Baseline Berliner Weiss

[Inkleg]

Whatcha brewin' ?

Same as you. Just more at close to 5 gallons and using 05 on the end.

[Kealia]

If the second pack of Notty and the small active starter don't work I'm tossing in some 05, and some 001 and then if it still doesn't work I'm freezing the whole bloody lot and sending it to mashani so his house Brett and one-eyed beast can have a crack at fermenting it.

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[mashani]

LOL, I'll give it a shot.

Just a thought, maybe some yeast nutrients would help?

I've never had this problem when I made them in the past, but that's probably because since I've always just used a mixed culture the yeast was involved up front before the PH got to low for it to be happy with things, and then it was just up to the sour bugs to do their thing as time went on.

I think I'm going to order stuff to make either a Berliner or a Goze (can't make up my mind) soon. I'd love to go for a Flemish Red, but that's a bit more intense in it's aging requirements then I think I want to bother with right now.

[bpgreen]

Yeast nutrients might be a good idea. Actually, if you have yeast energizer, that's supposed to be even better than yeast nutrient.

From what I've read, yeast nutrient is typically made of things like Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and is usually added at the start of fermentation. Yeast energizers have things like DAP, as well as additional vitamins and minerals, dead yeast, etc and are used more for stalled fermentations.

You could probably make some yeast energizer by killing some yeast (could even be bread yeast) and adding about 1/2 teaspoon of DAP, but that would likely be missing some of the other nutrients in yeast energizer.

[Kealia]

This is the type of discussion that I find really helpful. I do have Yeast Nutrient (WhiteLabs) that I use in all my AG recipes, but this process was so quick and simple that I didn't even think about it.

I just took a gravity reading and I'm down from 1.016 to 1.013 today so I think I may just be impatient with this and did consider the conditions that this yeast is working in. I'm going to let it ride until the weekend before I check again at this point. I'm hoping to brew this coming weekend and was hoping to free up my fermentation chamber.

If it isn't 100% done by then (IMO) I will just pull it out and sit it at ambient temps to finish up while I start a new batch of something.

[Inkleg]

Epic fail............at least on the Berliner Weiss end.
I made my lacto starter and let it go 48+ hours (never having made a lacto starter and not knowing what to look for could have been where I failed). Made my wort with DME and it came in at 1.029. Pitched the lacto, covered the wort with saran wrap and set in my fermentation chamber at 90º for 48 hours. Checked the pH at noon today while brewing Yazoo Gerst and it's at 4.6 and still at 1.029 ? Well alright then something has gone wrong with the lacto starter so what to do. Wait I have Funk Weapon #3 in the fridge. So I bring the wort (which still tastes like wort) to 200º for 30 minutes add another pound of DME and 8 oz maltodextrin and .50 oz Perle hops (leftover from the Gerst). Chill and pitch the Funk. Lets see if Brettanomyces bruxellensis can pick up where the lacto failed.

[Kealia]

Stupid question: Did you actually pitch the lacto in the starter? Just askin' ?

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[Inkleg]

Stupid question: Did you actually pitch the lacto in the starter? Just askin' ?

Well now that you mentioned it, no I didn't. I cut the top right corner off the Omega 605 Lacto yeast package and poured it into the 1 liter starter.

I thought it seemed a little weird as there was no noticeable activity or change in the starter. Maybe the lacto was dead? I don't remember checking the date on the package and it is long gone now. This in no way will stop me from trying this again, but it will change how I approach it.

[BlackDuck]

Do you even have to do a starter with lacto? It’s such a low gravity to start with, I would think a direct pitch would do fine. Just wondering if some of the lacto petered out before you actually pitched it.


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[Inkleg]

Probably not, but I was following information found here. Either with or without doing a starter there should have been some change after 48 hours at 90º. The starter was just sitting on the counter at about 74º? next time I'll do the starter at 90º?....and longer?....and look at the date?

[Kealia]

I saw no VISIBLE activity in my starter but it clearly worked. That was after receiving my yeast in the mail warm.

Just a fluke maybe? I guess it's back into the tub for this batch, eh?

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[mashani]

You are so proficient at sanitation that the bugs just die when you look at them?

Come over here and stare at my AC vents please?

[Kealia]

Quick update: This beer turned out delicious! My daughter and wife love it and have been using shots of different sugar-free Torani syrups to make raspberry, peach, huckleberry and pineapple Berliner Weiss's (es)..?

It's pleasantly tart without being sour and for the level of effort put in, I'm very happy with the result - as they are.

The perfectionist in me would like to do the following for the eventual rebrew:
1) Go all grain so I can bump up the wheat a bit more and get a bit more of the wheat flavor
2) Go all grain so I get the attenuation down a few more points
3) Go all grain so I can get the color lighter than the DME gave me

BUt, those are nitpicks for me really. They said "don't change a thing". And given how easy it was to make, I may not.

[mashani]

Quick update: This beer turned out delicious! My daughter and wife love it and have been using shots of different sugar-free Torani syrups to make raspberry, peach, huckleberry and pineapple Berliner Weiss's (es)...

That's "doing it right".

[Kealia]