I am looking to do a Berliner Weisse this week and was going to do a lacto starter before pitching into my wort. I plan on doing my mash/lauter, bringing to a boil to kill any unwanted bugs, then using 2 liters of the wort with some unmilled grain for my starter. I plan on letting the starter sour for 72 hrs before pitching into the wort. My question is will the wort be ok for 72 hrs before pitching the starter?
72 hours without pitching yeast will almost certainly lead to contamination. Nobody's homebrew sanitation is that good. Just pick up some extract and make a starter before brew day. milk the funk wiki has tons of great info.
Just use DME now to make the starter, that way you won't have to wait 72 hours after your boil to pitch. Or, pitch your lacto blend into the wort pre-boil, let it do its thing, and THEN boil it to kill anything wild in there
Why not kettle sour pre-boil? Make the starter in advance to get your lacto going. Once it is ripping (a day or two) mash, but don't boil, and pitch the lacto starter (@ about 110 degrees). Let it sit until your Ph is where you want it, then boil. That way you have control over how sour it gets and your batch will be free of bugs for your primary yeast fermentation. You don't need to worry about if the wort will be ok after 72 hours (although, you'll want to keep it covered to keep out mold spores). The lacto won't eat much sugar to get there and you will still have plenty of fermentables for the yeast.
