Ooopss...So I accidentally bought a lambic yeast blend

So I brewed a pretty simple wheat beer:

4 lbs. Rahr White Wheat malt
4 lbs Rahr 2 row Pale

1 oz Willamette (60-min)
1 oz Cascade (15 min)

However, I accidentally grabbed a packet of Wyeast 3278 belgian lambic blend (I'm positive it was out of place on the rack) instead of the Wyeast 1010. Even though I properly prepped the smack pack well in advance, I still didn't realize I had the wrong yeast until it was time to pitch, which was pretty late last night.

Because it was so late and I knew my local shop wasn't going to be open today, I pitched the Lambic yeast anyway. The ingredients only cost around $20 so If the beer end up tasting horrible, no big loss plus I have made this beer several times before. However, what should I expect with lambic blend? Should I add anything to the beer at this point to make it more like a lambic?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

A very funky, crisp, dry, sour beer.

The lambic strain is actually a combination of the following: A Belgian ale yeast strain, a sherry strain, two brett strains, lactobacillus and a pediococcus strain.

There are those that love the sour funky taste of unflavored lambics. It's not my thing. However, check the recipe section on fruit lambics if you want to try to do something else with it.

Got an extra 5 gallon better bottle you're not using for a year? Lambic styled beers need to mature and you'll want to let the beer go for a long time to fully develop.

Some folks are very paranoid about the Brett getting by sanitation procedures, but as long as you've got good cleaning and sanitation, don't worry about your gear transporting yeast or microbes to other batches.

Read up and have fun! Wait it out and hopefully you get something you enjoy.

TNGabe said:

Got an extra 5 gallon better bottle you're not using for a year? Lambic styled beers need to mature and you'll want to let the beer go for a long time to fully develop.

Some folks are very paranoid about the Brett getting by sanitation procedures, but as long as you've got good cleaning and sanitation, don't worry about your gear transporting yeast or microbes to other batches.

Read up and have fun! Wait it out and hopefully you get something you enjoy.

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I guess that was my next question... With the original recipe and correct yeast, I usually keg after only 4 weeks in the primary since this beer is so simple. So, now that I have the Lambic yeast in there, should I wait this one out and continue with the lambic style. Or, what should I expect if I stick to the original plan and keg it after 4 weeks or so (if it has fermented out that fast).

I do have extra carboys, so I could let it sit in the basement for a year. I've obviously never made a lambic before but at the same time I have never drank one that I actually liked either.

nowashburn said:

I guess that was my next question... With the original recipe and correct yeast, I usually keg after only 4 weeks in the primary since this beer is so simple. So, now that I have the Lambic yeast in there, should I wait this one out and continue with the lambic style. Or, what should I expect if it has fermented out in a few weeks, keg it, and don't age it like a lambic?

I do have extra carboys, so I could let it sit in the basement for a year. I've obviously never made a lambic before but at the same time I have never drank one that I actually liked either.

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If you don't like sour/funky beers then dump it. No biggy, stuff happens. Some will disagree, but life is too short to drink beer you don't like. I'm guessing it will be awful in a month or two. Not sure what's in the blend you pitched, but some bacteria will cause ropiness or other undesirable traits initially.

You can drink it in 4 weeks if you want.

How fast did it take to get going? The faster it started, the less sour it will be. Those packs have a very low yeast count, to allow the Lacto to get working on the wort before the yeast starts creating alcohol. The sacc yeast works fast when it gets going (like any other beer), but the Brett, Lacto, and Pedio will continue working slowly for up to 18 months and more.

If you keep it for the long term, drink a couple of sours and toss the dregs in the fermenter. The Lambic Blend is supposed to not have too much complexity.

Word of caution. Thoroughly sanitize (bleach soak) anything that has come into contact with the beer, or you may find some contamination in other batches. I would also recommend buying new siphon hoses; they are very difficult to clean.

Calder said:

Word of caution. Thoroughly sanitize (bleach soak) anything that has come into contact with the beer, or you may find some contamination in other batches. I would also recommend buying new siphon hoses; they are very difficult to clean.

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+1

Read this again just for good measure.

Calder said:

You can drink it in 4 weeks if you want.

How fast did it take to get going? The faster it started, the less sour it will be. Those packs have a very low yeast count, to allow the Lacto to get working on the wort before the yeast starts creating alcohol. The sacc yeast works fast when it gets going (like any other beer), but the Brett, Lacto, and Pedio will continue working slowly for up to 18 months and more.

If you keep it for the long term, drink a couple of sours and toss the dregs in the fermenter. The Lambic Blend is supposed to not have too much complexity.

Word of caution. Thoroughly sanitize (bleach soak) anything that has come into contact with the beer, or you may find some contamination in other batches. I would also recommend buying new siphon hoses; they are very difficult to clean.

Click to expand...

I pitched around midnight last night and it is slowing bubbling now. I think I'm going to give it a try in 4 weeks or so and if it takes OK I'll just keg it. Otherwise I think im going to dump it. As TNGabe said "life is too short to drink beer you don't like".

If you taste it, and it tastes bad and is ropey or slimey, don't dump it. Beer containing pedio can get "sick" for a period of time. I would store for as long as you can stand it in a carboy not a bucket.

It would be such a waste to dump that beer. With the fairly low IBU of that beer, you have a chance for something nice.

You can also rack it onto your choice of fruit after a couple of months. I don't know how traditionally lambic this technique is, but it's what Russian River and Cascade do, and they make some kick-ass, fruit-flavored-but-not-grossly-sweet beers.

I would keep it. Throw it in a glass Carboy and forget about it for a year. Then keg and share with friends or your local homebrew club. Or bottle and send off to a competition. After 4 weeks you can blend with fruit or a fruit purée. Raspberry Lambic is pretty good stuff, even if you don't like straight Lambic.

You can certainly rack it onto fruit, but I would let it develop on it's own and see if you like it. If you don't you can always put it on fruit. It will wake back up. Probably get sick again, and then turn into something different.

I just can't bring myself to dump it. I decided to just keep with what it should be, a lambic. I added 3lbs of Apricot puree:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...avorings/beer-fruit/oregon-apricot-puree.html

and down in the celler it will go for the next 365 days. Hopefully next year I will resurrect this thread with reports of a tasty lambic. Thanks for all your input!

Sounds delicious. Can't wait to hear how this turns out. You made the right decision.