Lambic Brew Idea's

[j1gsaw]

Hey all.
I found a good recipe that im going to use, and run wyeast lambic blend with it.
I believe the lambics need a good conditioning period also?
Is it crucial to transfer to secondary for lambics? And do they like to sit at ambient temps to condition?
If i ferment at 18-20deg for the first 2 weeks, then put in the dark for a further few months it should be all good?
Will it pellicle like normal funky blends do?
Recipe is:
4.50lb Pils
5lb vienna
3lb munich 1
0.50lb aromatic
0.50lb caramunich
o.50lb special B
0.50lb wheat malt

0.70 oz EKG - 60m
Cheers.

 

[manticle]

Hey all.
I found a good recipe that im going to use, and run wyeast lambic blend with it.
I believe the lambics need a good conditioning period also?
Is it crucial to transfer to secondary for lambics? And do they like to sit at ambient temps to condition?
If i ferment at 18-20deg for the first 2 weeks, then put in the dark for a further few months it should be all good?
Will it pellicle like normal funky blends do?
Recipe is:
4.50lb Pils
5lb vienna
3lb munich 1
0.50lb aromatic
0.50lb caramunich
o.50lb special B
0.50lb wheat malt

0.70 oz EKG - 60m
Cheers.

Never brewed one so I'm not going to attempt to comment on the recipe or suggest anything but you may find some good information here: http://www.brewery.org/library/LmbicJL0696.html and also over on the babblebelt forum.

Also I think Stuster, kook and bconnery are fairly into their sours so they might be worth a PM. Doubtless there's other keen and knowledgeable sour brewers - they just spring to mind.

 

[j1gsaw]

Never brewed one so I'm not going to attempt to comment on the recipe or suggest anything but you may find some good information here: http://www.brewery.org/library/LmbicJL0696.html and also over on the babblebelt forum.

Also I think Stuster, kook and bconnery are fairly into their sours so they might be worth a PM. Doubtless there's other keen and knowledgeable sour brewers - they just spring to mind.

Cheers mate, very useful site.

 

[bconnery]

Hey all.
I found a good recipe that im going to use, and run wyeast lambic blend with it.
I believe the lambics need a good conditioning period also?
Is it crucial to transfer to secondary for lambics? And do they like to sit at ambient temps to condition?
If i ferment at 18-20deg for the first 2 weeks, then put in the dark for a further few months it should be all good?
Will it pellicle like normal funky blends do?
Recipe is:
4.50lb Pils
5lb vienna
3lb munich 1
0.50lb aromatic
0.50lb caramunich
o.50lb special B
0.50lb wheat malt

0.70 oz EKG - 60m
Cheers.

That's quite an unusual lambic recipe from my knowledge. There's no raw wheat at all for starters.
Do a search for babblebelt as another good recipe resource.

My lambic was simply 65/35 pils/raw wheat, and I'd like to aim for 50/50 next time.
Mash high to leave plenty of sugar for the brett to munch.
Not saying that recipe wont' work, it just seems unusual to me...

You do need conditioning. It doesn't need to be secondary. I made two lambics, one with a belgian yeast then some of the lambic blend and one fermented straight with the lambic blend, assuming you mean the one that also has a 'normal' brewing yeast as well as the brett.
I just left mine in the primary the whole time, and then added fruit, and then racked only at bottling time.

It should pellicle. Mine sure did. A big mass of the stuff. Looked awesome.

I did exactly what you've described. Fermented at 20ish and then into the cupboard under the stairs. I bottled mine after about a year, and about 5 months on the fruit.

 

[jlm]

What you've got there looks to be a flanders red. Still falls into the sour beer family. Having only tasted a couple of FR's (but have become obsessed with them) and not used the lambic blend (but tasted beers brewed with it) I think you may end up with too much sourness for that style. I've got a FR fementing atm, and I kicked fermentation off with 1056, and when it slowed down racked to 2ndary and pitched a pack of roselare blend, and will stay there for about a year (all that info thanks to brewing classic styles).
If you're talking a straight lambic, your grainbill would would be roughly 50/50 pils/raw wheat, and you'd use aged/de-bittered hops as these beers are generally under 5 IBU (I think).
I'll let some of the more experenced sour brewers chime in as I'm only new to this caper my self.
I'm gonna brew my lambic next week Bconnery! Had to get stocks up of regulars after xmas.

Beaten by Bconnery.

