Carbonating Lambic

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OBSCZONER

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I brewed up a few batches of lambic over a year ago, and blended them with fruit and what not. Going to blend and bottle shortly after christmas. Any advice on how much priming sugar to use? I know you are supposed to use alot less sugar then for regular beers, s just trying to make sure I dont get bombs. I am bottling kriek and Blackberrry lambic, Will be using Champagne bottles.

My original plan was to use young lambic, but its not ready yet :(

Thanks for the time!
 
I'd say make sure your gravity is stable for a few months first. After that you can use the normal amount of priming sugar you would normally use to get to your desired carbonation level. If the gravity is not stable, you will have additional fermentation going on in the bottle.
 
Cork and cage your bottles just in case so you can carb properly. Most LHBS rent out floor corkers.
 
I own a corker, I plan to cork and cap. Gravity is stable and everything, just needed advice on the amount of priming sugar. Thanks lostfish
 
I would aim for a slightly higher carbonation than you are aiming for to account for the fact that there is no residual CO2 left in the beer. Use an online priming calculator and put the ambient temperature at 90 degrees.
 
What kind of gravity readings are you looking at? Fruit lambics should always be effervescent and highly carbonated. I would suggest levels between 3-4.5 volumes of CO2 (I would do 3.5, but that's just me). Your dose of priming sugar will obviously depend on the amount of fruit lambic you will be bottling.
 
Why blend? I have difficulty in trying to understand why a home-brewer would feel a need to blend a sour, unless one of them is just too sour and undrinkable.

I understand some of the reasons a Commercial brewer would do it, and most important of them to to try and get consistency in the product.

If you are sure both beers are stable, just prime at normal levels. I usually add a half volume to account for the age and loss of some of the CO2.
 
Why blend? I have difficulty in trying to understand why a home-brewer would feel a need to blend a sour, unless one of them is just too sour and undrinkable.

The reason I'm blending a 2010 and a 2012 lambic is to make a product that is better than the straight lambics themselves.

The 2010 is really complex and funky, while the 2012 is bright and acidic with a hint of funk. Blending at a 60/40 ratio creates this magical fusion of old and new that you wouldn't be able to get by bottling each batch straight. But that's just me.

I also bottle straight lambics and will be adding fruit for the first time to a lambic in the next few days, so I'm no stranger to bottling straight either.
 
Personally, I blend, and plan to blend, Just to be as traditional as possible. and flavors can be so much more complex with blending, With fruit lambics maybe not so much, but definantly with normal Lambic. Have you ever had Cantillon Brouscella? If not, try that and then ask "Why Blend"
 
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