| Sour beer, you have to be kidding me right? Who in | | | | The first step is to dissolve the malt extract into 1 1 |
| their right mind would want a sour beer? Me, and | | | | 2 gallons of water and bring it up to between |
| millions of beer lovers. | | | | 130-140 degrees. Then we are going to pour this |
| Belgian Lambics, Weizenbiers and even the famous | | | | unboiled wort into an insulated picnic cooler. Stir the 1 |
| Guinness Stout are a few beers that have a higher | | | | 2 pound of crushed malt into the wort. The malt will |
| acidity than your average lager beer. It's this slight | | | | introduce the souring bacteria into the dissolved |
| vinegary aftertaste that sets these beers apart from | | | | extract. Cover the wort with a sheet of aluminum foil |
| the rest of the beer world. What causes this | | | | making sure to press gently down on the foil to |
| sourness is the ever-present bacteria that lives on | | | | remove as much of the air as possible. |
| malted barley grain. | | | | Cover the cooler with a heavy blanket and let sit 15 |
| So, as home brewers how do we utilize this | | | | to 24 hours for your first attempt at souring wort. |
| unfriendly bacteria for the good? Since home brewed | | | | This will give a slight sourness to your final beer. You |
| beer is not pasteurized we have to have a way to | | | | can increase the time it sits to acquire a more |
| keep most, if not all, bacteria out of our beer. But a | | | | pronounce acidity in later batches. |
| "Catch 22" problem occurs when home brewers want | | | | After the wort has soured open the cooler and hold |
| to make a sour beer. How do we introduce bad | | | | your nose or it should be hold your nose then open |
| bacteria into our beers without the bacteria going | | | | the cooler. A quite distinguishable putrid odor will be |
| wild and destroying the drinkability of our beer? | | | | noticeable when you remove the foil. Be sure to skim |
| The answer is quite simple. Introduce the bacteria | | | | as much of the mold that you find on the surface |
| then kill it! | | | | and discard. Filter the sour wort through a strainer to |
| Required equipment: | | | | remove the grain. The remaining liquid bread will be a |
| 1. A small insulated cooler. | | | | sour mash that is then boiled according to your beer |
| 2. 4 to 6 pounds of malt extract. | | | | recipe. |
| 3. 1/2 pound of crushed malt. | | | | Don't worry about the smell. Most of that odor will |
| 4. A sheet of aluminum foil. | | | | be scrubbed out during your boil phase. A simple yet |
| 5. A heavy blanket. | | | | effective way to produce a sour beer and a new |
| The idea is to introduce the sour producing bacteria | | | | way at looking at the possibilities of home brewing |
| into the unboiled wort then boiling the wort to kill the | | | | beer. |
| bacteria. The whole process is really quite easy. | | | | |