 

[pmolou]

from what I've read Lambics are left on the yeast cake as the bugs feed on the yeast for nutrients over the long aging period usually from 1-3 years... Older LAmbics are more complex while younger ones are more one dimensionally sour...
I think temperature control can go either way as When i did the Cantillon Brewery tour they don't temp control there beer and I remember hearing something along the lines of the bugs react differantly at differant temperatures and produce differant flavours, (winter-summer)

I personally wouldn't worry about the pellicle if It develops it develops if not doesn't matter, Pellicles simply stop O2, so not having a pellicle could mean you have a nice Co2 blanket and minimal O2 permiating... A good idea is to pitch a variety of LAmbics and guezes you enjoy to bring some more diversity of bugs into your beer as just the lambic blend can give a "clean" profile

+1 for babblebelt they now way more than you could imagine

 

[raven19]

Cheers mate, very useful site.

+1. Some great reading in there.

Thanks for posting that link.

 

[kabooby]

Traditional Lambic is generally 65/35 Pils /raw wheat. No need for all the other malts. Hopped to about 10 IBU with aged low alpha hops. Keep it in primary for the whole process.

Lambics are normally brewed in the winter so the initial phase of fermentation is during the cooler months. If the fermentation is too warm in the early stages enterobacter and acetobacter can get out of control and make it undrinkable. If you are going to brew it now then try and monitor the temps for the first few months. Lambics need to be aged for at least one summer and one winter, it helps the different stages of the fermentation.

A pelicle will form if the yeast needs to protect itself from oxygen.

Kabooby

 

[kabooby]

I personally wouldn't worry about the pellicle if It develops it develops if not doesn't matter, Pellicles simply stop O2, so not having a pellicle could mean you have a nice Co2 blanket and minimal O2 permiating... A good idea is to pitch a variety of LAmbics and guezes you enjoy to bring some more diversity of bugs into your beer as just the lambic blend can give a "clean" profile

Very true.

I have also found the White labs lambic blend to be mild. Adding dregs from some of your favourite sours is a great idea

Kabooby

 

[joshuahardie]

Like others have said that recipe seems a little on the complex side.

My lambics have been very simple 60% pils 40% wheat or thereabouts, (just used normal wheat, not raw) I also add 150gm of malto dextrine for the bugs to chew through, I also used the oldest hops I have, and ferment with a very basic clean yeast like us05.
ferment out and transfer to secondary and add the bugs.
My latest is a concoction is the dregs of 3 Lindemans lambic bottles (Cuve Ren Grand Cru, Gueuze,Faro) and also added orval dregs

3 months down the pelicle looks like the surface of the moon
My taste after 6 weeks was it is still a little too sweet up front , that finishes nice and tart. I am sure will dry out over time butthe smell is amazing. Just exactly like the beers the bugs came from.

 

[bconnery]

Ah yes, the dregs.
I forgot to mention that my two also contain the dregs of various commercial lambics. I read on babblebelt (I think) about this adding complexity so I forced my way through a few Cantillons and other lambics just to get the dregs

 

[pmolou]

kind of off topic but what are peoples thoughts on hops, do people boil low alpha hops or just dry-hop? I realize aging is preferable but i don't plan on keeping hops for 3 years...
My latest Lambic i decided to experiment and only dry-hopped and added a (quite large) quantity and variety of spices for more anti-oxidants have preservative qualities... I also added a teaspoon of flour to give the bugs more to chew on, Has anyone done similar? not sure if It'll do anything or if I'll even notice a change

 

[bconnery]

My first one I did the in the oven technique.
I took some low alpha acid hops and put them in the oven a little.
Supposedly debitters them a bit. I can't remember how long or what temp you do it for. There's info around out there anyways...
Don't know for sure how well it worked but the beers taste alright and boy did the hops smell nice in the oven

 

[manticle]

kind of off topic but what are peoples thoughts on hops, do people boil low alpha hops or just dry-hop? I realize aging is preferable but i don't plan on keeping hops for 3 years...

Aren't there a few different techniques for accelerated ageing (including the oven technique mentioned by bconnery)? Not done it so I won't jump in and advise but I believe there are other ways than just waiting.

Otherwise just go to a brewcraft outlet and pick up some hops from them.

 

[raven19]

Otherwise just go to a brewcraft outlet and pick up some hops from them.

h34r:

 

[kabooby]

I was fortunate enough to get some aged saaz flowers from a friend. They were aged in a cool room but were at least 3 years old. Flowers loose thier bitterness faster than pellets. If you can't get flowers I would suggest blending your hop pellets to a powder. This will oxidze the hops faster and decrease the bitterness.

Kabooby