Brewing my first Lambic... water chemistry question

stblindtiger · 01-14-2012, 03:43 PM

Ok, I am about to brew my first Lambic but I have a few questions. I decided on using Jamil's recipe from Brewing Classic Styles (based on Steve Piatz's recipe) because well, it's Jamil's!

13 lbs 12 oz pilsner
9 lbs 2.7 ozs wheat

Mash schedule to account for wheat:

Dough in 113 for 15 mins
rests at 122 for 15 mins, 149 for 45 mins, 158 for 30 mins,
mash out 169
sparge with 190

So I have the mash schedule down for all my different infusions (obviously I'm doing the all grain version), and then I was trying to work out the water chemistry. I worked out that I needed to add to add 4 grams of gypsom and 1 gram of epsom salts to adjust my home water profile to get a balanced water profile.

When I did that, the PH is no where near where it should be (5.86)... to get it into the reccomended range, I would have to add a crazy amount of gypsum. I don't want to do that, because I feel like adding a lot of any kind of salt would just be counter productive and make the beer come out tasting like feet.

So I was going to just add some 5 ^2 ph stabilizer, along with my brewing salts. Would this be ok to do? Would it have any effect on the stepped mash schedule (lot of wheat in the mash)?

Thanks!!!

WolvinMaine · 01-14-2012, 03:57 PM

I have used 5.2 in most of my very lightly kilned beers, and it works well. I doubt it will be a problem. One observation about your mash. That is a long mash time, and I would be worried about thinning out your mash too much. You want to leave some complex carbohydrates for the beasties. Your Sacch will digest most of the simple stuff, but you want some long chain carbs in there that only the brett and bugs can break down. That is the net effect of the traditional turbid mashing, it leaves a ton of complex carbohydrates that only the bugs can eat. I guess it all depends on how sour you want it. The more fermentable up front, the less for the bugs to eat, the less funky and sour it will be. Jamil admits he does not like much sour in his beers, so that maybe the intent.

ryane · 01-14-2012, 04:16 PM

I agree with wolvin, there is no need for that complex mash schedule, especially since 45min at 149 everything will be converted, wheat does not require any more rigorous mashing schedule than barley malt, it gelatinizes at normal mash temps

I would say do a single infusion with a high mash temp and forget about everything else, I probably wouldnt worry too much about your water profile either

stblindtiger · 01-14-2012, 05:20 PM

Doh.... I need to start posting these questions more than 10 minutes before I start brewing! Thanks for the input, and I've found Jamil's recipes on the less sour side as well. I was hoping that if I didn't add the Cal ale yeast, and ferment with just a starter I've built up from other lambics (Cantillion, Drie Fonteinen, Girardin and Lindemans), plus a White Labs Belgian Sour Mix test tube that would be enough to keep it pretty sour.

Live and learn I guess. Hopefully I still get a nice amount of sour to it. This will be the 1st lambic in my attempt at making a geuze, so it will definitely have time to sour!

My mash is at 149 right now, and I'm letting it sit for the 45 mins. Glad to hear the 5^2 won't have a harnful effect on the mash though!

Thanks again!

WolvinMaine · 01-15-2012, 03:36 PM

If it does not come out to your liking, and looking at the list of dregs you are working with you will probably be fine, you can add a few ounces of maltodextrine later to give the beasties something to chew on.

ReverseApacheMaster · 01-15-2012, 06:32 PM

I do an abbreviated triple decoction mash for my lambic. It's not as complex as a turbid mash but it gives me a good mix of saccrification times (I do a rest on the decoctions at 158) and I am happy with the flavor I get from it. I admit to using wheat malt instead of unmalted wheat but this year when I made a new batch I added some wheat flour to the end of the boil and I'll see if that yields something positive.