Watch: NC’s Wise Man Brewing gives tips for using the first pure Lactobacillus plantarum culture specifically for sours

Wise Man Brewing in Winston-Salem, N.C., only opened up in January 2017, but it’s already employing some innovative brewing products for its progressive beer. Over the past year, the company’s kettle sours have been becoming more popular and to help speed up the process and enhance flavor and aroma Wise Man has been using Chr. Hansen’s new freeze dried, direct inoculation culture of Lactobacillus plantarum. Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural solutions for a variety of industries. In America, it’s distributed by Gusmer.

Chr. Hansen’s Harvest LB-1 is the first pure Lactobacillus plantarum culture selected specifically for sour beer production. Harvest LB-1 is a dairy free culture, with high cell viability, that produces clean and crisp flavors and aromas that are great for sour beer. Available in a 10-hl dose, Harvest LB-1 can be stored in a freezer for up to 24 months and provides fast and consistent fermentations.

Here’s what Ryan Jackle, head brewer at Wise Man Brewing, had to say in the video above:

“Our favorite attribute of the Chr. Hansen Harvest LB-1 is the fact that it’s very fast. It gives us a really consistent, clean flavor and aroma profile. Our data checkpoints in the lab are showing us that we’re able to drop the PH of the wort from around 5.5 down to about 3.5 within about 14 to 16 hours. So, what that has enabled us to do is really speed up the process because it doesn’t tie up our brewhouse as long. We’re able to flip that beer a little bit faster and get another beer back in that tank.”

Jackle noted the product is also competitively priced and easy to use. He even gives tips for usage in the video above.