13,591
edits
Changes
→A Brief Background of Yeast/Microbes
==A Brief Background of Yeast/Microbes==
When brewing sour beer, there are a few more players to the “yeast” side of the ingredients list. In addition to ''Saccharomyces'' or “Sacch”, in wild beer brewing the brewer is often dealing with ''Brettanomyces'', which is another genus of yeastthat is closely related to ''Saccharomyces'', and produces novel fruity and sometimes funky flavors. Bacteria are used to produce sourness in the form of lactic acid. These bacteria are called "lactic acid bacteria", or "LAB" for short. Specifically, they are ''Lactobacillus'' and ''Pediococcus'', which are both . Other bacteria. such as ''Acetobacter'' (acetic acid bacteria) and ''Enterobacter'' do (enteric bacteria) sometimes play a part in some sour fermentations, however, they are not often intentionally added.
===''Brettanomyces''===
Pure commercial cultures of ''Brettanomyces'' are available at most yeast suppliers (see [[Brettanomyces#Commercial_Cultures||''Brettanomyces'' cultures]] for a comprehensive list). ''Brettanomyces'' does NOT provide a universal flavor. Just like the various ''Saccharomyces'' strains most brewers are familiar with, each ''Brettanomyces'' strain can produce a vast array of different flavors, depending on the particular strain, temperature and time.
===''LactobacilluLactobacillus''s===
''Lactobacillus'' is a rod shaped bacteria that can grow with or without oxygen and produces lactic acid - most people are familiar with the sourness found in yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles, and so on. ''Lactobacillus'' converts sugars to lactic acid (and sometimes CO2 and ethanol). It can produce varying complexities of sourness from the one dimensional to the more complex, depending on which type is used.