Good Bad & The Monkey
My crock pot has a warm setting around that temp. You could also heat the crock pot in the oven then add the wort and starter, then wrap the whole thing in a blanket or towel
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Prince of Fatness
OK, let's assume that I have the souring process figured out. Thinking that I do not need to boil more than 15 minutes. Maybe not even hop, or a very small bittering addition. A pinch of lemon zest perhaps. What do you think?
Not at it at all.
I agree. It does not take much to kill off this bug. And I agree, something like a Berliner or a Gose, with extra additions would be nice.
Feeling the growl again
Now you're talking! Can get a cheap pH meter on Amazon.
You get what you pay for in that department. The Hanna meter is the only "cheap" one I would trust to any extent, and even then get multiple sets of calibration solutions and keep a spare electrode on hand.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
For someone looking to brew a single batch of sour beer, there's no need to get the Cadillac
but you need something functional. As a biochemist I have plenty of experience with ph meters and most of the cheaper ones are not even functional much less useful. unless reasonably accurate such a meter is more a frustration that anything else.
Get the hanna and calibration solutions, and trust them.
I hear ya. Problem is, most reliable pH meters are $60 and up (to well over $300). For somebody who wants to make a single 1-5 gallon batch of a berliner, that is a prohibitive cost. For $20 you can get a reasonable pH meter that is good out of the box, but will drift over time. If you only need it for a couple uses right after unboxing, it does not matter that accuracy and precision drift.
This is the one I snagged, and it has mostly acceptable reviews. It can also be calibrated.
The Hanna I recommended can be had for under $30. I would consider it more of a Toyota than a Cadillac.
Spaniel's comments are in line with comments that I have read on some brewing forums. Trent is correct in that I am not looking to drop close to $100 on something that I will not use often (never used one in my life up to now).
I am hands off as far as taking a lot of readings go, so for this experiment I will likely wing it.
pH strips are only a few bucks, but I'm not sure how well they would work in beer due to the coloring. My experience has been high on the frustration factor and low on the trusted accuracy factor as well.
I've used pH strips. They really don't have good precision.
yup yup.
But back to Finn's problem....Finn I have a box ready to head your way ASAP. I could loan you a pH meter if I'd have it back in another box in a reasonable timeframe. I don't see needing it for a couple months.
No, that's OK, thanks. Winging it seems to be right up my alley. Likely will let the lacto go at it for 2 - 3 days and take what I get. From what I've read it should sour rather quickly with yogurt.
ASAP, heh.
Dubbel Trouble
This one turned out pretty nice and I need another holiday beer so, time for another garage brew (tomorrow).
Spiced Dubbel Trouble
10 lb US 2-row
2 lb Light Munich
.5 lb Caramunich I
.25 lb Special B
1 lb D-180 Candi Syrup (add late in boil)
.1.5 oz Mt Hood (60 min)
Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (1 qt starter)
Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong (1 qt starter)
Add at flameout:
5 or so cinnamon sticks, broken up a bit
2 oz grated ginger root
zest from 3 oranges
Mash 152 degrees for 60 minutes. Sparge, then boil 60 minutes. Chill and pitch yeast. Ferment 4+ weeks then bottle (may secondary this one). Try to ferment this one in the 70's.
I was a little disappointed that the LHBS was out of the Ardennes yeast as I liked the flavor it provided. They recommended the Belgian Strong. Not much concerned about flavor from the yeast given the spices. Reading up on this yeast it is slow to finish, so I will likely secondary this one for a while. Certainly won't hurt to bulk age this with the spices.
I drank this recently... bring batch 2!