Very detailed Lindemanns Framboise clone Q

First off: I like this stuff. My wife loves it. I know it is not well respected by pureists or snobs. I want to make something similar.
OK Here is my plan after a dozen or so AG batches under my belt.
Half of a standard 5G batch.
Aproximate Grain bill:
6# 2-row
2# wheat
Dilute or boil down to 1.050
Ferment with a clean neutural yeast, or maybe one with a little but not too much Belgian funk.
Stop attenuation with campden or similar at about half way or 2-3% ABV around 1.025
Add 4# of raspberies frozen then pasteurized at 160F, and cooled to "beer" during transfer to "secondary"
Force carbonate and test.
What would be best to sweeten further with? Corn Syrup? Table sugar syrup? Remember this would be post-fermentation.
What kind of yest would give it a bit more "foreign" or Belgian flavor?
Am I way off on any points here?
Going to give it a whirl tomorrow and see how it goes. Im not afraid to dump it if it is crap, and I will be trying a few times at least to get close to what I want.
Thanks for any hints or tips here.

The hops used in lambics are aged for a while so that they do not add bitterness. White Labs makes a few Lambic strains which include the bacteria that make these beers so unique (http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/bacteria.html).

One question: why cut it off at 2 or 3%?

Good luck with this project, and keep us posted. My SWMBO is not a big drinker, and this is one of the few things she will drink.

- magno

I don't like lambics, but if any part of your recipe needs some aged hops, there's some over at morebeer. Aside from that, I'm not much help

I think Im not going to bother w/ hops at all.
The "beer" I am cloning is only 2.3% ABV Almost undetectable.
THis is an experiment. The "Lambic" strains I supose would be a bit more apropriate, but I am not going to let it go so dry, in my efforts to copy this stuff. If you've ever had it, you know what I mean.
I will be taking carefull notes as I will be trying a few combinations on this project and will post my findings.

-edit-

Actually, if I used something like Brett to get the sourness and acidic character, would that all be lost if I sweetned it back up? Sweet/Sour are not mutually exclusive, I hope.
WLP645 Brettanomyces claussenii has the mildest of the brett characteristics.

I'm very curious to hear where you can take this one. Sounds interesting.

I've read somewhere that if you use your brewing gear to make a lambic, you can't use it to make non-lambics ever again. Apparently the bacteria just doesn't go away.

Yeah, the pros have separate equipment for working with lambics.

I know where you're going with the fermentation stop. I'm really a beginner, but I tried to make something similar to Lindeman's for the wife, too. I made a normal 1.045 batch with US 56, half wheat, and added about 3 lbs of raspberries (2.5 gal batch). The result was what you're probably trying to avoid by stopping fermentation: basically raspberry wine. It has very light body, is dry, and only after 3 months has the tartness of the raspberries mellowed. It certainly is lacking in body and sweetness, compared to Lindy's. And of course the brett would have contributed it's unique quality. I've tried adding sugar (why not, right?) but as expected, that just tastes weird.
So, I'm curious to see how yours turns out and I think you have a good plan. Despite the huge amount of fruit in them, commercial fruit lambics are usually quite low in alcohol. Perhaps the unfermented sugars go toward making up the body and mouthfeell that my batch lacked. Good luck!

monk

Monk said:

I know where you're going with the fermentation stop. ... The result was what you're probably trying to avoid by stopping fermentation: basically raspberry wine. It has very light body, is dry, and only after 3 months has the tartness of the raspberries mellowed. ...

Click to expand...

Exactly

Monk said:

... Perhaps the unfermented sugars go toward making up the body and mouthfeell that my batch lacked. Good luck!
monk

Click to expand...

That is what I am hoping.

Stopping fermentation of a wort that could get you 5%, at about 2.5% should leave some nice sweetness and body and a much less dry feel. I probly wont mess with Brett even though I would like a little of that character. Adding it to viable wort would suck all the sweetness and remaining fermentables right out of it. Not what I want. That is the tricky part. Almost liek I wat to stop primary with Campden. Wait till that wears off ( i understand that campden tabs loose their evffectiveness afrer a short time) then add the brett, again stopping its process early. Still leaving most of the sugars unfermented.
It would be a major guessing and balancing act and I probly wont mess with that at all. Just a thought.
I havent started, having trouble secureing enough raspberries now as the season is past. I want to avoid extract and stick with real fruit.

You might want to check this recipe out: http://skotrat.com/skotrat/recipes/ale/lambic/recipes/2.html

Also, use frozen raspberries. It will be a lot cheaper and the freeze/thaw process breaks up the cell walls of the fruit releasing more juice.