When to call it quits on a lambic???

[CorporateHippie]

I brewed a lambic over the weekend (Friday) and placed it into a makeshift coolship on my back porch (not a covered porch) to cool. It was outside for about 15 hours before I racked it into a carboy on Saturday morning. The weather was about 40-50 degrees. Late sunday night I noticed about 2 bubbles per minute in my airlock. Then on Monday night when I got home from work I noticed the airlock had leveled out. Now tonight (Wednesday) it has not changed. First time doing a spontaneous fermentation but I am thinking that it is going to need some "professional yeast" help, though I was hoping to stay true to the wild yeasties. Any thoughts?

 

[CA_Mouse]

Did you take a pH reading before you set it out? Knowing what your pH was before and what it is know, would tell you if you captured any lactobacillus. I've not done a spontaneous fermentation as of yet (since I'm culturing all my own yeast and bacteria from commercial strains). I think that it will take a while before you can see any real activity. Just like with a starter it takes time for the yeast/bacteria to start replicating and then doing their job on the sugars.

 

[NTexBrewer]

I tried the same thing. Brewed a lambic in November. Split the 4 gallons of wort between two aluminum pans that I left on my balcony over night. Transferred to a bucket the following day. Did not really see any activity until day 3. By day 5 nothing. On day 6, I decided to take a gravity reading and it had hardly dropped. I went ahead and pitched a packet of Mangrove Jack M27 and the fermentation took off. After two months I transferred to a 3 gallon plastic carboy for long term aging. This brew is turning out to be promising.

 

[CorporateHippie]

but you had to pitch a commercial blend...
This is what I was hoping to avoid. If it comes to that I will do it but I guess I was looking to see if anyone with experience would chime in with some sort of a "it takes two weeks to see activity"

 

[NTexBrewer]

I really don't know the answer to that. I was hoping for something spontaneous and did not want to "waste" my efforts.

In February, I brewed the exact same recipe but this time split the wort between 4 pans to increase my surface area. I then split the batch between two buckets. Both started bubbling with 24 hours and after 10 days bucket 1 was down to 1.003 and bucket 2 was down to 1.006. I have since racked them into a 3 gallon plastic carboy for long term aging. This attempt got me the spontaneous fermentation I was hoping for but it tastes a lot cleaner then my first attempt that I had to add commercial yeast.

So, I don't have an answer for how long you should wait but you will still have wild bacteria and yeast that will contribute to the favor of your beer even if you decide to add a commercial Sacc yeast.

 

[CorporateHippie]

true...I am brewing again this weekend and I think I will place an open jar of that wort outside for another shot at collecting microbes. If it starts to show sings of colonies then I will pitch that into my "lambic" and wait to see what happens before adding a commercial strain.

 

[505-Brewer]

Most "spontaneous" beers collect wild microbes in coolship type approach but are then pumped into bbls with a lot of existing bugs that do bulk of the fermentation. The collected bugs get added to the diversity. Sure at one point fermentation may have taken forever and only used the collected bugs. Also the cooling rate of the wort is important so that certain bugs have time to function. I would not cool in a shallow pan but just let your kettle cool slowly. You can cover w cheese cloth to keep out bugs etc.

I would pitch another culture.

 

[Agate]

It all depends on how risk averse you are. The incubation period for clostridium botulinum is about 4 days, for reference.

The fastest I've had one take off is about 3 days. I get concerned after a week of no activity, and worried after about 10 days. I'd say in general, a week to 10 days is pretty normal, although sooner is possible.

What was your hopping rate for the wort? Did you adjust kettle pH? Dropping pH below 4.5 virtually eliminates the risk of botulism. At that point, you can let it go almost indefinitely - I'd say the greatest risk is mold. As soon as you see mold, time to dump.

 

[CorporateHippie]

thanks for the words Agate .... my pH was only at 5.2 and IBU's were around 5. Like I said, I am brewing tomorrow and will try to collect wild yeast with a small portion of that wort otherwise it will be time to pitch a big boy culture

 

[Agate]

I wouldn't plan ahead of time to pitch a culture. I'd just kinda do it on a whim, then you could say your wort was inoculated, you know, spontaneously!

 

[CorporateHippie]

I should have updated sooner, but on day seven of being in the carboy, it TOOOOK off! Big krausen and a furious rumble..... looks like all should be fine. I have not opened it yet even though the krausen has since fallen. No foul smell of any kind coming from the airlock. I will report back when I do take a reading/sample.

 

[Agate]

Satisfying, isn't it? I started one a couple of weeks ago, and on day 6 it completely exploded! For as long as I've been brewing, there's nothing that brings greater anxiety to me than waiting for a spontaneous fermentation to get going.

 

[NTexBrewer]

I should have updated sooner, but on day seven of being in the carboy, it TOOOOK off! Big krausen and a furious rumble..... looks like all should be fine. I have not opened it yet even though the krausen has since fallen. No foul smell of any kind coming from the airlock. I will report back when I do take a reading/sample.

That's good to hear. Update us as it goes along even though it may be 6 months from now!

 

[CorporateHippie]

Just took a gravity reading/sample. The wort started at 1.062 and is already at 1.006!!! That's like 90% attenuated!! The taste is real clean but it has a TON of isoamyle acetate (bananas). Blindfolded, I would have sworn I was tasting a Hefe. The beer was cloudy enough for me to feel fine racking it off the cake and into a smaller vessel. I added 3/4 of a gallon of "Just Blueberry" juice and will likely let it sit for quite some time before trying it again. I also brought a sample into the lab this week and will wait to see if we can find any "bugs" in it. I also should have posted the grain bill.. here it is

65.3% Pale Six-Row
16.3% Red Wheat Malt
8.2% Golden Naked Oats
8.2% Unmalted Wheat
2.0% Acidulated Malt

Some aged hops at 60 for IBUs in the 6 range