Escarpment Laboratories | Lactobacillus Blend 2.0

A blend of L. plantarum and L. rhamnosus, enhances lemon and tropical guava aromas. 

Sours your wort within 24 hours. Intended for kettle/quick souring but can also be used in 0 IBU mixed fermentations.

This blend is a product of our ongoing research into optimizing Lactobacillus strain selection. It is a blend of our main L. plantarum strain with a strain of Lactobacillus rhamnosus. This blend has a wide temperature range ( 30ºC to 45ºC) and enhances fruit flavours in the finished beer, with tasters noting red fruit and guava aromas. It is intended for kettle/quick souring but can also be used in 0 IBU wort.

Instructions for kettle/quick souring: 

1. Pasteurize wort at 180F/82C for 10 mins prior to pitching Lacto (if you can't purge with CO2 in the next step, do a short boil here)
2. Chill to 45C/113F, purge with CO2, and pitch Lacto Blend
3. Cover/seal and Insulate kettle/fermentor/souring vessel - with this blend, it's OK if the temperature drops to 30C/86F over time.
4. Check pH or taste - typically, this blend hits the desired pH range (3.2-3.7 depending on beer style) within 18-36 hours. 
5. Boil to kill off the Lacto, chill, treat it like a normal beer from here on out (or don't - but we do recommend a full boil at some point in the process to reduce DMS in the wort).

For more information and instructions on quick souring, please refer to the Milk the Funk Wiki as well as Escarpment's Kettle Souring SOP.