Help with Berliner Weisse

[reynoldw22]

So I've recently starting brewing 1 gallon batches as a way to sort of test out recipes before I brew them on a 5 gallon scale and also as a way to experiment. I love sour beer, especially Berliner Weisse and want to do an test batch of this beer. My questions is how much yeast and Lactobacillus to pitch for a 1 gallon batch. White Labs makes a mixture containing both yeast and Lactobacillus (WLP630). Would I essentially just pitch around a 1/5 of this vial?

 

[Calder]

I wouldn't use that mix. You want to sour the wort before adding the yeast. That way you can have the beer in the bottle in as little as 3 weeks and be drinking it in 5. If you use that blend, you could be waiting 6 months or more.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I've never had good luck with commercial Lacto pitches. I've had better luck doing a sour mash. Even with extract, you could "kettle sour" it. Steep your grains, add your extract, get it at 110, and toss in half a pound or so of crushed base malt, and let it sit for 4 or 5 days (if your kettle will fit, sour it in the oven with the light on to keep it warm). Then boil it (some do a brief boil, I do a full length boil and only hop it at the end), hop it very low, and then add your sacch strain. No worry of equipment contamination, or of bottle bombs, since all the lactic bacteria that created the sourness are killed when you boil it.

 

[reynoldw22]

I tried the first method by adding strictly lacto before the yeast. It's been two days now and there activity in the fermenter. I'm thinking of adding the yeast tomorrow. My question is, is it ok to aerate once the yeast is added or do I not want to disturb the activity that has already taken place?

 

[Qhrumphf]

This is one of the few situations where I wouldn't aerate. Lacto works fairly slowly as it is, but adding additional oxygen will only slow the process down further. Assuming that you're in the traditional gravity range (1.030 +/- a point or two), I'd just pitch without aerating.

 

[webersa4]

So I've recently starting brewing 1 gallon batches as a way to sort of test out recipes before I brew them on a 5 gallon scale and also as a way to experiment. I love sour beer, especially Berliner Weisse and want to do an test batch of this beer. My questions is how much yeast and Lactobacillus to pitch for a 1 gallon batch. White Labs makes a mixture containing both yeast and Lactobacillus (WLP630). Would I essentially just pitch around a 1/5 of this vial?

I've been doing one gallon batches too but I decided to go for a 4 gallon batch for my first Berliner weisse because the ingredients were so cheap and the potential long time it could take for the beer to turn out. I made my own lacto starter and pitched that a couple days before us 05.

 

[Sebas83]

Also, get your ph down before you pitch grain (lacto). I believe 4.8 is the happy spot for lacto.

And, +1 for kettle souring. That 5 week number is no joke. I suggest letting it hang in the bottle for a while. It gets better with time.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Qhrumphf]

When I do a sour mash, I drop the pH to 4.5 with lactic acid. I don't know about it making a happy place for lacto, but it certainly helps keep other wild yeast and bad guys (particularly enteric bacteria giving the butyric acid or vomitoxin kind of things) at bay, and lends a really clean sourness. I'd recommend doing the same whenever you're working with wild lacto from grains. Not an issue when dealing with a pure commercial pitch.

Also, warmer temp (lacto likes 110) and as close to zero oxygen as possible will speed the process.

 

[Sebas83]

Indeed. +1 +1 +1

 

[Salpino]

A great resource for sour mashing a Berliner Weisse:

http://seancoates.com/blogs/berliner-weisse

Sean also described his process on Basic Brewing Radio back in 2012.

I followed this method and turned out an awesome batch each of the last two years. Probably my most satisfying home brewing experience.

 

[Calder]

I tried the first method by adding strictly lacto before the yeast. It's been two days now and there activity in the fermenter. I'm thinking of adding the yeast tomorrow. My question is, is it ok to aerate once the yeast is added or do I not want to disturb the activity that has already taken place?

I usually have mine, under airlock for 5 to 7 days at 95 F, with just the lacto before pitching any yeast. I taste it before I pitch yeast. I will not pitch the yeast until it is sour enough. If you pitch the yeast before it is soured, you will be waiting for a long time for it to get decently sour.

When I pitch yeast, I generally pitch 2X what I would normally pitch, and I aerate when I pitch the yeast.