BoogieBrandBooze
Well-Known Member
Ok, I've searched and read and searched and read all I could about this subject and am now looking for a little clarity in the subject.
About 3 months ago I follow Papazian's recipe for kriek which calls for pitching a lambic blend (duh). Everything is going swimmingly and it's been on 12# cherries now for over 2 months. Now, I know this isn't necessarily a true lambic and I'm not looking to make a years-long project out of it. I'm basically trying this for the SWMBO's sake so she can enjoy something I brew.
That being said, her exposure to "lambic" begins and ends with good old soda-sweet Lindeman's (not knocking it as I too enjoy it from time to time). The problem is what I've got going in the carboy is nowhere near sweet, not even a hint. So to make her happy I'm trying to figure out how I can sweeten and carbonate this thing without making bottle bombs (kegging and force carbonating is not an option at the moment).
I thought I hit on something after reading about using lactose as it is not fermentable by beer yeast. However, I've also read that certain strains of Brett and even lacto bacteria CAN ferment it. Since I've got a Brett/Lacto blend (Wyeast Belgian Lambic Blend 3278) in there I'm now concerned that I'll have issues if I prime normally and add more sugar in the form of lactose.
Does anyone know exactly how effective Brett and lacto actually are at fermenting lactose? Would it be enough to result in bottle bombs? Would it also defeat the purpose of using lactose as a backsweetener if it just ends up being fermented? Lastly, is it even true that they can ferment it?
I have a feeling the only solution may be to boil it to kill everything, add whatever sweetener I want, and get a kegging system to carb it...maybe not a bad excuse to justify the purchasing of more goodies! After all, I'd be doing it to make my SWMBO to be happy...right?
About 3 months ago I follow Papazian's recipe for kriek which calls for pitching a lambic blend (duh). Everything is going swimmingly and it's been on 12# cherries now for over 2 months. Now, I know this isn't necessarily a true lambic and I'm not looking to make a years-long project out of it. I'm basically trying this for the SWMBO's sake so she can enjoy something I brew.
That being said, her exposure to "lambic" begins and ends with good old soda-sweet Lindeman's (not knocking it as I too enjoy it from time to time). The problem is what I've got going in the carboy is nowhere near sweet, not even a hint. So to make her happy I'm trying to figure out how I can sweeten and carbonate this thing without making bottle bombs (kegging and force carbonating is not an option at the moment).
I thought I hit on something after reading about using lactose as it is not fermentable by beer yeast. However, I've also read that certain strains of Brett and even lacto bacteria CAN ferment it. Since I've got a Brett/Lacto blend (Wyeast Belgian Lambic Blend 3278) in there I'm now concerned that I'll have issues if I prime normally and add more sugar in the form of lactose.
Does anyone know exactly how effective Brett and lacto actually are at fermenting lactose? Would it be enough to result in bottle bombs? Would it also defeat the purpose of using lactose as a backsweetener if it just ends up being fermented? Lastly, is it even true that they can ferment it?
I have a feeling the only solution may be to boil it to kill everything, add whatever sweetener I want, and get a kegging system to carb it...maybe not a bad excuse to justify the purchasing of more goodies! After all, I'd be doing it to make my SWMBO to be happy...right?