More Lambic Questions

I have always used new Wyeast smack packs and have never cultured my own yeast and have no background...

That being said, can I make a starter by making a small volume of wort, then dumping in a bottle of my favorite lambic? Will there be enough yeast/bugs in the bottle to have this work? Sounds like a pretty simple way to get a full true lambic array of yeast and bugs.

Second question, how long do yeasts and bugs live on a piece of wood that has been dipped/smeared and dried? A full year, 2 weeks....?

I am full of lambic questions.

By the way, I am traveling to New Glaurus in a few weeks. Perhaps I can ask the brewers of the Belgian Red what their thoughts are on all this.

The Belgian Red is tasty indeed! You could try to make a starter with commercial lambic yeast/bacteria. I did that with a bottle of Lindemann's once and nothing ever fermented. The one down side with this though is you don't know what type of journey that lambic had coming from Belgium. More than likely, it wasn't pleasant. I have used 3278 and never made a starter. The amount of time the yeast is in contact with the beer will eventually lead to a fermented batch. Finally, culturing the bugs is a different process than the yeast. In a lambic, the bugs will oxidize the alcohol and create lactic or acetic acid to give it the zip. They need alcohol to do this. Wyeast will more than likely culture the bugs on an agar plate and then combine the bugs into the yeast suspension. I haven't seen them do it, but do have experience culturing bacteria. Not sure about the last question, but the bacteria would probably out live the yeast.

While we're on this topic, I have one quick question: does Wyeast ACT3278 Belgian Lambic Blend have viable yeast for fermentation in it or is it just a blend of bacterium for lambics?

Boerderij Kabouter said:

That being said, can I make a starter by making a small volume of wort, then dumping in a bottle of my favorite lambic? Will there be enough yeast/bugs in the bottle to have this work? Sounds like a pretty simple way to get a full true lambic array of yeast and bugs.
Second question, how long do yeasts and bugs live on a piece of wood that has been dipped/smeared and dried? A full year, 2 weeks....?

Click to expand...

This is tough without being able to plate/isolate/culture/etc. using a microscope/lab because you don't know what you're getting, what's healthy, if its just their primary or bottling strain. All that to say, I know people(myself included) who dump the dreggs directly into their souring beer while it ages and the pellicle is yet unformed. Relying solely on something you cultured from a bottle may not be the best, but using a commercial lambic blend and fortifying with the dreggs of bottled lambic may be a good idea(I'm doing it anyway).

Vinny, from Russian River, gave out his bugs dried in oak chips I believe a little over a year ago, and my friend made a starter with them a few months ago. So I would guess some would survive the 1 year mark. But I am not certain. Good luck.