Fast Souring With Extract?

I've done berliners with straight extract. They came out pretty good, although I have always mixed with fruit in a 2ndary fermentation. The primary key to success is more about using the right bugs in the right way than it is about the grist.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...souring-affordable-setup.335632/#post-4082155

I outline my most recent favorite fast souring technique in the thread above.

I would just use 100% wheat extract.

It's actually a very similar grain bill to traditional lambic.

Use no hops or less than 5 ibus to help your beer reach a desired acidity.


Also listen to the sour hour, especially the episode with the guys from milk the funk. They drink a couple all extract sours on that episode that sounded great.

 

If you have a solid brewing process, extract should be no problem at all. Design the "grain" bill of your choice, pitch a lab culture of lacto, when the acidity gets to the level you want it, either heat/boil to kill the lacto or alternatively just pitch the yeast of your choice. If you're bottling wait until the gravity is stable for a least a month. Here's another good resource for this type of beer.

http://sourbeerblog.com/fast-souring-lactobacillus/

 

I've done lots of sours from all extract (no specialty grains) and have gotten lots of compliments on them. I generally fruit them to give them some extra sugar and body. Without the specialty grains and longer, complex sugars, all extract kits tend to ferment out fairly quickly.

I keep it simple. Little to no hops in the kettle, pitch a mixed slurry of Sacc, Brett, Lacto and Pedio at the same time and ferment at cellar temp or slightly warmer. I always pitch some yeast nutrient to get things going quicker and will sometimes add some fruit at the beginning of ferm for color and a secondary pitching of fruit as soon as primary has died down.

Wait until gravity stabilizes but I've bottled in as little as 3 months with no secondary fruit addition (Agave Lime Sour) and no bottle bombs. I've also let these sit for over 2 years (Blueberry) with multiple fruit additions and bottled without adding any yeast at bottling with no flat bottles. From my limited experience, brewing is more forgiving than you might think.

 

I have fruited a lot of beers, including some sours. I've never really noticed any extra body from it. If anything, I think it tends to thin the body, probably because of its water contribution and higher proportion of fermentable sugars vs non-fermentable. I could imagine it adding body if added to a very low gravity/ABV beer.

 

i did a 100% extract berliner and did half on hibiscus. everyone loved them super easy brew and i was drinking in less than a months including bottle conditioning. see this thread

 

It could even be perceived body but they do tend to be relatively thin and low alcohol. I should have added that I was referring to fruit with the skin on (blueberries, grapes, apples, peaches, etc. - add whole fruit during fermentation). I agree that fruit can sometimes thin out the beer due to the high percentage of fermentable sugars. No matter what, you'll get a pretty thin beer when only using extract but they're just so easy to produce.

All extract table beers are my new kick. Quick to ferment, light tartness, easy drinking... they're just fun.

 

Ironically, I just opened up my straight (non fruit) BW. I forgot I bottled 1/3 of the last batch straight up. I still maintain it came out pretty good. Very tart, but lacks head retention.