Pellicle Porn... my pLambic

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bhatchable

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just got a digital camera for the holidays:rockin: here are some pics of the pellicle on my currant/strawberry lambic.

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sweet jebus! i've seen many scary things, but these don't come close to the tameness of them. it doesn't look remotely good. when originally discovered, one must have not seen, or forgotten about their batch. any brewer who for the first time encountered such a batch unbeknownst, would surely pitch it.
 
sweet jebus! i've seen many scary things, but these don't come close to the tameness of them. it doesn't look remotely good. when originally discovered, one must have not seen, or forgotten about their batch. any brewer who for the first time encountered such a batch unbeknownst, would surely pitch it.

Yup, I've done that. 5 gallons of brown ale, open fermented but forgot to take it out of primary quick enough, top looks like that, but even drier and dustier. not knowing any better yet (one of my first batches) I threw it out. I should have saved it :(
 
Yup, I've done that. 5 gallons of brown ale, open fermented but forgot to take it out of primary quick enough, top looks like that, but even drier and dustier. not knowing any better yet (one of my first batches) I threw it out. I should have saved it :(

Most likely if you did not do it on purpose it would not have been good.
 
Most likely if you did not do it on purpose it would not have been good.


I disagree. I've had 3 months of playing "is this infected?" after I made an all brett beer and missed my cleanliness regime with it. I've had 3 kegs turn on me, and only one was not that good. The other two were fantastic. I was a bit annoyed that it happened, but if you let it go, you may end up with something fun to drink.
 
You mean the batches following the All Brett beer picked up the Brett infection from equipment or the Brett beer picked up a second infection other that the Brett?
 
You mean the batches following the All Brett beer picked up the Brett infection from equipment or the Brett beer picked up a second infection other that the Brett?

No, just a brett infection on the subsequent beers. The all brett beer was as clean as it could be for being an all brett beer.
 
A left over Brett infection (a bacteria proven to be good in beer) is quite a different beast then a random infection. That's why I asked. I still stand by my statement that an accidental infection most likely will not be drinkable. I mean from wild yeast of course, not left over Bett or other purposely done infections proven to be good in beer.
 
I cannot seem to remember which podcast, but one of them had a good show on the biology of yeasts and really did a good job explaining Brett. I searched the Basic Brewing and Brew Strong archives, but nothing jumped out at me. If anyone is looking for some good info on what Brett is and how it works finding that podcast would be a great introduction.
 
Once Brett gets going it really doesn't need much oxygen. Actually, the pellicles that various strains form are their way of protecting the wort from the introduction of even more oxygen (& other things too I'm sure.)
 
I cannot seem to remember which podcast, but one of them had a good show on the biology of yeasts and really did a good job explaining Brett. I searched the Basic Brewing and Brew Strong archives, but nothing jumped out at me. If anyone is looking for some good info on what Brett is and how it works finding that podcast would be a great introduction.

Only thing I can think of is a 2006 or 2007 Brewing Network interview with the editor of BYO. Not sure they went into too much detail on the biology of Brett in particular, but I could be wrong on that...
 
After 9 or so Brett sours, I've never got a thick lumpy pellicle. I only get the thin spider-web slimy ones. I use glass with an airlock. The pellicle is more likely to form if the airlock dries out or if I open it and sample it. I also primarily use lactobacillus with decent amount of sourness early on. I wonder if the lumpy pellicle is more likely to form when pediococcus is the predominant souring agent.
 
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