Secondary with Lambic Blend

I'm working on a Saison which has been sitting in the primary for about a month. It's O.G. was 1.070, and now it's at 1.010 (85% attenuation).

I'd like to add the Wyeast lambic blend in with the secondary to hopefully get some complexity and a slightly sour finish. Will this work? Should I re-aerate? Add more "unfermantable" sugar?

oooFishy said:

I'm working on a Saison which has been sitting in the primary for about a month. It's O.G. was 1.070, and now it's at 1.010 (85% attenuation).
I'd like to add the Wyeast lambic blend in with the secondary to hopefully get some complexity and a slightly sour finish. Will this work? Should I re-aerate? Add more "unfermantable" sugar?

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You shouldn't aerate it, and you certainly could add some unfermentable sugars to the wort for the bugs to eat but it is probably not necessary. You're not making a pLambic, you're making a funky/sour Saison and at 1.010 there should be plenty for the bugs to eat. I think if you give the lambic bugs too much to eat - it may cease to taste much like a Saison at all, I think this is a risk even without adding more food for the bugs though. Also, its going to take some time, at least six months and possibly longer. It should get to a very low FG before bottling or you're risking bottle bombs. The bottles should improve with age as well, so keep some around for a few years. I've got two saisons going now that I added a different bug blend to, but I'm essentially doing the same thing. Hope this helps.

Yup, that definetely helps landhoney.

I just remember a bunch more questions.

I was thinking about making a small starter, maybe a cup or two, just to get the yeast actively fermenting before I add them to a high alc environment. What do you think about this practice for a lambic blend? Will this help only the saccharomyces strains in the blend, or will the brett and bacteria also be helped by a starter when I add them to the secondary?

The saison is currently in a water bath around 82F. Would the lambic strains also be helped from a higher temperature (sacc, brett or bacteria)?

Also, any thoughts on just adding directly to primary?

My goal is to drink in 3 months...or at least part of the batch. I'm not sure I can wait 6 months. Maybe I'll keep half the batch around for a while longer and do a comparison.

Thanks again landhoney. Seems like you really know your stuff when it comes to this kind of thing.