Wyeast 5335 lacto

[brandon443]

Hoping someone can help me out here.. Trying my first kettle sour beer. Mashed Saturday morning, drained, collected then let cool down to 100F. Pitched the 5335. How long should it take before I start to see any sour/tartness?? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

[thespiff]

I used 5335 once and never will again. MilkTheFunk is the pre-eminent resource for this sort of thing:
http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Lactobacillus#Wyeast_on_5335
Those directions will likely get you to the same conclusion I reached: total pain in the ass.

If you read further down there are some great charts comparing souring at different temps for different yeasts, which give you a feel for how slowly things should go. In my experience, I kept it in the kettle for 6 days total around 100F and the pH dropped from 5.2 down to 4.3 in 4 days then just sat there for 2 days before my patience ran out. A funky pellicle(?) had formed on the surface by then. It was only slightly tart and I am really struggling to finish the keg. Not very good.

My second attempt, almost same recipe and process, except I made a 1.020 starter a week ahead of time with 4 Lactobacillus Plantarum probiotic pills:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BZ3YWXC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
I pitched the starter into my wort at 90F and kept it at that temp. 48 hrs later I was at 3.3 pH and it was sour as heck. Boiled, hopped lightly, fermented with US04. It came out fantastic.

I would strongly recommend a pH meter if you plan to do sours regularly. You can get cheap ones which are a hassle to use properly but will allow you to check progress of your sour at regular increments, ideally from a small sample pulled from the ball valve on your oxygen-sealed kettle.