Getting Started
(In progress) First, define new_page_subject, or give an introduction/overview.
Contents
Welcome!
The goal of this page is to welcome the new brewer to the world of sour beer and get started! This page looks at sour beer basics and what flavor progressions to expect along the fermentation timeline. We will (1) go over a few basics about sour beer, (2) look at how time affects wild beers, and (3) analyze some strategies for attaining certain flavor profiles. This page is targeted at the “beginner sour brewer", who shall be assumed as someone who has the basic “standard” brewing processes down and is interested in diversifying their fermentation process. Because this is an introductory page and links directly to the rest of the wiki, citations will be omitted.
Definitions
Sour beer is any beer inoculated with microbes other than traditional ale or lager yeast, whether you pitch with lab cultures, rely on microbes that have infiltrate your brewery, or add bottle dregs from a sour or wild beer.
A wild beer is one that has been spontaneously inoculated “in the wild”.
A clean beer is any beer that is not your wild beer; in other words your typical ale or lager.
A Brief Yeast/Microbe Background
When brewing sour beer, there are a few more players to the “yeast” side of the ingredients list. In addition to Saccharomyces or “Sacch”, in wild beer brewing the brewer is often dealing with Brettanomyces, which is another genus of yeast, and Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, which are both bacteria. Acetobacter and enterobacter do play a part in some sour fermentations, however they are not often intentionally added.
Brettanomyces
There are two major species of Brettanomycesused in brewing: B. Bruxellensis and B. Anomala. Despite other strains mentioned, there are only five species of Brett, with these two being the species most commonly used in brewing. Brettanomyces produces what we will later refer to as the “funk” when it comes to wild beers. While it is capable of producing some acetic acid when in the presence of oxygen (think vinegar), funk is what is typically described. Despite providing desired funk and acetic acid, it is important to note that Brettanomyces can also be responsible for less desired flavors: feet, hard boiled egg, and some solvent-like nail polish flavors. Pure commercial cultures of Brettanomyces are available at most yeast suppliers. Brettanomycesdoes NOT provide a universal flavor. Just like the various Saccharomyces strains most brewers are familiar with, each Brettanomyces strain can produce a vast array of different flavors, depending on the particular strain, temperature and time.
[stopped here 7/1/16 B. Hall]