Jovial_Monk said:
You could make a Flemish Brown beer, then add say 4kg sour red pie cherries in secondary and leave in there for a few months. Wee Stu has my Belgian Book (IIRC) and can post the recipe from it.
Jovial Monk
[post="51034"][/post]
you could... but it won't be what he wants.
If he tasted it at the Belgian Beer cafe it is likely to be either Bellevue Kriek or Timmermans Kriek, both of which are true lambic beers. (although their ability to represent the style is questionable)
I play with lambics (or as Kook rightly points out pLambics) a bit and have picked up a couple of things along the way,
Minimum...... yes minimum, time is 9 months. Leaving it longer helps however we are not doing it by spontaneous fermentation in the Senne valley so we are not dependent on seasonal yeast/bacteria changes and habits. (part of the reason real lambics take so long is that different micro-flora infect and/or become active at different stages. cask transfer etc) However you still need time for some of the lil citters to go though their full process.
My basic recipe is similar to what everyone else has said, pilsner and wheat malt. Although I add a very small amount of unmalted wheat as well.
Hopwise... I hop to what would amount to 20 IBU but the hops are aged stock and so contribute very little percieved bitterness and no flavour or aroma.
I initially pitch an ale yeast of french/belgian descent and allow this to go through a "primary" fermentation, before transferring to a secondary vessel with the fruit and pitching the wyeast lambic blend and a small amount of oak chips. The reasoning for this is that you want the beer to finish quite dry so this allows the
sac. strain a slight head start over the other yeast and bacteria strains.... they can still have a big effect and work quite comfortably in harsher conditions.
The Oak chips are there for two reasons... 1. (least important) to impart a slight flavour. ....2.
Brett yeast strains do well when in contact with wood as it apparently feeds on some of the cellulose contained in it to repair itself.
I re - inoculate my bottles with fresh yeast. ....and don't worry if you see a white ring on the surface of your bottled lambic beer. This is called the
Mother and is perfectly O.K. , it normally sinks once the beer has been chilled.
Or you could just make a wheat beer with a neutral flavoured yeast and add cherries. .... But it won't be quite the same.
have fun.
. Here is his recipe:
