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Kettle Sour - Lacto 'starter'

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  • Kettle Sour - Lacto 'starter'

    We have been attempting kettle sours on our pilot system and have had wildly varying degrees of success. Fine for the pilot system as its just a test batch - but we want to get a good SOP down before moving any recipe to the big system.

    We are using the 'plantarum' strain of lacto. We do not currently have a direct source for just the strain so we are relying on probiotic supplements to culture them up (part of the problem?). Anyone have a good source of lacto that works quickly and reliably and care to share their starter SOP (if you even need one).

  • #2
    I'd recommend Omega's fast sour lacto blend. It's been the fastest souring with best flavor results we've had.
    For 3bbl batches we would grow up a ~4000 ml starter with a few smack packs and wort. We pitch into 110 degree kettle at around 2-3 pm and she's usually down to 3.5 or so the next morning. Then we draw off another 4000-5000 ml from our whirlpool arm before boiling which gets used to sour our next batch. For fast souring repeatability the trick is to keep the culture active, if you don't repitch it within a couple weeks always feed it wort a couple days before your next sour.

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    • #3
      Can't recommend Omega Lacto Blend enough - 1L from Omega -> 5gal of unhopped starter wort -> 24bbl full kettle for 48 hours = 3.13ph-3.16ph at which point we boil for 15 min and send to the FV. The stuff rules.

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      • #4
        Sour in Kettle or Fermenter?

        Originally posted by woohokie View Post
        Can't recommend Omega Lacto Blend enough - 1L from Omega -> 5gal of unhopped starter wort -> 24bbl full kettle for 48 hours = 3.13ph-3.16ph at which point we boil for 15 min and send to the FV. The stuff rules.
        Do you leave it in the kettle for the 48 hours? We usually transfer to a Fermenter at about 100*F and hold it there, then transfer back to kettle for boiling. Would save some effort if we could rely on the kettle only. I thought the bugs in the atmosphere would come down the kettle stack and perhaps infect. also no way to hold CO2 on top of the wort while it sours, which we are able to do in the fermenter.
        Scott Swygert
        Founder - Honky Tonk Brewing Co.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Swags View Post
          Do you leave it in the kettle for the 48 hours? We usually transfer to a Fermenter at about 100*F and hold it there, then transfer back to kettle for boiling. Would save some effort if we could rely on the kettle only. I thought the bugs in the atmosphere would come down the kettle stack and perhaps infect. also no way to hold CO2 on top of the wort while it sours, which we are able to do in the fermenter.
          You can do it in the ferm but the benefit of the kettle sour is that the bugs dont get on the cold side of your brewery. We do a thorough purge of co2 before we fill the kettle and do a slow 1psi trickle of it overnight in through the cip arm in the kettle. We also go on the roof and cover up the stack vent with a thick trash bag and tape it to the stack so no air can blow down in from outside.

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          • #6
            I shove a semi-deflated beach ball up my kettle stack.

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            • #7
              beach ball

              Originally posted by andrew_FSBC View Post
              I shove a semi-deflated beach ball up my kettle stack.
              brilliant!
              Scott Swygert
              Founder - Honky Tonk Brewing Co.

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              • #8
                Boil before souring?

                Woohookie, and Briangaylor,

                Are you guys boiling before souring in the kettle? if so, Do you just recirculate your knockout until the kettle is at 95* ?

                thanks
                Scott Swygert
                Founder - Honky Tonk Brewing Co.

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                • #9
                  WildBrew Sour Pitch

                  Hi,
                  My name is Caroline and i'm the East Coast Manager for Lallemand Brewing. We have just released a dried Lactobacillus plantarum strain to the market, the WildBrewTM Sour Pitch. Tech Data Sheet available here: http://www.lallemandbrewing.com/prod...ew-sour-pitch/
                  Please feel free to email with any questions you may have. I also have a best practices for kettle souring .pdf if you would like it.
                  cparnin@lallemand.com
                  Cheers,
                  Caroline

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