[James K]

I am interested in making a fake Berliner Weisse style and had a few questions.
Most of what I read says 10-20% of the grain build would require acidulated malt. The other 90-80% Pilsner and some Wheat.  One recipe I found recommended 3lbs acid malt with 2lbs Wheat and 9lbs pale.  I was going to use Pilsner instead of pale malt.

I do not plan on using any lacto bugs or lactic acid, I really just want to play with the acid malt.  Some things I have been reading say I do not even need to boil this, some say boil for only 15 minutes.

Here is my current plan for a 5 gallon all grain batch.
Use distilled water.
Mash in Pilsner and Wheat malts for 30 minutes at 156* at 30 minutes add acidulated malt to lower Ph, mash for another 30 minutes. Rinse grains at 170*
Achieve boil and pitch 1.0oz Mittelfruh at 20 minutes.
Crash and pitch a farm house style strain.

Does this sound bats*** crazy, or does anybody think it can work?  I am just looking for a very light and tart beer.
Comments, suggestions?

[brewinhard]

I have used high(er) proportions of acid malt in my beers in the past and I actually stopped using it in that fashion simply because of the flavor profile it provided at those higher quantities. It started tasting slightly "salty" to me after a while. It got to the point where I could totally pick out acid malt in any beer it was used in. Especially ones with high amounts of it.

For starters -

I would lower your mash temp to about 149F. You want your Berliner to finish pretty dry. 1.006 FG or even lower.

You will want to use a fairly neutral yeast strain. A farmhouse strain will throw too much funk and fruitiness into your finished Berliner. Think along the lines of WY 1007 (altbier strain) or even US-O5. If you would desire to add Brett to your Berliner, then by all means pitch that along with your sacch. strain. Brett C. is a great choice for this.

I have done successful Berliner's with boils and no-boils. My boiled Berliner's would only get about 15-20 minutes shooting for 5 IBU's or under. My no-boils would get a thin decoction from the mash tun where I would add my hops to just to get enough "beer" like essence into the finished product.

Hope this gets you thinking a little bit about some options....

Cheers,
Brewinhard

[Andor]

Seems reasonable. Mashing at regular ph for conversion before acid malt is a good idea. Try it and if it's not quite right try a kettle sour. The omega culture is a beast and made a delicious beer for me. It's one more step but not hard or scary. I used safale k97 dry yeast to ferment and it had no issue with low ph

[James K]

Thanks for the insight. Notes taken.
Should I mash pilsner and wheat malts at a higher temp?
I'm probably going to go with us-05 now. It's easier overall. But I might try the farmhouse in something that's not for a club comp.

With doing a 15-20 minute boil what is really achieved? Just a very small amount of bitterness?
Would you also recommend whirlflock? I don't need a fast turn around or I'd use lactic acid. I usually do more traditional brews. This is my third "sour". The others have bugs though.

Saltyness. Could I try something similar for a gose?

[Andor]

Thanks for the insight. Notes taken.
Should I mash pilsner and wheat malts at a higher temp?
I'm probably going to go with us-05 now. It's easier overall. But I might try the farmhouse in something that's not for a club comp.

With doing a 15-20 minute boil what is really achieved? Just a very small amount of bitterness?
Would you also recommend whirlflock? I don't need a fast turn around or I'd use lactic acid. I usually do more traditional brews. This is my third "sour". The others have bugs though.

Saltyness. Could I try something similar for a gose?

I think you're mixing the short boil thing up from kettle souring with lacto? The short boil is done after mash to kill any funk before adding lacto. It's then boil again to kill lacto once it's soured. For what you are brewing a regular 60 minute boil would be more ideal

[majorvices]

Kettle souring is so easy and creates such a great example of a BW or Gose I can't see why not just go that direction. You will need to read the pH to know when to boil. But a pack of fresh lactobacillus and 24-72 hours is all you need, especially with the warm temps this time of the year.

[Andor]

I'm drinking a gose that I did with the omega culture. Fermented at 75 and 24 hours later I was at 3.2. So easy and worth the little extra work.

[James K]

Well, that batch took off. Used two packets of US-05 and it took off rather quickly. I moved it into secondary and it is finishing. It didn't taste that "sour" or acidic when I transferred it. Tart though. I ended up making 6 gallons.

inhave not read gravity since after the boil. It was near 1.040 I only ended up using about 7 lbs Pilsner. I think it's rather sweet.