Getting weird with Lacto/Brett - Design Tips Discussions on Home Brew Forums

Evan_B · Evan_B February 17 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

Sooooo....

With the three day weekend I finally have some time to brew a little (literally, a small batch). I decided to try something that would need a long time in the fermenter seeing as I am pretty busy with work and class. I decided to try some pseudo-Berliner Weisse thing with a "sour mash."

The grist is as follows:

1.5 lbs Pilsen
0.5 lbs White Wheat
0.25 lbs Midnight Wheat

0.25 oz Hallertau

Now for the strange part. I am going to split the batch (total of 2 gallons) into two pots. One will be brewed per normal, and I am going to pitch WLP004. The other half I am going to add some grain to, and let sit out for approx 24 hours to get it sour from the lactobacillus. Next, after 24 hours of souring I am going pitch a vial of white labs Brett C. and then let it sit for a month or more. After a month I plan to blend the Brett half with the WLP004 half and maybe even rack it onto some plums.

This is going to get weird, haha.

I guess what I am getting at -- does anyone see anything inherently wrong with pitching the Brett after I left that half of the wort sour up a bit? I will heat up the soured wort to 180 F for a bit to kill off the lactobacillus before pitching my Brett.

Anyways, just thought I would share.

FromZwolle · FromZwolle February 17 6454.00 KarmaPosts: 28,404

not weird at all. i love brett beers and i have a lacto experiment in the works right now as well.

keep us posted on this one!

Evan_B · Evan_B February 17 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

Awesome. Thank you for the reassurance!

Lakewood · Lakewood February 17 5498.00 KarmaPosts: 37,694

this sounds like a solid plan as far as experiments go. as for the result, i have no clue what it will turn out like, but it has a lot of promise.

Lakewood · Lakewood February 17 5498.00 KarmaPosts: 37,694

i suggest taking tasting notes on each part of the experiment just to get a guage of what is going on.

Evan_B · Evan_B February 17 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

Lakewood said:
i suggest taking tasting notes on each part of the experiment just to get a guage of what is going on.

I am going to be keeping a very close eye on this thing, whatever it is. Haha.

Lakewood · Lakewood February 17 5498.00 KarmaPosts: 37,694

Please post the details as you go. I'm very interested in how much flavor you get from the lacto.

jeepinjeepin · jeepinjeepin February 19 1074.00 KarmaPosts: 1,850

I wouldn't even bother with pasteurizing the lacto. It won't hurt a thing.

FromZwolle · FromZwolle February 19 6454.00 KarmaPosts: 28,404

jeepinjeepin said:
I wouldn't even bother with pasteurizing the lacto. It won't hurt a thing.

i would, so you can harvest the pure brett to use again. they're like $10 a pop!

FromZwolle · FromZwolle February 19 6454.00 KarmaPosts: 28,404

you can get them for half price here, it's 'expired' but for experiments like this, it should be just fine.

http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=493

Evan_B · Evan_B February 19 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

I was getting a little weary with souring of the half of my wart after a few days, and was discussing it with one Microbiology professor tonight. He suggested maybe trying a sourdough starter, as it contains lactobacillus (one of the 985769606 strains). I picked up a packet of sourdough starter on the way home tonight, and began doing a little research. There is yeast and lacto in the starter pack, and the yeast used for sourdough apparently is not a fan of maltose... which may seem like a bad thing, BUT IT ISN'T. This is actually perfect as I wanted almost no yeast activity UNTIL I pitch the brett, which will come after the lactobacillus has had a chance to run around and raise hell.

Not sure if any of this crap makes sense to you all, but it makes sense to me upstairs (I think), and now it is just a question of whether or not this is going do anything.
Even if the yeast were to eat a bit of the sugar, the O.G. of the half I am souring is only 1.024 anyways.

Evan_B · Evan_B February 19 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

FromZwolle said:
you can get them for half price here, it's 'expired' but for experiments like this, it should be just fine.

http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=493

My LHBS must be doing very well, as they have been selling all yeast vials sacc/brett for $6.99, and then they have the past due vials for half off, but be assured there are no past due vials of brett... I have looked, a lot!

FromZwolle · FromZwolle February 20 6454.00 KarmaPosts: 28,404

Evan_B said:

FromZwolle said:
you can get them for half price here, it's 'expired' but for experiments like this, it should be just fine.

http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=493

My LHBS must be doing very well, as they have been selling all yeast vials sacc/brett for $6.99, and then they have the past due vials for half off, but be assured there are no past due vials of brett... I have looked, a lot!

that's what the 'normal' strains usually go for.

jeepinjeepin · jeepinjeepin February 20 1074.00 KarmaPosts: 1,850

FromZwolle said:

jeepinjeepin said:
I wouldn't even bother with pasteurizing the lacto. It won't hurt a thing.

i would, so you can harvest the pure brett to use again. they're like $10 a pop!

This is where starters really shine and its a plus to White Labs. Make your starter, decant a portion to your empty vial, and pitch the rest.

Evan_B · Evan_B February 20 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

Slants are a good way to avoid paying for yeast for a year or more. I am just lazy and don't make them enough as I should.

mors

When doing a sour mash... I like to do it in a sanke keg for one simple reason... I can purge it of oxygen with co2. under co2 many of the 'bad' bacterias will not be active in the sour mash.

themonstermasher

I've never had a sour beer. What's it taste like?

Benvarine · Benvarine February 21 1751.00 KarmaPosts: 1,465

Buy some, they are great. All are different. As the name implies, they are sour.

FromZwolle · FromZwolle February 21 6454.00 KarmaPosts: 28,404

themonstermasher said:
I've never had a sour beer. What's it taste like?

if you can find bell's oarsman ale, that's a great starting point for sour beers. It's brewed using a sour mash. From there you can try some lambic, flanders red/brown, berliner wiesse, etc, but i find that those are really hard to find in my area.

FromZwolle · FromZwolle February 21 6454.00 KarmaPosts: 28,404

Benvarine said:
Buy some, they are great. All are different. As the name implies, they are sour.

if we're including brett in the sour beer category, try some of those.

goose island-matilda is a good one to try if you're wondering what brett b contributes to a beer.

Evan_B · Evan_B February 21 1003.00 KarmaPosts: 197

Last night I set my gallon jug, with the STILL not souring wort, onto a small candle warmer I found lying around the house. I went to work this morning with nothing changed, and I returned home just now to find a nice pelicle forming over the top.

I have never been more excited to see an infection!!!!!

I think I'll quick boil, cool, and pitch the Brett this Sat. morning.... or whenever I wake up.

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