Adding lactic acid to PRIMARY

[mrphillips]

I'm feeling adventurous, and decided to brew a rose gose with a bunch of rose peddles. I'm not looking for notes on the rose peddles (though if you have any extreme DO NOTS, I'd be happy to hear'em!), but rather if it would hurt my lovely yeast if I add 2 oz of 88% lactic acid right into the primary after cooling the wart.

My theory is that since some people say that there is a "buttery" taste when using lactic acid - which I also detect on the nose - that there might be diacetyl present, and the yeast could clean these up if I add it when the yeast is active...but I have NO idea how the lower PH will affect my yeast. All I can find online is people adding the lactic acid POST fermentation, not the other way around.

Thanks for any advise you can provide!

 

[arnobg]

I highly recommend not using lactic acid at all and trying out kettle souring. It may seem daunting for your first time but I assure you it's really easy if you're patient and take your time reading up on it.

 

[Sprint10]

I'm feeling adventurous, and decided to brew a rose gose with a bunch of rose peddles. I'm not looking for notes on the rose peddles (though if you have any extreme DO NOTS, I'd be happy to hear'em!), but rather if it would hurt my lovely yeast if I add 2 oz of 88% lactic acid right into the primary after cooling the wart.

My theory is that since some people say that there is a "buttery" taste when using lactic acid - which I also detect on the nose - that there might be diacetyl present, and the yeast could clean these up if I add it when the yeast is active...but I have NO idea how the lower PH will affect my yeast. All I can find online is people adding the lactic acid POST fermentation, not the other way around.

Thanks for any advise you can provide!

IMO I wouldn't do it but i don't know how many gallons your making , if your doing secondary, and overall how long it will take to finish up. I say this because if you wash yeast we boil our jars because if we use starsan (which is a acid) you are essentially giving them an acid bath which if the yeast are subject to this for a long period of time you stress and damage them. I would imagine that the same thing applies if you add it to your fermentation bucket/carboy because if you are making a one gallon batch that could be to high of a dose and even in a five gallon batch if you are going to age it for months at that dose the yeast might start to become damaged plus the dead/ damaged yeast cells may give you an off flavor.. Just my opinion....

 

[microbusbrewery]

+1 for kettle souring rather than dosing with lactic acid. The end result is more complex IMO. Re your rose petals, make sure they weren't grown with any systemic poisons (e.g. for aphid control).

 

[mrphillips]

Huh, I never considered the "poison rose" angle. Good point.

I agree that kettle souring is the way to go, but I've given it a go twice before, and it never went as planned, so I thought I'd try this. I honestly just like sour ****, and I'm not trying to get 50/50 at a competition...I just want something puckering for the spring.

I put the whole lot together last night, and it came to a modest 1.040 OG. I put 4 oz of Rose petals in right as I started cooling the wort with my coil, and then strained them out before tossing it in the primary. I've decided to wait until the secondary to put in the lactic acid.

If anyone's curious how this turns out, I'll get back to ya in a couple weeks. Thanks for the input.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Huh, I never considered the "poison rose" angle. Good point.

I agree that kettle souring is the way to go, but I've given it a go twice before, and it never went as planned, so I thought I'd try this. I honestly just like sour ****, and I'm not trying to get 50/50 at a competition...I just want something puckering for the spring.

I put the whole lot together last night, and it came to a modest 1.040 OG. I put 4 oz of Rose petals in right as I started cooling the wort with my coil, and then strained them out before tossing it in the primary. I've decided to wait until the secondary to put in the lactic acid.

If anyone's curious how this turns out, I'll get back to ya in a couple weeks. Thanks for the input.

My first attempt at kettle souring didn't work either. I tried doing it in a carboy to avoid O2. I also used a car battery heater to try to maintain a gentle heat. It didn't sour much, and I suspect the battery heater got too hot. What I do now is take it up to 170F to pasteurize, then chill to 100F then transfer to a sanitized 1/4 barrel sanke and pitch a GoodBelly SuperShot. I let it ride for about week at room temp (warmest room in the house helps).