I am a sour nut currently have 8 sours ageing.
Sourness Acidic Acid (vinegar), Lactic Acid (yogurt), malic acid (granny smith apple/fruit) does not tend go well with bitterness on the pallet. If you are seeking a fruity hoppy beer using esters produced by Brett, then you should op for a 100% Brett fermentation. White Labs WLP645 Brettanomyces Claussenii is a popular choice.
However a touch of acid can bring a crispness to fruit flavours. That is why fruit is often blended with sour beers.
WLP645 Brettanomyces claussenii – Brilliantly fruity strain, although given enough time in a stronger beer it tends towards leather. This strain is a wonderful choice for primary fermentation of pale lower gravity worts, especially into the 80s°F (27-28°C) where the fruit character becomes peachy and tropical. White Lab’s Neva Parker noted that “B. claussenii is not a mixed-culture, despite what rumours have been out there.”
Just brew your standard IPA recipe, then pitch a massive starter, think lager pitching rate. Fermentation will take 4 to 6 weeks, when you reach a stable gravity, then dry hop and then keg it.
I have not had any off flavours using Ethical Nutrients.
Lacto is both alcohol and hops sensitive, once you get over 8 IBU lacto will die. That is why traditional lacto beers like Berliner Weisse or Gose have 4-8IBU and an ABV of under 4.5.
The primary reason we use hops is because malt is covered in lacto bacteria. Hops is is used to stop lacto in its tracts.
If you want lacto sour. The best fast approach is to kettle sour, mash, boil for 20 minutes to sterilise the wort, cool and pitch lacto and keep at 35ºc until you hit the right sourness for your pallet 24 to 120 hours. Then boil the wort 60 min and add your hops. This kettle sour method you can control the sourness and lock it in, otherwise sourness could keep evolving.
Also be aware that saccharomyces yeast does not like a PH under 3.5. Brett does better.
Also hops degrades quickly and ageing a sour beer takes time. When breweries want to make a hoppy beer they bitter the wart, age and when the beer is right then the do a huge dry hop to get a fresh hoppy profile.
I do a Lacto Sour Hefeweizen that I then inoculate with Wild Brett I captured from around my house and that I then age for six months before I dry hop with NZ riwaka. The heffe bring banana, the wild yeast has a pineapple tropical note and the riwaka brings in the passionfruit. Served highly carbonated with a low ABV great in summer.
