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Sour mashing may be conducted on the entire mash, or may be conducted on a portion of the mash. On a homebrew scale, sour mashing only a portion of the grist can easily be accomplished by conducting a small stove top mash before the planned brewday. This pre-soured portion can then be blended in with the wort collected from the normal mash of the remaining grist during the brew day.
Sour mashes typically last between roughly 12 hours and 3 days. After the mash has reached the desired acidity the wort is separated from the grain and boiling and fermentation are carried out as normal. It is important that wort from a sour mash is not consumed, especially if it was inoculated with grain, because pathogens have been found to grow in wort soured with grain (see [[Grain#Malt_Inoculated_Wort|Malt Inoculated Wort]]).
Some professional brewers have reported stuck or slow sparges when performing a sour mash. This generally isn't a problem on the homebrew scale. Adding rice hulls and resetting the grain bed will help resolve the issue <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/992202820807932/?comment_id=993343157360565&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R0%22%7D Conversation with professional brewer Anthony Accardi on MTF.]</ref>.