An 'authentic' Gueuze Recipe

Gueuze-lambic
by Jean Xavier Guinard

6.8 lbs klages pale malt
3.3 lbs wheat
0.5 lb crystal malt 40L

0.33 oz each fuggles, northern brewer, and bullion hops (3 years old)

Sacch. culture (Sierra Nevada ale yeast)
Brett. culture
Pedio. culture

Mixed sacch-brett-pedio culture for bottle conditioning

3/4 cup dextrose for priming

OG 1.053
FG 1.013
Boil: 2 hours
Primary (sacch.): 1 week at 63 F
Secondary (pedio and brett): 2 weeks at 69F, 4 weeks at 62F
Fermenter: oak cask

Mix 1.4 gallons of water with the wheat and 10% of the klages pale malt. In a cooker, bring to a boil after a ten minute rest at 158F. Boil for 30-45 minutes. Start the main mash by mixing 1.3 gallons of 130F water with the rest of the pale malt and crystal malts. Hold for 15 minutes at 140F. Drop the boiled adjunct into the main mash and hold at 158F for 30min and mash off at 170F. Slowly run off and sparge. Boil for 2 hours, adding hops early into the boil. Fill the cask with the cooled wort and inoculate with the sacch culture. After one week, inoculate with the pedio. culture and after 3 weeks with the brett culture. Make up the ullage in the cask every other weeks with fresh wort. Rack and bottle condition with the fresh mixed culture and dextrose for priming.

Click to expand...

ericd said:

Okay, there still seems to be a lot of confusion on these boards on what a lambic is/isn't and how to make one at home. This is a recipe from Jean Xavier Guinard. He's belgian, for one, so he knows a thing or two about beer. Second, he got his PhD from studying beer. Third, he literally wrote the book on brewing them at home.

This is a recipe from that book.



Notes:

This is for a 5 gallon cask.

Ullage is the beer that gets lost as foam from the fermentation. Yes, traditionally the bunghole of the cask is left wide open during the fermentation.

His recipes for fruit lambic are basically the same. He adds the fruit after primary fermentation, along with the bugs. He uses 10lbs of cherries (with pits!) for his kriek. For his frambroise, he adds 1 oz of vanilla extract, 8.5 lbs of raspberries and changes the hops to Saaz, Fuggles and Alsace.

At the time this book was written 'Sierra Nevada' yeast and lab cultures of pedio and brett were all that were available. I don't see why you couldn't use belgian golden ale and wyeast lambic blend, for example.

Click to expand...

Brewsmith said:

It's the "Chico" strain of American Ale Yeast

White Labs WLP-001
Wyeast 1056
Safale US-05

Click to expand...

BJCP said:

Comments: Straight lambics are single-batch, unblended beers. Since they are unblended, the straight lambic is often a true product of the “house character” of a brewery and will be more variable than a gueuze. They are generally served young (6 months) and on tap as cheap, easy-drinking beers without any filling carbonation. Younger versions tend to be one-dimensionally sour since a complex Brett character often takes upwards of a year to develop. An enteric character is often indicative of a lambic that is too young. A noticeable vinegary or cidery character is considered a fault by Belgian brewers. Since the wild yeast and bacteria will ferment ALL sugars, they are bottled only when they have completely fermented. Lambic is served uncarbonated, while gueuze is served effervescent. IBUs are approximate since aged hops are used; Belgians use hops for anti-bacterial properties more than bittering in lambics.

Click to expand...

BJCP said:

Comments: Gueuze is traditionally produced by mixing one, two, and three-year old lambic. “Young” lambic contains fermentable sugars while old lambic has the characteristic “wild” taste of the Senne River valley. A good gueuze is not the most pungent, but possesses a full and tantalizing bouquet, a sharp aroma, and a soft, velvety flavor. Lambic is served uncarbonated, while gueuze is served effervescent. IBUs are approximate since aged hops are used; Belgians use hops for anti-bacterial properties more than bittering in lambics. Products marked “oude” or “ville” are considered most traditional.

Click to expand...

chemman14 said:

so is this the same yeast that sierra nevada uses to ferment its beers?

Click to expand...

Sixbillionethans said:

*Wyeast claims that WY3278 contains a "Belgian-style wheat beer yeast"; sounds like WY3942 or WY3944 to me. Saccharomyces might have a guess, since he's isolating yeast strains.

Click to expand...

Saccharomyces said:

Many of the sour beers produced in America are done this way (Consecration, Cuvee de Tomme, etc. are inoculated with bugs post-primary fermentation) and achieve an adequate level of sourness.

Click to expand...

wscott823 said:

Any body messed around with the red oak peg in the carboy for barrel simulated results?

Click to expand...

wscott823 said:

I'll be fabricating the oak peg for a carboy of mine in the next month or two for my Flanders Red later this spring. I heard of wrapping the peg in a fair ammount of teflon tape, I suppose to buffer any expansion of the wood thus cracking the carboy. We'll see how it all turns out when I cross that bridge.

Click to expand...

Ryan_PA said:

Click to expand...

Ryan_PA said:

Wes, I have 4 sours going with the oak dowel process. The oldest went into the secondary in July I think. It is exhibiting a nice acidic nose as of last month, but I think it will get a more sour flavor as it ages through the summer when things warm up. I have no control to compare to, but I honestly think the oak is allowing a good amount of o2 into the beer below the pellicle. All but 1 of the beers were primereied with a sour strain in my case. I do have one sour going now without the oak dowel, but it has only been in the bucket with the bugs for like a month, so there is no sense in comparing that one, however it is freaking fantastic at its young age.

Click to expand...