Sour brewers can you check my process for first lambic?

[mje1980]

Ok, I'm keen to take the train into funk town. My main concern is storing temperature of the carboy ( I plan on getting a better bottle ). My garage is where it'll be stored, so summer it could get to mid or maybe high 30's. I was thinking of brewing it in say, march, that way, for most of autumn, all of winter and some of spring, it won't really get above 25-30. Once summer hits, I'm hoping that the majority of fermentation is done, and it will be ok.

Thoughts???.

I plan on putting it on a shelf, which will be close to a power point, so in winter I can heat it without moving it ( heat belt ).

If the above is too hot I'm gunna have to miss out .

 

[manticle]

Funky beers I've done have always been at ambient.
I primary ferment with sacch yeast though (controlled temp)

 

[mje1980]

Hey manticle, I'd be fermenting in my temp controlled fridge for a month or so at first, then bringing out onto the shelf. What do you call ambient?, what about in summer when it gets hot?

I suppose I could use my ferm fridge for the whole 18 months and just brew saisons and farmhouse ales on the kitchen bench in that time haha

 

[stef]

Are you going to clean ferment first, or start off with the bugs? I'm just looking at doing my first too, and i haven't decided this yet... I'd probably agree about starting it after summer (or most of the summer heat). I'll be doing similar, but i have a cellar, so mine will be going under ground for the summer.

 

[mje1980]

I was just going to pitch a mixed culture. Roselare looks good.

 

[manticle]

Considering I've left most for 12 mths minimum and up to at least 18, that's all temps that melbourne can offer.
Glass carboy, filled to the brim and sealed with silicon bung.

 

[barls]

30 is too high even for a temp controlled start. You will get an unbalanced sour.
I'd hold out till about March temp dependent. I'm actually looking at taking most of mine out of the fermenters that have been there more than 9 months
Mainly to fill kegs but the flavour profile is already there

 

[tazman1967]

I usually make mine in the Winter months, so that fermentaion is kept on the coolish side. I then transfer mine to glass demijons and put under my stair case which stays at a constant temperature all year, I have bottled my Lambic in glass bottles and left some over for a Gueze for the next couple of years.
My Flemish Red should be bottled in December..
Hope we have helped you out
Cheers
P

 

[mje1980]

30 is too high even for a temp controlled start. You will get an unbalanced sour.
I'd hold out till about March temp dependent. I'm actually looking at taking most of mine out of the fermenters that have been there more than 9 months
Mainly to fill kegs but the flavour profile is already there

Wait for march to bring it out from the temp controlled fridge??.My garage is the only place I can store it, and if it's too hot, the last thing I want to do is wait all that time and have a crap beer .

I suppose I could start it off after Xmas in the ferm fridge, wait til winter and rack, and leave in the garage til the weather gets too hot ( around this time ). That would be 11 months, without taking up too much time in my fermenting fridge, then I could rack onto some fruit. And put back in the fridge for a few more months. I'm loving saisons and beire de garde, which can both be brewed in warmer weather, and actually prefer it. Not sure about moving it too much though.

I think I could probably figure something out. Need a few better bottles haha.

 

[barls]

wait till march to start then you wont need the temp control then just leave to age.

 

[mje1980]

Ok, so ageing at warmer temps around 30 is ok?

 

[tiprya]

Where are you planning on getting better bottles from?

 

[barls]

not really no more than 25 id say. my room i brew in doesnt hit more than 25 in the middle of summer.

 

[Tony]

I put down a Lambic and Flanders red in march this year for just this reason..... to let it ferment in the cooler months.

My garage usually sits around 15 to 18 deg through the winter and is currently averaging 23 deg. Check what the average temps are in flanders ???? The real thing is made in oak barrels and is not temp controlled as far as i know.

I will be bringing them in to the house during the summer as we aircondition the place when it gets hot.

I pitched rosealre and the lambic blend and just let them go at about 20 deg ambient in glass carboys. They are now sitting quite happily with nice white mouldy crusts on them and will do so for another year or so.

cheers

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Im going to funk up a big belgian after primary with 3787. Im just going to sacrifice a fermenting fridge until the cooler months. Gets up to mid high 40's in summer in my shed in summer.
If your going down the funk road would it be worth getting a small fridge for a 20L glass vessel or better bottle? Probably get away with $70 for fridge and Proportional Integral and Derivative controller.

 

[manticle]

For me, it's set and forget.
If you had a coolroom or cellar that would be a good place but whatever is practical. We're not worried about ester production, etc. Are we?

 

[Bizier]

I would go controlled ferment closer to autumn, so that the bulk of food is dealt with in a controlled manner, and then taken out and aged at reasonable ambient temps. Roselare can get a bit intense if it is not managed a little.

That said, I have ballistic Perth summer to contend with. I lived in the 'Gong '01-'05 or so, and I miss those summers hiding under the cool shadow of the escarpment.

 

[mje1980]

I'm keen to do this. I plan on keeping in the temp controlled fridge for a month or two, then bring it out when the weather is ok. My plan is to give it 12 months in primary, then 6 months on fruit, then bottle and leave for 6 months, sound ok??

 

[manticle]

Sounds good to me.

 

[O'Henry]

The target temp for wort into barrels at Cantillon is ~20C, then ambient after that. I talked to a couple of lambic brewers in Belgium and they felt the temperature changes of the seasons were important to the flavour.