Beer Forum

So I've decided to give a sour style a try. I've been pretty intrigued by this idea, and as I won't be able to brew as much because of summer heat, I thought I'd try something that could still be working over these months. I though I might add a pound or so of raspberries to the mix just for some color and maybe a little flavor.

2 lbs Pilsen LME
2 lbs Wheat LME
1 lb sugar
1 Vial White Labs German Ale
1 Vial White Labs Lacto
Raspberries?

Ferment for a week with German Ale, transfer to secondary, add Lacto and fruit.

Any advice, concerns, support, insults?

Jess Caudill of Wyeast gave a talk at the ANHC last year about this.

He outlined the experiments they ran in the lab.

Bottom line was the lowest pH, best sourness and best flavour came from using lacto first, followed by German Ale, then using Brett at bottling.

Excellent. Thank you for the response. Fortunately, I started this batch last night and pitched lacto first, to be followed by German Ale yeast. Brett at bottling...hmm. Interesting. I'll look into this talk. Thanks, again!

I'm unsure if you'll find the talk anywhere. ANHC don't have downloads of the presentations.

So, I've looked into this a bit more. By the way, thanks for the links, guys. Another question: with the acidity this beer might develop over time, would it be bad to leave it in the primary for 3 or 4 months? I've only got one glass carboy, so would either have to get another one for aging, or buy a keg to age in (which I might do anyway). OG was only around 1.045, so I'm not worried about high alcohol causing autolysis, but the low pH might.

Cody wrote: Another question: with the acidity this beer might develop over time, would it be bad to leave it in the primary for 3 or 4 months? I've only got one glass carboy, so would either have to get another one for aging, or buy a keg to age in (which I might do anyway).

I have read that the Lacto prefers an anaerobic environment to develop the proper sourness. For this reason, the one I brewed in February is aging in a (purged) keg. Not sure how much of a difference it makes, but it seems to be working.

I prefer aging berliner's in a keg and have had best results doing so. Even at cool temperatures (50-60 deg) for 6+ mos.