Ironic, isn't it?
It was actually a brewing 'hand-me-down' from another award winning brewer. He used to make barleywines in it. They were excellent.
Lambic (BOS, 3rd BOS and Two Golds)
- Thread starter AmandaK
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Ironic, isn't it?
It was actually a brewing 'hand-me-down' from another award winning brewer. He used to make barleywines in it. They were excellent.
For Zippox and Serial:
1) You could do that. It would be thick and hard to get the DME to dissolve, but it can be done. You would end up with a 1.180 boil. Also, extract adds volume, so be aware that adding 12# of DME to 3 gallons will push it north of 3 gallons total volume.
2) I also added all my extracts at the beginning, then waited for the boil to start as usual and then started my timer.
1) You could do that. It would be thick and hard to get the DME to dissolve, but it can be done. You would end up with a 1.180 boil. Also, extract adds volume, so be aware that adding 12# of DME to 3 gallons will push it north of 3 gallons total volume.
2) I also added all my extracts at the beginning, then waited for the boil to start as usual and then started my timer.
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Couple minor things. How would you top off the wort to 10 gallons in a container like that? I don't really suppose you would put a permanent marker line on the inside or anything. And when it comes time to siphon to the two carboys, is that vittles vault movable when there is 10 gal of heavy wort? Or do you leave it elevated so you can transfer later on without moving it?
Serialk1llr
Member
I have a Keg I was going to do this in (yay for shared homebrew club equipment!), but if you think it'll be to thick even at that volume, I'll break it down into two boils. Plan was to start with about 12 gallons of water, then add water at the end once the boil is over to get me back up to 10 gallons total volume, then split into to 6gal carboys. After that it would be time to forget it in the basement and let it age until spring of 2014.
To top of the Vault, I preboil and chill a pre-measured amount of water. (I usually to a 7 gallon boil with 3 gallons top off.) My boil kettle is calibrated and the 3 gallons goes in the Vault first, so I know how to get 10 gallons pretty easily.
Yes, 10 gallons of liquid is heavy. I use the boyfriend as a helper for this; we pick it up and put it on the counter for transfer.
Two boils on two days would be a viable option. I don't know if it would be 'too thick', but you can give it a go!
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Well I went ahead and ordered all of the ingredients, got a digital scale, and a pound of aged hops from hopsdirect. I pick up the additional equipment from Midwest tomorrow and will start brewing probably next week. Let's hope the upcoming year and a half is worth it! 
Darwin18
Well-Known Member
AmandaK - I'm going to be trying my hand at a couple lambics this year and had a question I'd like to run by you. For my usual ales and lagers (5 gallon batches), I usually use liquid yeast and always use a starter. With lambics is a starter needed or warranted? The yeast I am planning on using is the Wyeast Roeselare blend (Wyeast #3763). I was planning on brewing a standard lambic recipe, pitching the pack, and letting it go for at least a year. I'm a big fan of sour beers so I was planning on pitching the dregs from bottles throughout the year.
I would not make a starter for the sour mixes from Wyeast. In fact, I pitch one smack pack of Lambic Blend into 10 gallons and that seems to work for me.
One important note though, WY3763 is a great yeast, but it will not make a lambic. WY3728 is the only yeast from Wyeast that makes a good lambic. 3763 is more sour, cherry pie and fruitiness (think New Belgium's sours). 3728 is more funky, a softer sourness and overall more 'lambic-like' (think Cantillon/Boon).
cdubbaya
Well-Known Member
I'm wondering, could you explain your fermentation process a bit? Does it stay at 65F the entire secondary as well? Do you pitch yeast dregs over time, or all at once in primary?
I apologize if this has been asked, I read the entire thread, but I'm on my cell phone so I skimmed a couple comments.
Cheers! Excited to brew this as my first sour!
I apologize if this has been asked, I read the entire thread, but I'm on my cell phone so I skimmed a couple comments.
Cheers! Excited to brew this as my first sour!
It's been asked several times in PM, but I'll post it here so others can see as well.
Fermentation starts in my parent's kitchen (everything is done at my parent's house because I move A LOT) at around 70* in the dog food container. After a month, it gets split into two 5 gallon carboys and put in the basement under the stairs near the center of their home - temperature is a constant 62* there. Aging temp is not an exact science, but higher temps tend to push the souring along faster (but at the expense of complexity).
