Brew Day - Berliner Weiss

I decided this summer I was going to try a Berliner Weiss.  I was inspired by Dogfish Head Peche.  Fifty-fifty split on the wheat and the Belgian Pilsner with a bit of Golden candi syrup for extra depth.  I guess it is more of an Imperial Berliner Weiss since it should come in around 5.4%.

For this batch I used the sour wort procedure that I used in some of my other quick sour beers.  This process didnt work out for those beers because it lacked the depth those types of beers usually have.  For a Berliner Weiss you are just looking for a nice clean acidity from the lacto bacteria that should remind you of lemonade with no hop flavor.  I am hoping that the golden candi syrup will add a bit more flavor to make it a slightly more complex Berliner Weiss.  Flavors that can be associated with that syrup are fresh plums and raisins along with white wine grapes.  

Here is step by step of what I have done to this point:

1. Mashed in all of my malts which was a 50-50 split of Belgian Pilsner and German Wheat
2. Once the mash was completed and I completed the batch sparge I brought the wort to a boil to kill any bacteria present.
3. I chilled the wort down to 110 degrees
4. Once at the proper temperature I transferred it over to an insulated cooler.  The cooler will keep the wort warm for the next few days.
5. I added White Labs lacto culture to the wort and sealed the cooler
6. 60 hours later I moved the wort back into a boil kettle and boiled for 75 minutes.  I added a small amount of Hallertauer hops 15 minutes into the boil for a 60 minute hop addition.
7. The last half hour of the boil I added the 5 Golden Candi Syrup.
8. Once the beer was cooled to pitching temperature I added White Labs Belgian Golden yeast
9. Two days later I added Brett Brex Trois.
10. I will age the beer in the primary for about 2 weeks.  Rack to a secondary to clear it out some and then bottle.

As you can see in the outline its a Berliner Weiss with Belgian twist.  Again this is all to see if I can get a bit more depth while still being a nice clean, slightly sour summer beer.  We will see where it ends up in a few weeks.

More to come...