Berliner Weisse technique from Zymurgy

[EllisTX]

It's a preference thing. I like my BW's at the point where they make you squint with 1 eye & give the other eyelid convulsions. You know you're in the right ballpark if someone stops to ask if you're ok or if you need medical attention. Some prefer them less sour.

So sour until I get my vinegar strokes face? I've got to work all day tomorrow so if I don't boil tonight it will be another 20 hours at least until I can do anything with it. It's come a long way in the last couple of hours. I've got decisions to make...

[Ozwald]

It's a preference thing. I like my BW's at the point where they make you squint with 1 eye & give the other eyelid convulsions. You know you're in the right ballpark if someone stops to ask if you're ok or if you need medical attention. Some prefer them less sour.

So sour until I get my vinegar strokes face? I've got to work all day tomorrow so if I don't boil tonight it will be another 20 hours at least until I can do anything with it. It's come a long way in the last couple of hours. I've got decisions to make...

If your left arm goes 'T-Rex', you may have gone too far. Maybe. Some examples of the style are only mildly tart, but they tend to suffer from self-esteem issues. Your call.

[EagleDude]

It's a preference thing. I like my BW's at the point where they make you squint with 1 eye & give the other eyelid convulsions. You know you're in the right ballpark if someone stops to ask if you're ok or if you need medical attention. Some prefer them less sour.

So sour until I get my vinegar strokes face? I've got to work all day tomorrow so if I don't boil tonight it will be another 20 hours at least until I can do anything with it. It's come a long way in the last couple of hours. I've got decisions to make...

I might be a little late on helping you with the decision, but if you give it the additional 20 hours and it ends up too sour, you can easily (cheaply with so little grains), brew up a non-lacto batch and blend at serving to get the balance of sourness that you want.

Not sure if you are interested in the traditional BW serving technique of adding a little himbeer (rasberry) or woodruff syrup to the glass at time of pouring, but those syrups are available at http://www.germandeli.com. It is kinda like getting three different beers to drink out of the one batch. In my experience, 8-9 out of 10 people seem to prefer the rasberry over the woodruff, so I would buy more of that one.

[EllisTX]

Not too late. It's still souring and will till this evening. I did plan on trying to make some syrups for it too to make the wife happy. Thanks for the reply. I've got some kolsch I can blend it with if I need to.

[brewinhard]

Not too late. It's still souring and will till this evening. I did plan on trying to make some syrups for it too to make the wife happy. Thanks for the reply. I've got some kolsch I can blend it with if I need to.

For some reason, I have a feeling that it won't get too sour on you. The style should be fairly acidic from a lactic standpoint.

[EllisTX]

Not too late. It's still souring and will till this evening. I did plan on trying to make some syrups for it too to make the wife happy. Thanks for the reply. I've got some kolsch I can blend it with if I need to.

For some reason, I have a feeling that it won't get too sour on you. The style should be fairly acidic from a lactic standpoint.

I can tell that you're convinced that I have no chance of achieving any sourness with kettle souring. I do agree that the 18-24 hour timeline given in the Zymurgy article isn't possible with just pitching a vial of Lacto. Maybe the author of that article had a huge Lacto starter or Hulk Lacto charged with gamma radiation. That being said, 40 hours after pitching the vial and holding it at 100-110 degrees has done pretty well so far. It smells of very much of lactic sourness and samples are giving the back of my cheeks some serious tingle(that's what she said).

Another question. Is it likely that the amount of tartness/sourness will be amplified after the gravity drop of fermentation compared to what it is now?

[Ozwald]

Not too late. It's still souring and will till this evening. I did plan on trying to make some syrups for it too to make the wife happy. Thanks for the reply. I've got some kolsch I can blend it with if I need to.

For some reason, I have a feeling that it won't get too sour on you. The style should be fairly acidic from a lactic standpoint.

I can tell that you're convinced that I have no chance of achieving any sourness with kettle souring. I do agree that the 18-24 hour timeline given in the Zymurgy article isn't possible with just pitching a vial of Lacto. Maybe the author of that article had a huge Lacto starter or Hulk Lacto charged with gamma radiation. That being said, 40 hours after pitching the vial and holding it at 100-110 degrees has done pretty well so far. It smells of very much of lactic sourness and samples are giving the back of my cheeks some serious tingle(that's what she said).

Another question. Is it likely that the amount of tartness/sourness will be amplified after the gravity drop of fermentation compared to what it is now?

I think what he meant (the way I read it anyways) is that it won't get 'too sour' due to it being a lactic sourness as opposed to pedio or acetic based sourness, which produce more aggressive flavors. The lactic sourness is a very soft sour, regardless of how tart you take it. I definitely like the blending idea (for those pansies ).

The sourness won't change per se, but your perception of it will. Sugars will balance the sour, but so will alcohol albeit slightly differently. IMO, it's just one of those things you learn by tasting at every step of the process. Eventually you'll get pretty good at predicting the final outcome. I wouldn't worry about it too much, BW's are an extremely forgiving style to brew. If you've got your process & system worked out, I highly doubt you'll be dissatisfied with the results (beyond wishing that it was slightly more this or that) - it'll be drinkable & enjoyable.

[brewinhard]

High levels of carbonation also help to bring out the sourness a bit as well. The carbonic acid adds to that "tingling" sensation of acidity which helps to carry the style.