The dregs went in when I transferred to the secondary, but pitching them earlier would work too.
cdubbaya
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info, I'm just getting an idea if I can ferment this at my place for that long. I will be doing a 5 gallon batch in a plastic bucket, then transferred to a 6 gallon carboy. Hoping to create a pipeline between the buckets and carboys I have.
We don't get a lot of the better sours here in MN, so I'm thinking of pitching dregs from a couple flanders reds, lambics, and american sours. I know it won't be a true lambic, but I'm hoping for a nice blend of bugs!
Do you have plans to age any of your batches on fruit?
We don't get a lot of the better sours here in MN, so I'm thinking of pitching dregs from a couple flanders reds, lambics, and american sours. I know it won't be a true lambic, but I'm hoping for a nice blend of bugs!
Do you have plans to age any of your batches on fruit?
Funny you ask, I just transferred 3 gallons of the 2012 onto 6 lbs of tart cherries after blending 2 gallons of it into a gueuze. Time will tell if it was a good idea or not.
Darwin18
Well-Known Member
Thanks Amandak! I'll have to reconsider my yeast choice. I was going to go with Roeselare but I may need to consider WY3728. Appreciate your help!
Lambic blend is a blend of sacc, brett, lacto & pedio. If anything, get some commercial lambics and dump the dregs in to get the rest of the species of yeast you're missing.
As a side note, I don't have personal experience doing this, but logic tells me it may work. So... YMMV.
Tarheel4985
Well-Known Member
This seems like a dumb question, but I didn't see it answered anywhere else. Would converting this to All Grain affect the lambic fermentation at all? I assume because of the fermentability of extract there would be variations but wasn't sure if there would be other considerations in brewing this one all grain.
bellmtbbq
Well-Known Member
Tarheel4985 said:
You can make great lambics with extract but I think it's much easier to awesome lambics all grain. If you don't feel like doing a traditional turbid mash, mash high at 157-158 F and sparge with 175-185 F water. You wanna make tons of complex sugars and tannins for the Brett to work on. Tons of lambic recipes online... Check out themadfermentationist's lambic posts. Do 7-7.5 pounds of pilsner, 3-4 lbs of raw unmalted wheat, or flaked wheat. Skip the malodextrin
Don't just pitch 3278 Lambic blend. I like 3763 more, but pitch dregs, other cultures, or just ECY. It'll make a better lambic. And remember to age it for at least a year, especially all grain
Zippox
Well-Known Member
I vacuum sealed my giant one pound bag of aged hops into 2 oz bags. I realize its a little counter productive to vacuum seal stale hops but humor me here. The hops were from freshhops.com. They sure smelled cheesy!
Tarheel4985
Well-Known Member
I've been trying to find ECY for a little bit but I can't seem to respond to the Google Group in time. Anyone have any available?
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Finally getting around to making it... tonight. I am going to pick up a sour beer on my way home to add the dregs from in addition to the wyeast lambic pack. I was thinking of picking up Cuve Rene. I probably should stay away from JP with the initial pitch because I have heard that it is so aggressive that it would probably throw things out of proportion from the smack pack, right?
If not, which JP would you recommend from the picture?
I also have a couple others I can choose from as you can see in the pictures.
I'm just looking for someone to say 'pick <this one> because it's the best'.
If not, which JP would you recommend from the picture?
I also have a couple others I can choose from as you can see in the pictures.
I'm just looking for someone to say 'pick <this one> because it's the best'.
urbanmyth
Well-Known Member
Well, Duchesse and Rodenbach have no live bugs in them. They are either pasteurized or filtered before bottling. Cuvee Rene has a goodly amount of bugs, and they are quite pleasant.
I haven't had a problem with JP bugs, quite the contrary. I bought the freshest bottle I could and grew those up in a starter to use. They give a nice, quick, complex funk in my experience, and age quite well. I wouldn't see a problem with pitching them along with the primary yeast. I'm a big fan of the "Firefly" (green label) and the Bam Biere. Find the youngest bottle you can and use those. Should give a nice complexity you just can't get from the Wyeast alone.
I haven't had a problem with JP bugs, quite the contrary. I bought the freshest bottle I could and grew those up in a starter to use. They give a nice, quick, complex funk in my experience, and age quite well. I wouldn't see a problem with pitching them along with the primary yeast. I'm a big fan of the "Firefly" (green label) and the Bam Biere. Find the youngest bottle you can and use those. Should give a nice complexity you just can't get from the Wyeast alone.
