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# Don't use any hops until after the souring has finished. Even 1 IBU will inhibit a lot of Lacto strains.
# Try to keep the souring time within 48 hours. Lacto leaves a lot of residual sugars, so the longer it is left the more potential there is for off-flavors from contaminations.
# Sanitation is very important. Make sure the wort is boiled for at least a minute, and the sides of the boil kettle and lid are pasteurized/sanitized. Despite popular belief from many commercial brewers, using CO<sup>2</sup> is not necessary.# For your first kettle sours, we recommend using a ''Lactobacillus plantarum'' culture of some sort. For commercial culturesfrom yeast labs, see the [[Lactobacillus#Culture_Charts|''Lactobacillus'' culture charts]]. For example, the [https://omegayeast.com/yeast/bacterial-cultures/lactobacillus-blend Omega Yeast Labs OYL-605] has had a lot of success among MTF'ers. Yogurt and probiotics have also become a popular source for fast souring Lacto; see [[Alternative Bacteria Sources]].
# If your wort develops a krausen or significant CO<sup>2</sup> production, then you probably have a yeast contamination. Lacto does not compete well with yeast, so the sourness might not be as much as you wanted. Sloppy sanitation practices can lead to yeast contaminations, but this has also been known to come from yeast lab products themselves (it's hard to prove unless you look at the Lacto culture under a microscope using aseptic techniques).
# Mold looks like patches of often fuzzy/hairy, off-white, green, red, or black growths on the surface of your beer. This can happen with kettle sours can if your sanitation is not good enough. We recommend dumping kettle sours that have significant mold growth. See the [[Mold]] page for more details on the risks of mold.