop will be fine of which they will be mash hopped. A single decoction is a must b/c this beer is not boiled. A sour mash will not accomplish the level of sourness, carbonation and dryness for which this style is known. Pitch both ale yeast and lactobacillus.
Fermentation: Open fermentation for 4 days, starting at 68F going up to 75F. 2ndary, ~75F for 7 days.
Bottle condition: Repitch fresh yeast and bacteria to about 4-4.5vol of CO2. Its going to have to stay in the bottles for quite a while.
This is really the only way to do a Berliner Weiss and have it come out in the traditional manner. Ive had a bunch of sour mashed beers and they just dont taste right. They either have a ton of other flavors from the sour mash or they have to big of body, not dry enough and not sour enough. People then take to adding a bunch of lactic acid. Not good.
Fermentation: Open fermentation for 4 days, starting at 68F going up to 75F. 2ndary, ~75F for 7 days.
Bottle condition: Repitch fresh yeast and bacteria to about 4-4.5vol of CO2. Its going to have to stay in the bottles for quite a while.
This is really the only way to do a Berliner Weiss and have it come out in the traditional manner. Ive had a bunch of sour mashed beers and they just dont taste right. They either have a ton of other flavors from the sour mash or they have to big of body, not dry enough and not sour enough. People then take to adding a bunch of lactic acid. Not good.
