Lactobacillus

This lactic acid bacteria producing acidity and sour flavors found in lambics, Berliner Weiss, sour brown ales, and gueuze.

Lacto Chart

Name	Mfg#	Taxonomy	Starter Note	Fermentation Note
White Labs	WLP677	Delbrueckii	no stir plate, room temp	Incubate at > 90°F and < 117°F for 5-7 days for greater lactic acid production.
White Labs	WLP672	Brevis	stir plate, room temp	More hop tolerant than other Lacto strains.
Wyeast	5335	Buchneri	1L starter, 1.020 DME sterile wort, no stir plate, no O2, starter at 90°F if possible 5-7 days	Incubate at 90°F for 5-7 days for greater lactic acid production
Omega Yeast Labs	OYL-605	Brevis, Delbrueckii, and Plantarum blend	Incubate 1 liter starter at room temperature for 24-48 hours. no stir plate	Pitch into 65°F-100°F wort and incubate until desired sour level. Holding temperature is not required.
GigaYeast	GB110	Delbrueckii?	no stir plate, room temp	Incubate at 98°F for 48-72 hours; use low IBU wort.

Manufacturer Tips

Omega Yeast Labs on OYL-605

The following is a statement by Lance Shaner, owner of Omega Yeast Labs:

Lance Shaner: Full disclosure: I own Omega Yeast Labs. Pitching at 120F is a bad idea with this blend. The bug doing most of the work in this blend is Lactobacillus plantarum. The best temp for plantarum is 80-90F. It does not work over 100F. Also, we regularly make a 1 liter starter with the Lacto blend for faster souring. Simply pitch the contents of the pouch into 1 liter of sterile 1.040 wort and let sit for 24 hours at 70-80F before pitching (no need to stir). Adi Hastings mentioned the imperial stout we just kettle soured. We previously brewed a Berliner using the same method. At 17 hours, pH was at 3.42 and temp was 75F (original pitch temp was 85F). At 40 hours, pH was 3.24, at which time we boiled. Lower pH in the Berliner compared to the stout at 17 hours likely has to do with different buffering capacities in different worts.

Wyeast on 5335

The following is an excerpt with Jess Caudill, Brewer/Microbiologist, at Wyeast Laboratories, Inc. concerning usage of Wyeast 5335 and making a Berliner Weissbier.

1. Use 5335.
2. If using our 5335, don’t use ANY hops. You can always blend in some IPA or hopped wort after souring takes place if you really need some bitterness or hop flavor/aroma in the beer.
3. From one 5335 pack, make a 1L starter with 1.020 DME sterile wort. No O2! Incubate at 90°F if possible for 5-7 days.
4. Brew your 5 gallons of wort. Again… no hops. Sterilize the wort. (No need for sour mashes). Cool to 90°F and add 1L 5335 starter. No O2. Try to maintain 90°F for 5-7 days depending on how sour you want the beer.
5. After 5-7 days, cool wort to around 68. Pitch with a low pH tolerant strain such as 1007 or 2124. No O2. Ferment for around 1-2 weeks… until you hit terminal.
6. Package beer. If bottle conditioning, use 4021 as a bottling strains. Very tolerant to low pH.