A centuries old German sour beer, rose to popularity in the 16th to 19th century, and declined to its near death in the 20th century. Recently revived by American craft brewers, this style has seen commercial success from many famous commercial breweries. For this recipe, we'll be using a special souring technique called the kettle souring technique; which does not require dedicated fermenting equipment.
BREWING PROCESS
- Bring 2.5 to 3 Gallons of filter water to 160F in your kettle. Add steeping grains to muslin sock, steep grains for 30 min. Once 30 min has elapsed, remove grain bag and discard.
- Remove kettle from heat. Stir in both liquid and dry malt extract, being sure to continuously stir to prevent scorching. Return kettle to heat.
- Bring to boil. Boil for 15 minutes. IMPORTANT: do not add hops, and do not count this is part of the boil. This is the part where this recipe differs from typical extract brews. This step is to sanitize your wort and prepare it for kettle souring.
- Shut off heat. Remove kettle, add filtered or mineral water until wort volume is 4 gallons. Cool wort to 100F.
- Leave wort in kettle. Pitch Lactobacillus culture into wort. Can also use GoodBelly Probiotic shots, found at most grocery stores.
IMPORTANT: Assure none of your equipment, hydrometers, etc besides kettle comes in contact with the wort. Once inoculated with Lactobacillus Bacteria, equipment that touches the wort becomes "infected", and can lead to infections in other brews. The kettle will be heat sanitized during the following boil, and therefore is safe.
- Place lid on kettle and wrap with plastic wrap to make as airtight as possible. Allow to sit for 48 hours at 100F, or 4 days at 70F.
- Retrieve kettle. Remove wrapping and bring to rolling boil. Once boiling, it is safe to use equipment with wort again. Boil for 60 with proper hop additions. Add irish moss at 15 minutes remaining. Cool to 80F, add to sanitized fermenter, and pitch yeast.
- Allow to ferment for two to three weeks at room temperature (62 to 72F). Once done fermenting, boil 4 oz of provided bottling sugar to 1.75 cups of water. Boil on stove for 5 minutes, allow to cool to room temperature. Add sugar water mixture to beer and stir gently, or to bottom of bottling bucket and rack beer into bucket.
- Bottle beer and cap. Allow to sit for 2 to 3 weeks at room temperature in dark, until bottles are sufficiently carbonated.
Congrats! You've brewed a sour beer!
