Framboise

I'm looking to brew a style of framboise, but i'm unsure which yeast style i should use. I'm thinking either of either a simple american or belgium ale yeast or one of wyeast's brettanomyces used for true lambics.
any suggetions would be helpful!

One Brett strain is not going to give you the complexity or sourness of a lambic. The Lamibic blend(wyeast) or Sour Blend(whitelabs) all have a couple Brett strains, Pedio, Lacto, etc. So, I'd go with one of those.
My method was to use the Belgian Wit strain for primary fermenttion, add Roeselare(wyeast sasonal sour blend) then add fruit. Homebrewed lambics typically are not racked to a secondary vessel, the sediment provide food for the wild yeast over the 6-months to 1-year needed for proper flavor and attenuation.
It takes a while, but I think its worth it, good luck.

So, no autolysis occurs because the dead cells are eaten up? If that's what you're saying, it's very interesting.

Monk said:

So, no autolysis occurs because the dead cells are eaten up? If that's what you're saying, it's very interesting.

Click to expand...

I'm a bit sketchy on this, I was just reading something about it though. Something like, it happens but doesn't affect the flavor -or it fades - or the other flavors are so strong you don't notice it. Maybe because the live cells are eating the dead/dying ones it doesn't happen. Not sure about this - but mine was fine, and others recommend this procedure.

Also if its a Lindemans style framboise, or want to do it quick, check this out:
http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=29637&st=0
Don't look directly at the screen though!

Essentially you do a sour mash to get some sourness and funk, add the rasperries, and then add 3lbs of unfermentable sweetness in the form of lactose. I have not done this, but have long thought it might work. I'm not so interested in a Lindemanns style lambic, but if you are this seems a good way to go about it.

I have made two lambic's already, one a kriek and the other a framboise. I used wyeast 3278 for both. For the kriek, I also used wyeast 4335 (pediococcus) for added sourness. I would suggest the additional use of bacteria (gonna cost you about $10 for a pack). I have also racked both of mine after about 1 month then let it sit on the fruit for about 1 year or more. I wouldn't use fruit juice (I did for the framboise, just not as flavorful). I used 10# cherries for the kriek, just rinsed them and dumped them in, slightly macerated. I would probably use a bit more fruit on subsequent batches, maybe up to 15#. I also didn't make any starters and used aged (about 2 years old) hops (saaz). Good luck!