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Many kettle sour brewers are lowering the pH of the wort to 4.5 prior to pitching souring bacteria in a effort to maintain head retention in the finished beer. The challenge is knowing how much acid (usually lactic) to add in order to achieve the desired pH. One such brewer is using EZ water by...

Brettanomyces creates acidic acid during growth especially when exposed to O2. Isolates stored on slants or in liquid media have a short lifespan. It has been hypothesized that the acid created and shortens the life of the stored isolate. I would like to test this hypothesis by storing isolates...

If one were make a Calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) solution then add lactic acid, what would happen to the lactic acid? Would it become calcium lactate? What becomes of the Calcium hydroxide?

Recently, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a brewery in Monterey CA on a GABF Pro-Am competition beer. The brewery does not treat their water other than carbon filtering. Naturally I wanted to try to understand the water profile we were using so I went online to look at the city water...

I have always done a protein rest at 130F for 30 minutes because that's how I learned and am resistant to change. I always use Belgian Pilsner for a base malt and sometimes have a bit of a chill haze issue even though I boil hard for 90 minutes, chill fast to 60F (15 to 20 minutes after a 15...

I hardly know enough to ask the question. If I understand correctly, we want to precipitate oxalates in the mash and an appropriate amount of calcium does this. If not precipitated, oxalates can cause haze in finished product and beerstone build-up in the fermenter and down the line...

For years I have been working on a Saison finished with Brett (SFB) with limited success. Recently I have used advice from this forum to dial in my brewing water and have brewed 2 batches of my SFB (one light the other darker) using the new water profile and submitted these to 2 different...

If you have ever cold crashed beer after fermentation you realize the advantages of the process, e.g. clear beer with reduced maturation time. However, we are often concerned with the fact that air is introduced into the fermentor bringing with it possible contamination and oxidation. My concern...

I think anyone who has brewed with Brettanomyces (Brett) would agree it is a wonderful curiosity. Different fermentation environments and genetic variations within species can elicit a wide variety of flavor and aroma profiles, ranging from goat to tropical fruit with a cornucopia between these...

I am afraid to walk on the "Wild Side" but love the beer. Being a plant pathologist, I realize the diversity of microorganisms present in the environment and being a long time "clean" home brewer, sanitation in ingrained in my process. I cannot imagine pitching a wild caught mixed culture into...