Save my beer!

[Kealia]

Long story short: my latest batch of Berliner Weiss didn't sour.

My lacto yeast must have been dead because it didn't sour, but the US-05 did ferment it. My process is so dialed in that I didn't bother to check oh, I just went about my business and now that I've taken a test pour, I have a 3.5% bland wheat beer.

Trying to figure out what to do with it now. I thought about trying to add some lactic acid, but I'm thinking that would taint my lines since it's post-boil.
I could also dry-hop it. Or I could blend it with some commercial beers as I pour them.
Any other ideas?

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[bpgreen]

I haven't brewed any sours, so I'm not much help, but I don't think adding lactic acid would taint your lines. It doesn't have any lactobacillus in it. It's just an acid. Sho it would make it more acidic/ tart, but it wouldn't change the alcohol content or cause any further fermentation.

[John Sand]

I have saved a couple of bland beers by blending. Right now I have a lager on tap that isn't quite right, I dry hopped it in the keg. That helped a little. I've also purchased hop oil to try to liven dull beer. I soaked oak cubes in rum to change a very good stout, that was a hit. The big plus of making a bland beer is that you can experiment to your heart's content. You can also test ideas a bottle at a time by bottling off the tap with tiny amounts of flavoring. A blonde might benefit from fruit. If you wanted to get crazy, you might ferment something else to add, like a small very sour beer. Have fun with it!

[BlackDuck]

I was also thinking of blending it. If you're able to do 3 gallon batches, you could do 3 gallons of an IPA and blend it, or a pale ale and blend it, you get the idea.

[mashani]

Why would lactic acid taint your lines? Lactic acid is what the bacteria makes and it's in your sour anyways when its sour, even post boil. It's not the bacteria, it's the byproduct.

Unless you mean something else then lactic acid.

Anyways some Belgian brewer would just blend it with a sour that turned out too sour to make a perfect sour.

Another simple answer is to just get some European style fruit syrups (raspberry, lemon, etc.) and just mix each glass with a shot of whatever flavor you want.

If you have pure lactic acid you could probably just add a drop of it to a glass along with said syrup and end up with a pseudo Lambic of sorts.

[Kealia]

I wasn't clear on my head that lactic acid is the byproduct and would be harmless, thanks.

I have all the syrups that we already use in the Berliner a so maybe I'll just use them for light, warm weather drinks. I don't have the space nor time to brew another sour and blend them but I'm in no rush to free up that keg and tap either, so I'll just let it be.

Thanks boys.

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