BEER STYLES
A redundant open wortcooler behind the hopback at Elgoods is now used as a coolship for production of lambic-style beers
is 20g/hL. Looking at a series of US home brew recipes where I assume the brewers have approved the beer before publication, the range I found was 36 to 210g/hL with an average of 95, so there are some salty old beers out there. The coriander level was 36-147 with an average on 96g/hL. How to do it It might be worth recapping on the souring techniques we have found. Most controllable is pitching a lactic acid bacteria preparation obtained from a yeast supplier. Lactobaccilus delbruckii is often favoured as it is very susceptible to hop iso acids so if it does escape into the main fermenting room it is less likely to spoil main- stream beers. Pediococcus damnosus is slower acting, tends to produce a lot of diacetyl and is more resistant to iso acids. For new starters, the Wyeast 3278 mixture of yeast and bacteria will do the job. In a classic German lactic acid plant, the wort must be sterile, free of any inhibiting hop compounds and oxygen kept out by bubbling CO 2 through. At up to 48°C, the process will take two days before the temperature is reduced and the bacteria laden brew is used. The residue can then be topped up to make another batch. Less predictable is mash souring
where the mash is cooled to 40°C and a handful of milled malt mixed in, then left for two days. Kettle souring is similar but the malt is added to wort at 40°C for two days. It is best to boil the wort rst without hops so that wort bacteria do not contribute and transfer- ring via a heat exchanger to a special tank will allow the temperature to be controlled and avoid tying up parts of your brewkit for a couple of days. The wort is then boiled with hops to destroy the bacteria thus con- ning the bacterial process away from fermenting areas where there is a considerable risk of contamina- tion. To do the souring faster, some brewers have read their sake-making textbooks and have experimented with replacing 20% of the grist with white koji which is rice inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae. This produces a mix of citric, suc- cinic as well as lactic acid. Users boast acidi cation in the time it takes to do a single mash. Other brewers will heave in a couple of pots of live yoghourt and leave it for the weekend! Acidulated malt which has been inoculated with lactic acid bacteria at the maltings is another possibility provided the mash regime is adapted to allow the bacteria to work. Some brewers will mash the acidulated malt separately at 72°C and mix the worts later.
from 1986, the contract did not last long due to the tiny volumes but luckily local micros started to show interest. Salt is often added to beer to make the palate more full rather like sprinkling it over your sh and chips. Levels in beer should perhaps be only slightly higher than the taste threshold which
The traditional long-necked bocksbeutel is still in use and features in advertising ancient and modern
32 ● BREWER AND DISTILLER INTERNATIONAL I october 2019
i bd.org.uk
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