Shoutout to the brewmaster in Portland who fixed my sour batch

I was at a small fermentation event in Portland last month and brought a sample of my latest sour beer that had turned vinegary. A guy named Mike from a local brewery took one sniff and said my pH was way off because I was letting it sit too long in the secondary vessel. He walked me through his method for checking acidity levels every 3 days instead of just guessing. I had been losing about 20% of my batches to that same problem for the past year. Now I'm testing with a cheap pH meter and my last 3 batches came out perfect. Has anyone else had a pro point out a simple fix that saved their batch?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_john1mo ago

Pickle jar left in a hot car. That got me good. I laughed so hard I almost choked on my coffee reading that. But seriously, you had a batch that smelled like a hot car pickle and you blamed the yeast? That is some next level denial right there. I love it. Your $12 pH meter is probably the best investment you ever made. Let me guess, you used to just cross your fingers and hope the sourness came out right.

derek992mo ago

Wait, you mean there's actually a way to stop guessing and use science? (I thought that was just cheating or something.) I've been doing the old "taste it and pray" method for years, and it's cost me a solid 15% of my sours. Last summer I had a batch that smelled like a pickle jar that someone left in a hot car, and I just dumped it and blamed the yeast. Now I'm sitting here with a $12 pH meter I bought on impulse and feeling like an idiot for not doing this sooner. Your guy Mike probably saved you from a lifetime of making fancy vinegar.

ray_mitchell2mo ago

Buddy of mine tried the taste and pray method with a batch of hot sauce once... ended up giving half the block heartburn for a week. He bought a pH meter the next day after his wife threatened to leave.