Embrace the Sour Side: Sour Beers
Ah, sour beers. Just hearing the name might make some cringe, conjuring images of spoiled brews and questionable aftertastes. Dread in the hearts of even seasoned beer lovers, the name alone can invoke. Like the dark side of brewing, some might recoil at the mere mention, but what if I told you the problem isn’t the taste but the name itself? Imagine if we rebranded it as “tart beer” instead. Sounds a lot better. I wonder if Sour Beers needs a little help in the marketing department. A long time ago, in a brew shop far, far away, I was asked if there was a good reference for sour beers that I could recommend, particularly kettle sours. What resources do I know of? Where should I look? Like Yoda, “In my 900 years of study, many books have I have read.” The path to the Sour side starts here.
Sour Beers: Hokey Religion or Ancient Weapon
“Sour beers, hmm. Misunderstood, they are. Powerful and refreshing, the tang can be. Like balance in the Force, a harmony of flavors they bring. Fear not the name, embrace the taste, you must.”. Several fantastic foods with lactic acid have great marketing and a devoted following. Think pickled vegetables, kefir, yogurt, cheese, miso, kimchi, sauerkraut, Grakkyn, Kyrf, Alderaanian Ale, sourdough bread, and sour cream. If sour cream can elevate a taco and pair beautifully with a cold beer, why can’t lactic acid work its magic in beer, balancing the light and dark sides to achieve brewing harmony?
It’s all about perspective. Remember, we’ve been conditioned to think of ‘sour’ as something to avoid, but in reality, a little tang can be pretty refreshing. The pucker factor of sour beers sure beats the heat. I hear that there is quite a market for sours on Tatooine.
Kettle Sours: This is the Way
So, I was chatting with a fellow brewer eager to dive into the world of sour beers but needing help figuring out where to start. I assured them that the best place to begin is with a kettle sour. It’s quicker, easier, and less likely to result in unintended funky flavors of the Dark Side than traditional methods. Below is the recipe and process I shared to get them started: Plug it into your favorite Navicomputer or brewing software. I like Brewers Friend for its simplicity.
“Sour beers, hmm. Misunderstood, they are. Powerful and refreshing, the tang can be. Like balance in the Force, a harmony of flavors they bring. Fear not the name, embrace the taste, you must.”
-Ancient Dagobahnian proverb
Quick Berliner Weisse Kettle Sour Recipe
Ingredients:
- 25-50% Wheat Malt or extract
- Pilsner Malt or extract
- 10ml Lactic Acid
- Noble Hops (small amount)
- Lactobacillus culture
- Ale Yeast
If you want to see the recipe, check out the extract at https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/edit/1483312
or all-grain at https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/edit/1483311
Kettle Sour Method:
- Mash and Sparge: Use a simple single infusion mash. The wheat malt will provide plenty of body even though this is a low-OG beer. If you are an extract brewer, you can make the calculations for the jump to light speed and skip ahead.
- Boil the Wort: Boil for 15 minutes, but wait to add hops. Hops inhibit Lactobacillus, which we need for souring.
- Lower the pH: It’s a good idea to lower the wort pH to 4.5. The lower pH helps prevent other bacteria or wild yeast from ruining the batch. You can use lactic acid, phosphoric acid, or even acid malt. 10ml of Lactic acid will get you there. Since we are after a lactic profile, it makes sense.
- Fermentation Stage One: Cool the wort and start fermentation with Lactobacillus only. Keep it warm, around 112-115°F (44-46°C). You could use an electric blanket or FermWrap heater to maintain the temperature. Using one of the many electric mash kettle options, you can program the unit to hold that temperature, depending on your model.
- Monitor pH: Check the pH every 12 hours. When it reaches 3.6-3.8, it’s ready for the next stage.
- Boil Again and Hop: Boil the wort again, this time for 60, and add a small amount of hops. Boiling kills the Lactobacillus and stops further souring. 10 IBU’s is a good start. Since hops will no longer impact lactic acid formation, who am I to judge if you want a hoppy sour?
- Fermentation Stage Two: Aerate the beer and add your conventional ale yeast. Let it ferment out, then bottle or keg as usual.
Why Kettle Souring?
Kettle souring offers several advantages:
- Speed: Jump to lightspeed: You can have a finished sour beer in a couple of months instead of the years traditional methods can take.
- Control: Feel the Force: You can precisely manage the pH and sourness during the souring stage.
- Clean Flavor: Balancing the Force: Kettle sours generally have a cleaner sour profile, free of the funky off-flavors that can come with other souring techniques.
- Avoid further contamination: The Path to the Dark Side: Since we kill the lactic bacteria, we don’t have to worry about contaminating the brewhouse, an advantage to traditional processes.
May the Force be with You
Helping fellow brewers start their journey is what it’s all about at Northwest Brewers Supply. Like Yoda teaching a fresh batch of Younglings. It’s no different for Sour beers. It’s not about convincing them that sour beer is perfect for everyone but showing them that “sour” can be refreshing, tangy, and downright delicious. So, with a good blaster at your side, an accurate star chart, and the knowledge that sour beers, like all good things, are about balance and perspective, there is no reason not to dip your toes in the deep end and join us on the Sour Side.
