Simple Sour

Day 1:
1) Heat up ~5 gallons of hot water.
1a) Do the Melanoid Malt / Oats / Pale 2-row as a side batch at its own temperature in a bag. Aim for ~155-160 degrees for an hour.
2) Add extracts and bring to boil. (add Melanoid Mix malt here) -- No need to boil for long, just enough to get the malt sterilized.
3) Cool to ~90 degrees and transfer gently to the fermenter (the less oxygen the better at this point).
4) Pitch the Lacto Plantarum Yeast starter.
5) Keep ~90 degrees for 48 hours to lower the ph. (Should drop ph to ~3.4-3.2.)

Day 3:
5) Drain portion of wort (~half) into kettle.
6) Add hops. Boil for 30 minutes.
7) 10mins: Add coriander.
8) 10mins: Add salt.
9) 10mins: Add Irish Moss.
10) 10mins: Add yeast nutrient.
11) Chill to ~80 degrees.
12) Mix back into the fermenter (vigorously, to oxygenate the wort and encourage yeast).
13) Pitch yeast & bacteria culture.
14) Cool to ~70 and start primary fermentation. Ferment for 6-7 days.

[Day 3 Check-in: Hit the original gravity spot on at 1.056. Taste is slightly sour -- just a bit of mouth puckering happening. But also terribly sweet, so hard to say. The hint of salt seems about right and the overall flavor is about what I was aiming for. Basic fairly malty beer, but with some savory complexity from the coriander and salt. Drying this up will help a lot.]

Day 10:
15) Rack into 2ndary. Leave for ~2-4 weeks, letting the Pedio and Brett get working. If fermentation is still going, let age even longer.
16) optional -- third rack onto some oak chips. Then, age for for a month.

[Day 15 check-in: Racked beer into 2ndary. Let it sit in primary a bit longer than planned, but was fermenting really slowly, so I think that's fine. The gravity is down to 1.020, so coming along nicely, but not done fermenting yet. Goal is 1.011. The taste is much better than previously. Dryer, but with a nice amount of sourness. Maybe not as much as I had hoped for, but it still might sour a tad more as it ages. The flavor is good, much like the Destihl "Here Gose Nothing" that I'm shooting for, just a little less puckeringly sour -- but still really impressive for doing it myself. Good malty flavor, and seems almost dry enough to go but still just a tad sweet. So far, a good clean taste with no off flavors. Saltiness comes through in the mouthfeel, too. Overall, really happy with where it's going. Plan for bottling: Leave to age for 2-3 weeks, then bottle ~4 gallons of it, and rack 1 gallon onto some oak chips and maybe a bit more sugar to revive and age it for longer.]

Day 24-31:
17) Bottle and condition. Age for at least two weeks.


Yeast Culture: Needs: Lacto, Pedio, Brett, and Sach. The addition of hops will slow down the Lacto, so no need to kill all of it... Prep this a day ahead of time by mixing a sour blend of yeast with DME extract. Get it frothing a bit and going healthy.