Brewing the MTF Berliner recipe this weekend, first Berliner and had some questions for the seasoned vets. 3lb wheat 7lb pilsner OYL-605 For souring WLP644 For Cleanup First question is about the lacto starter. Plan to make it 3 days in advance. 1.040 wort, no stir plate, room temperature, with an airlock. Is this the right way to go about it, or do you have any suggestions. Second question is about fruiting. I would like to fruit this beer with something like mango and pineapple. When would be the optimal time to add this fruit? Since I will be adding the WLP644 for cleanup, should I add them both at the same time? Any past experience with this type of quick turn around beer would be appreciated!! Cheers, Dave
There was a really good discussion in one of the previous podcasts of The Brewing Network show "The Sour Hour" about this Berlinner I think. Go back to episode 13 and give it a listen.
I'm assuming that OYL strain is lacto. Your starter process sounds good, and airlock will work, but leaving foil on top would also work. Foils easy to sterilize with flame so that's always my go too. I'll typically pitch lacto (probiotic starter) and let that go for 12-24 hours before pitching my sacch/Brett strain or WL 644 in your case. I would wait for the lacto/sacch fermentation finish or at least slow down before adding fruit. I would get a SG reading after the lacto/sacch fermentation to get an idea of what the FG should be. So then you can add your fruit either in the same carboy or in another carboy and rack the beer atop the fruit. Youl know your fruit fermentation is done once you achieve your FG that 644 and lacto had achieved previously. Adding fruit might even help drive your FG lower than it was previously. Having a stable FG for weeks if not a month is really the only way to be sure the beer isn't still fermenting. Also. I reccomend you use carboys/BB. Buckets are no good for sour beers, especially with lacto involved.
"Dan ABA", wiki editor for MTF here... 1. A stir plate is best for any microbe growth. Use an airlock though for Lacto. L. plantarum in the Omega blend could produce more acetic acid with oxygen exposure (normally oxygen doesn't really affect Lacto, despite what people believe, but in this case you want to make an effort to keep O2 out). 2. Add fruit after primary fermentation. Always. 3. Don't use any hops during the souring process. Hops pretty much destroys this otherwise exceptional blend. You can add hops after the Lacto sours your wort if you want. 4. Don't let the wort go above 95°F when souring with the Omega blend. If the temp goes down from 95°F while it's souring, that is fine. This blend does well anywhere between 70°F-95°F. Bacteria isn't yeast, so gradual falling temperature isn't an issue. Good luck!
Awesome, that is what I figured, did that process exactly. beer is currently sitting on lots of pineapple and mango. excited for what's to come. Thanks dan!
