[dannyjed]

So this year I started making my first sour beers after 7 years of brewing because I've always have been interested and my wife is really digging them now. I made a Flander's Red and Oud Bruin about 4-5 months ago and they are coming around nicely, but still not ready until around the 1 year mark. I've read up on a sour mash for a Berliner Weisse and thought this would be a great idea for having a sour ready in short time. I basically used the recipe from the latest Zymurgy and let the mash sour for 24 hours at 118-120 degrees. I just put this beer into the keg and tasted it and it's not very sour at all. I'm not very familiar with this style so maybe I'm expecting more than I should or is this a common problem with a sour mash? Maybe some more experienced brewers with this style can chime in?

[oregonianredbird]

I'm no expert but I can tell you I tried the same recipe as my first attempt at a sour ale. After 24 hours of mashing (ranging between 125 and 110), it had tartness but not enough. I waiting until it had been mashing for 40 hours before I decided it was sour enough to go on with the boil. I'm sure this changes a lot depending on temperature and how many bacteria are on the grain you used to inoculate the wort. But it was key to keep tasting the sour mash until I was happy with it.

[mcdform]

My BW took 3 days of sour mashing to get very tart.  I thought it was too tart but it scored well in comp.  I tasted it once a day to check the level of sourness since it doesn't change much post sour mash.

[reverseapachemaster]

You probably didn't sour mash long enough. I usually have to let it go 2-3 days to get a solid amount of acidity. I currently have a blond ale fermenting that I soured for three days and it is quite acidic for pre-boil souring. The yeast are struggling to ferment it out, which is both good and bad.

[Jimmy K]

I'm sure this changes a lot depending on temperature and how many bacteria are on the grain you used to inoculate the wort. But it was key to keep tasting the sour mash until I was happy with it.

This is my friend's recipe (and my article) and his wort is plenty sour after 24 hours - but it is a natural process culturing off of grain. It might depend on how the grain was handled, stored, grown. Tasting along the way is good advice.

[dannyjed]

I didn't taste it after 24 hours, but it smelled sour. Next time I'll take all of your advice and taste it periodically until it's at the right level. Thanks for the replies.