Zippox
Well-Known Member
I ended up using Cuvee Rene - the local liquor store just got a brand new case in the other day so it's about as young of a bottle as I am going to get here in MN. I was expecting more sourness from the first sip but after letting it sit in the glass and giving my mouth a chance to get used to it, I really enjoyed it and it seemed to become more sour. Personally it was too carbonated for me to be able to drink it right away so letting it sit for 30 minutes in a wider-mouthed glass brought it to a perfect level of carbonation. Brewing went well, with just a minor boil over. Hope in 30 days when I transfer it to the carboy I see some nice pellicle!
cdubbaya
Well-Known Member
If you don't mind me asking, which MGM was that? It looked like Prior Lake, but I see La Roja on the shelf.
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Haha yeah that is the MGM in prior lake. You live in PL? (I'm using the HBT app so I don't see locations).
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Say Amanda, you mentioned you bottled at 1.5 volumes CO2 and that seems to have worked out pretty well for you. Is there some simple conversion I can do to find out how much priming sugar I would need to give my bottles a similar carbonation level?
And would anyone be able to venture a guess what 'volumes' or priming sugar equivalent would have to be put in to get the same carbonation level that Cuvee Rene had? I'm trying to get a feel for what CO2 volumes feel like to know I will be happy at bottle time.
And would anyone be able to venture a guess what 'volumes' or priming sugar equivalent would have to be put in to get the same carbonation level that Cuvee Rene had? I'm trying to get a feel for what CO2 volumes feel like to know I will be happy at bottle time.
urbanmyth
Well-Known Member
ColoBrewer420
Member
I brewed 10 gallons off this and just did a rack to secondary after 5 weeks. Took a sample and it tasted good like a farm house but was not really "sour". I used wyeast roselare. Will the sour strengthen with age? I hope so, I plan on racking some on to peaches in about 6 months. If any has an opinion let me know. I've been brewing for a bit but this is my first sour/lambic. Either way it should be a good beer with some age.
Zippox
Well-Known Member
I have read numerous times that people say roselare young does not give the strong sourness that the lambic blend gives. But most people say that with age the sourness will come through.
ColoBrewer420
Member
Zippox said:
Thank you that's what I'm hoping! I will let you know in a year! Prost!
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Lots of people say it works well to let it sit in the primary for a year. Apparently the bugs eat the dead yeast (dead yeast = bug nutrients so I've heard).
This recipe states that it is best to have it either in a better bottle the entire time because a good amount of O2 can get in that way, or do 30 days in a bucket and follow it up with a year of glass carboy. Buckets allow a lot of O2 through the pores but 30 days of that seems to be ideal for this one. Amanda explained that she got the best characteristics that way vs. glass carboy the entire time.
Hopefully that made sense, it's a little late.
This recipe states that it is best to have it either in a better bottle the entire time because a good amount of O2 can get in that way, or do 30 days in a bucket and follow it up with a year of glass carboy. Buckets allow a lot of O2 through the pores but 30 days of that seems to be ideal for this one. Amanda explained that she got the best characteristics that way vs. glass carboy the entire time.
Hopefully that made sense, it's a little late.
Zippox
Well-Known Member
In general, is it necessary to add new yeast during bottling? If it is, which yeast and how's that done?
bellmtbbq
Well-Known Member
Zippox said:
Champagne yeast costs 50-60 cents a packet and it's cheap insurance so you aren't left with two cases of flat beer.
Zippox
Well-Known Member
Just throw it in the bottom of the bottling bucket and siphon the beer from the carboy on top of it? No need to wait and can go straight to bottling?
NateLTB
Well-Known Member
I will be brewing this one in the next week or two. Waiting for my LHBS to get a new supply of Lambic yeast in. I'm very excited to brew this one, just need to figure out which sours to buy so I can toss in some dregs. Think some Russian Rivers and some Cascade Brewing. Thanks for the recipe Amanda! Cheers!
Rehydrating a dried yeast would be your best bet, so you can get more even distribution. Pitching dry yeast in a bottling bucket won't gt much uniformity.
rhoadsrage
Well-Known Member
I was going to finally make the plunge into a lambic, and I ran across this recipe. This looks perfect. Thanks for posting.
ocluke
Well-Known Member
I find it interesting that these commercial "lambic" blends seem to all have lacto in them, while every lambic brewer takes every step possible to eliminate lacto from affecting their beer (one of the reason for the massive aged hop addition). Lambic brewers attempt to get all of their lactic acid production from pedio.
Similar threads
