Lambics, are they considered a "Sour" beer for Gear

[tieflyer]

Ok, thinking of doing a peach lambic, should I be also buying new equipment to ferment, and bottle it with? I know you have to use different equipment for "Sour" beers, but not sure if I need to for a lambic. Also, anyone have a favorite lambic recipe and yeast they can recommend?

 

[beergolf]

Yes Lambics are a type of sour, so yes you will need separate equipment for bottling. I just trade down my regular equipment occasionally to use for my sours. Auto siphon, hoses, bottling bucket etc.

Brewing sours can get addicting. I have 5 carboys dedicated to sours. I brew one every few months so I always have one that is about ready to bottle. Some take a very long time, so be prepared to dedicate a carboy for a year or more, sometimes even a year and a half.

Look in the recipe database for recipes. i have not looked in there for a while, so I am not sure what is in there as far as lambic recipes.

Also if you are interested in sour beers I would highly recommend getting a copy of "American Sour Beers" by Michael Tonsmeire. It is a great source of info on brewing sour beers.

 

[masonsjax]

Everything beergolf said is on the money. Also, my experience is that first generation sour blends don't usually get sour enough, even after years of aging. Get the first one off the cake in a couple of months at most and reuse the cake. From that point on, it should be good. You can also pitch more diversity in and get more sour and more interesting brews. Throw in the dregs from sour beers you like and you'll be happier with the results. Madfermentaionist has a list of commercial brews with viable dregs. I have a carboy that's become my kitchen sink blend. It contains evey organism I've ever used or drank and it makes some amazing beers. Have fun!

 

[beergolf]

Good tip on the dregs from commercial sours. I always add a few different ones to my sours. I also always grab some of the yeast cake fromeach sour and keep that too and add that to new brews. so each brew gets a good mix of different cultures. Brewing sours is fun, but not for the impatient.

Then there is the racking onto the fruit part that is also another level of flavor. I had one recently that even after a year was just not getting to where I wanted it. OK but kind of bland tasting. I racked it onto several,pounds of tart cherries for three months.. mmmmm made all the difference in the world. Just bottled it up the other day. Very tastey.

If you are interested in sours, you might want to hang out in this part of the forum.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=127