First pLambic with Wyeast 3278

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ldepaoli

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I'm planning to brew my first pLambic/sour beer next month using Wyeast Lambic blend 3278. But since I've never used liquid yeats and have never done a sour beer before I need some tips.

I bought the propagator from Wyeast. How should I start it? Can I prepare the starter with pure cane suggar?

If I use the 3278 blend from the beggining of the fermetation how long should I wait until transfering to a 2ary fermenter?

Can I reuse the slurry that is left behing in the 1ary fermenter for another batch of sour beer by just throwing more unfermented beer on it? How many times can I reuse it?
 
Typically for liquid yeast you want to prepare a starter to increase the volume of yeast. With this blend you may not want to make a starter. The bacteria will reproduce faster than the yeast and you may end up changing the ratio of yeast to bacteria in a way that produces overly sour beer. On the otherhand, pitching the propagator into several gallons of wort probably has the same effect. I'm not sure of any studies that say one way or another.

Some people recommend pitching additional saccharomyces to make sure fermentation kicks off but I pitched one propagator into six gallons and it took off within 24 hours.

There is no need to transfer to secondary.

Reuse will be limited by how sour you like the beers. Eventually the bacteria will outnumber the yeast and make too sour of beer but you should be able to get 2-3 batches out before that happens.
 
No starter.

Secondary not necessary, but if you add fruit it can make racking a mess. Secondaries can help with that.

You can reuse the yeast cake, but you'll need to pitch additional sacc at the same time. No idea how much. Letting the bugs have all that sugar will result in some serious sour.
 
Just had a very nice email conversation with the guys from Wyeast and though it would be good to share it:

"Me: I just bought 2 packs of 3278 - Belgian Lambic BlendT propagators and don't know how to use them. Can I pitch them straight into a 5gal batch? Do I have to make a starter? If so, how and how long should it sit before pitching?

Wyeast:Linus,
The 3278 Activator pack is designed to be directly pitched into 5 gallons of wort. I do not recommend making starts with this blend.
Please let me know if you have other questions.

Me:What about the Propagator (50ml) pack for this blend? Can I pitch it
straight to a 5 bal batch or should I use 2 packs?
Can I re-use it after transfering to a 2ary fermenter?

Wyeast:Sorry... misread the e-mail. Use two Propagators for 5 gallons.

You can reuse the yeast/bacteria, but the resulting beer will have a different profile due to the alerted ratios of Brett:Saccharomyces:bacteria.

Me:One last question. When reusing if I pitch a pure Saccharomides before pitch the old blend can I get similar results? Or the Bret/Pedio/Lacto proportions will also be different?

Wyeast:You will still get an altered flavor profile either way.

Me:OK. Thanks for your help.
I'll tell you in a year how it turns out.

Wyeast:Thanks. I look forward to hearing back from you!"
 
Agree with tsaq. The bugs benefit from autolyzed yeast cells. Lambic are typically made without a secondary where flanders red does
 
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