Berliner Weisse Souring fermented out?

[jbaker9]

Hey all,

I recently did a sour mash Berliner Weisse. I boiled then no-chilled in 2x 20L cubes (OG 1040).

The 1st one wasn't quite sour enough... I cultured up some more lacto off grains in a 2L sealed ferment (oxygen free), then put the sour culture and the remaining wort into a glass carboy, taking care to keep it all anaerobic in the transfer.

After about 12 hrs it was fermenting vigourously. After 48hrs I transferred it to boil kettle to kill the lacto. The beer wasn't a lot more sour than the previous batch, and gravity dropped to 1020.

What happened? Did I pick up some wild yeast that was able to ferment that quickly? I had cleaned all of my equipment well before transfer, so I don't think there was any yeast accidentally added to the system. I have done a few sour mashes now, and this is the 1st time this has happened.

Cheers
James

 

[Wildsmith]

I'm no expert but would suggest that your lactobacillus to yeast ratio is off to your desired pH(sourness). When cultivating from grains you are getting bacteria and yeast and the yeast dominates after a while. Have you measured your pH before boiling? Do you keep temp when souring in 30deg range which suits lactobacillus?