Lambic blend starter question

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dontman

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I have a starter going that I made from the WY Lambic Blend. It has been 33 hours and I'm really seeing no sign of nothing No bubbles being released, no foam at all even after I stopper and shake it. It just looks like dirty wort.

Is this normal? or Should I be expecting the same kind of reaction I see with a normal yeast starter? Should I be able to track progress with a hydro reading?

I was planning to wait 48 hours before pitching this into my already fermenting beer but I don't want to pitch something if I don't know that it is viable. I can take a hydro reading tonight to see if there has been progress.
 
Its better to pitch the blend as the primary yeast, it will produce a more sour/funkier beer that way

Also, Ive never made a starter with the lambic blends, you just toss them in, you probably wont see much action in them to begin with until the various bugs build up to substantial levels, and pedio/lacto dont put off a ton of CO2 like sach

Toss it in now, and add the dregs of several sour beers as soon as you can, your beer will thank you
 
Also, Ive never made a starter with the lambic blends, you just toss them in, you probably wont see much action in them to begin with until the various bugs build up to substantial levels, and pedio/lacto dont put off a ton of CO2 like sach

This is what I was suspecting/hoping because I really am seeing no sign of activity. My problem with just adding is I don't know if I got a Wyeast pack that someone dropped in a pot of boiling water to sanitize. (I exaggerate for effect.) And I won't know for months that it was dead because there is other yeast added.
 
youll know a lot quicker than that, you really need to add them now though so the bugs have access to the maltose and high amounts of nutrients, it will help them build their numbers quickly and make a larger impact on the beer

Also, youll know within weeks if its working, it will smell sour/funky, just toss them in already!!!!!!! Oh and go drink some sour beers, its sucks I know but sometimes you just gotta do things..........
 
youll know a lot quicker than that, you really need to add them now though so the bugs have access to the maltose and high amounts of nutrients, it will help them build their numbers quickly and make a larger impact on the beer

This is why I have them in a flask. There they have 1/4 lb DME and 1/4 lb Corn sugar to munch on to build up strength and numbers. The beer in the carboy is fermented already.

I am in PA and because of this I have to buy beer by the case so it is easier said than done to "drink some sour beers". I have a bottle shop nearby that has a single type of Framboise ( not Lindeman's) for $14 for 8 oz. I've had it, okay but I doubt there are any viable bugs in it and I refuse to get jacked on the off chance that it does. It is times exactly like this that the PA liquor laws suck schweaty ballz.

If I were to spring for a mixed case (of a particular name brand, Cantillon for example) which brand would have the best examples of unpasteurized beer?
 
Cantillon is my favorite if you haven't already sampled many of their selection, not sure if they filter or not though, its been a while since I had one.

If you're unsure of you're starter..take a hydro sample, its no different than a batch of beer. This will tell you if you're sacch. yeast strains were viable, and it should stand to reason that the brett and bacterial strains would be in the same condition as the sacch.
 
This is why I have them in a flask. There they have 1/4 lb DME and 1/4 lb Corn sugar to munch on to build up strength and numbers. The beer in the carboy is fermented already.

This isnt the same as having them in the wort from the start, there they have access to a lot more sugar and nutrients, you really want the wild bugs to have more access to both of these than the sacch, commercial producers do not do a clean ferment then add bugs, the bugs see the wort from the beginning

Id bet that your bugs are viable, I would add them and not worry so much, either way youll find out in a couple weeks, and there isnt any real harm either way, I keep telling you to add them and wait to see if they are working, honestly theres not much else to do except measure the gravity of your starter, on a side note I wouldnt suggest using corn sugar in a starter it lacks nutrients which isnt the best to building up healty yeast/bacteria

As far as sours go, Lindemanns Cuvee Renee will add viable bugs to your brew and is a pretty good gueuze, cantillon is another great one, personally I really like Girardin or Jolly pumpkin dregs

Who makes the framboise? Id bet something in there is still viable, generally with dregs I make a ~1gal batch, add the dregs and let it do its thing for ~2-3wks, by this time anything in there will have woken up and gone to work on the wort, I then taste it to see if I like the flavor profile, if its good I add the slurry to the beer (I usually do this will several bottles and use this for the primary though)
 
I had to make a starter from my last Lambic Blend packet because I split it across two small batches. It took 6 days to get going good. If you do foil over the flask instead of an airlock, activity may not be obvious as mine had no krausen. It was throwing off a good amount of CO2 however.
 
Mine is showing no signs of even co2 offgassing, such as small bubbles rising through the mix when shaken. But, the amount of sediment that collects on the bottom now when I let it sit for a few minutes is noticeably more than when I started so something is happening and I am at ease.

I still haven't pitched it. I think I will add some more dme today and let it go for another 48 hours to get even more momentum for when I dose the beer.
 
I'm sure a starter will help a bit in your case, but don't you think you're more just creating a massive sacch. colony than building up your lacto/brett populations? From everything i've read, sacch. is much quicker to act than lacto and brett, and so I would think you're just feeding the yeast with only small benefits to the brett and lacto.
 
Brett can be pretty quick as well. I've done a few all brett beers and they finish in same time as sacch ones. I've always just direct pitched blends, but made starters for "pure" cultures. Both whitelabs and Wyeast pure cultures contains much less brett/lact/pedd so a starter is needed. I've had good luck with direct pitching the blends, though.
 
I had the same slow start with WY Sour Mix. I got scared after a couple of days and added a few grains of sacc yeast to form a CO2 layer, which ended up with a vigorous, but short fermentation. The beer turned out great and very sour after 4-6 months (I haven't tried it since, and now it's over a year in the carboy). The beer initially had strong yeasty aromas from the underpitched sacc yeast, but that went away after a couple of months and were replaced by a nice funky, cherry pie sour aroma.
 
All is well here. I pitched the blend a couple days back and got some instant activity. I was considering adding some lactose to feed some lacto. Haven't done it but thought it might be a decent idea.
 
All is well here. I pitched the blend a couple days back and got some instant activity. I was considering adding some lactose to feed some lacto. Haven't done it but thought it might be a decent idea.

Good to hear

I would suggest waiting a couple months before feeding the beer, in a couple months the sacch will be dormant and only the brett/pedio will really be working, then you can just add some sweet wort. The brett/pedio will be really the only thing that benefits, and you not only adding sugars but nutrients as well
 
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