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Jimmy wrote:Raspberries have been removed and the beer is cold crashing until the weekend.

What is your carbonation protocol for that bad boy? Mine just doesn't seem to want to carbonate. (Kegged, not bottled)

If I'm in a rush, jack it up to about 30psi and shake it for a minute. I usually don't carb it all the way when doing this - I'll hook it up at 17psi serving pressure and let it carb the rest of the way.

If I'm not in a rush, I just hook it up at 17psi and let it carb over time.

Keep in mind, I've got 20' beer lines, so it can handle the 17psi without foaming.

If you're looking for head, you likely won't see any on this beer.. The acidity kills it.

Jimmy wrote:If you're looking for head, you likely won't see any on this beer.. The acidity kills it.

...good to know. I would call mine "lightly carbonated".

How necessary do you think bubbling CO2 through the wort is? If I boil for a bit then chill it should be pretty O2 free right? Could I just saran wrap tight down the wort rather than leaving headspace in my kettle? Is there a hassle free way of purging the wort if I don't have a valve on my kettle (grainfather - the only outlet is internally connected to a pump and recirc pipe and I don't know if it would be good for the pump to run the co2 through it backwards)?

I'm gonna brew a saison on thursday the only question is whether I'm souring it or hopping the shit out of it - which will depend on whether I feel confident about souring it without winding up with stinky feet/vomit/poo beer.

I just blow in co2 in under the ceran wrap cover I use, easy as can be


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LiverDance wrote:I just blow in co2 in under the ceran wrap cover I use, easy as can be


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blow in co2 with what?

I take off my keg connector and blow it straight in from my 5 lbs tank


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I just pump it through the wort because it's simpler for me. I assume just purging the headspace would be fine.

I put plastic wrap directly on the surface of the wort without purging with CO2, and it worked like a charm.

Lisa J wrote:I put plastic wrap directly on the surface of the wort without purging with CO2, and it worked like a charm.

That's exactly the kind of bias confirming anecdote I needed to risk 11 pounds of grain and a few hours of my time.

I'm thinking a basic saison wort of pils/munich/wheat and about 10 ibu of cascade added at 15.

MitchK wrote:That's exactly the kind of bias confirming anecdote I needed to risk 11 pounds of grain and a few hours of my time.

My bad. I'm guessing equal parts impatience and beginner's luck.

Lisa J wrote:

MitchK wrote:That's exactly the kind of bias confirming anecdote I needed to risk 11 pounds of grain and a few hours of my time.

My bad. I'm guessing equal parts impatience and beginner's luck.

No, it's a good thing.

Honestly I'd rather risk one batch of wort to see if I can get away with being lazy than waste time and co2 being overcautious on who knows how many beers in the future.

I meant the cascade in the sour - not as a "well fuck it I'm doing the hops thing", sorry. Perhaps I've dipped a bit too hard into the kolsch this evening to be posting on the internet.

I brewed this (or rather something very similar) this weekend. Smelled and tasted great going into the fermenter. I'm going to follow it up with a fruit version next week I think.

Mitch, did you try the pure brevis? How long did it take to sour? I don't have a ph meter, and my ph strips bottom out at 3.8

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I still haven't bothered to use the pure brevis, I got lacto P capsules from the drug store. Didn't check the PH because I'm a lazy piece of shit but it tastes good.

The brevis vial is still in my fridge - I don't think it sours as hard and fast as lacto P according to MTF. I'll probably still use it for some type of saison type thing where I don't care whether I get a more mild sourness or what.

Yeah I looked at mtf after I posted, seems like 2 or 3 days should do the trick

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Yeah, I've seen no benefit in using pure lacto brevis. Takes longer, and the results weren't as good.

I was just being a chicken on my first sour beer

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I can confirm the lacto P capsules work great even just in a clearbrew bucket with no co2 purging or anything. Probably your best bet if you don't have the o2 protection and temperature control for souring via grain.

I didnt have the same luck on my end even with using a full bottle. Its a bit tart but not what i wanted. Hoping it tastes great as a radler lol

How many pills were in the bottle? Keep in mind that it won't taste as tart pre fermentation as it will post (and then carbonation will make it even more tart). You didn't add any hops in the kettle did you? Lacto P is super sensitive to hops.

I forget how many. Ibu were low. Cold and carbonated now has a mild sourness.

even "low" can seriously inhibit lacto P. The general practice is to use literally zero hops in the kettle when using lacto P (or souring then boiling if you really need boil hops)

Keith wrote:I didnt have the same luck on my end even with using a full bottle. Its a bit tart but not what i wanted. Hoping it tastes great as a radler lol

Did you add lacto pre-boil or post-boil?

Post boil rigtnin the fermenter. 3.5 ibu