Sour Wheat beer questions

[justindustrial]

I'm aiming for a sour mash Berliner Weisse (rather than full lacto fermentation) but a little off-style, as I'm bringing the ABV up to about 4.5%.

I was hoping for some feedback on technique / recipe for any of you experienced sour brewers.

My goal is to end up with a beer that is tart and refreshing, not an aggressive example of sour beers.

5 Gal Batch:

4 lbs. 2-Row
??lb. Uncrushed 2-row (for lacto)
4 lbs. Wheat Malt
0.3 oz. Northern Brewer (8.2%AA) (60mins)
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Since Lacto wasn't available when I needed it, I plan to use uncrushed 2-row as my source of bugs. I also wanted to avoid souring the entire mash, so I plan to make a starter mash for which to sour, and add it back into my main wort. (need advice on whether DME will work for sour wort)

Schedule as follows:
Prepare starter wort (unsure of volume, probably half a gallon. is DME okay?) boil to sterilize, cool to 120F, add uncrushed 2-row, cover in plastic or CO2, and maintain at 120F for 2 days for turbo-charged lactic fermentation.

Mash remaining grain as normal

60-minute boil with single hop addition at 60 mins.

Boil soured wort to kill Lacto and sterilize

Add soured wort to main wort

Cool to 70F

Ferment on WY1056 at 70F until conversion is complete (how long approx?)


Thanks to anyone reading this long-ass indecisive post. I appreciate your help!

JDM

 

[Oldsock]

I don’t think you’ll get enough sourness from souring just 10% of the wort. No issue using DME, but it might be just as easy to brew the whole batch, divert part to souring, and the rest to clean fermentation, and then blend a few days later when the reserved wort has been soured and pasteurized. I did something similar with good results a couple years ago, although I like this souring technique for more characterful beers.

I think it is beneficial to make a small starter with the grain first, that will drop the pH and help to get rid of any nasties. You’ll get a cleaner sourness that way.

Fermentation by the yeast shouldn’t take much longer than normal, although depending how low the pH is after the addition of the soured wort, things may slow down a bit.

 

[rtowers]

If you are looking for an assertive sourness, you may want to consider sour mashing the entire mash. Or souring all of the wort depending on your preference.

I have found that a 24 hour sour mash of a 6 gallon batch around 1.045 makes for a pleasant and mild sourness.

I have attempted souring a small percentage of the beer and found I couldn't develop enough acid to get the sourness to come across in the full batch.