Gueuze

[Jbpiv]

Hello all,
I am new to the forums, been lurking the last week or so and have been learning a ton. So thanks on that part. That being said, here's my first post

To start, I have recently gotten into brewing, did a Hefeweizen clone kit, came out pretty good, then a pumpkin kit from Midwest, and recently bottled a Classic Rauchbier all grain recipe I followed from BYO. Each time everything has improved and have been learning a lot.

That being said, I've become fascinated with lambics/gueuze's ever since I tried my first one a few months ago. I just picked up a second 6 gallon carboy from the local homebrew supply store and am eagerly trying to get something together so I can get this rolling... I'm set on doing a Gueuze, and I understand the time frame it will take, but I believe it will be rewarding in the end.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions? Am I over my head at this point? Or is this doable?

Or proven recipe I can follow? I've found a few, whether it be in the forum, or on BYO, but no information as far as if it was worth it or not in the end. Nothing would be more depressing than brewing and anxiously waiting for it to finish, and then it be a real let down.

The recipe I found on BYO (Gilligans Gueuze) seemed decent since I had good luck before with the stuff there, but some of the things on the list seemed tough to find from Northwest and other sources. Also, if I were to follow that recipe, I wanted to scale back to roughly a 2 gallon yield (over the 5 gallons the recipe produces) being it will be a small scale thing for now. Any suggestions on scaling back the recipe?

Sorry in advance if I seem a little crazy, but I'm hoping to stick around here for a while and get some valuable information

 

[Calder]

I believe Gueuze is a blend of old and new Lambics. What you want to make is a Lambic.

I find it is really hard to go wrong with sour beers, I start them and leave them alone. If you keep checking them you might expose them top too much O2 and get a lot of vinegar flavor. I've never had the problem, and maybe I am too paranoid about it, and it's not a problem.

I usually do partial mash, but last time I did an extract Lambic. Basically wheat extract + hops to 10 IBUs (max). I've not tasted any of it yet, it is only 4 months old, but I see no reason for a problem. I usually do a PM with 2-row and some Vienna or Munich and some oats, + LME + hops to 10 IBU max.

Minimize trub, and pitch a blend (no starter), and leave it alone. If you drink any sours, add the dregs as you get them, they will add additionally complexity.

Good luck.

 

[dcHokie]

Welcome.

As Calder said, start with a base lambic recipe as Gueuze is a blend of young (~1 year old) lambic and older (2-3 years old) lambic. Traditional belgian lambic is made with turbid mash, which is quite a lengthy process so you may want to start with an extract batch as very good, even award-winning, lambic can be made with simple extract recipes and a heavy dose of patience.

A few other suggestions (if you have the space):

1) regarding the 2 gallon batches, I'd personally recommend brewing more than less. After patiently waiting 2-3 years you'll wish you had more, trust me.

2) In the interim, brew a "quicker" sour beer to get your sour pipeline going. Buy a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin, brew a simple beer like a saison and dump in the dregs of that bottle and wait a few months.

3) If you want to brew sour beers, don't overvalue your carboys/buckets, you'll add many more of them in the next 3 years.

Cheers.

 

[spenghali]

Keep your malt bill simple. Most lambic produces have a simple grist of roughly 60% pils, 40% raw wheat. Keep IBUs low, around 8 or less, traditionally lambics have aged hops added, so little to no IBUs are added.

Not only is gueze a blend of young 1 year old lambic and old 2-3 year old lambic, it is also refermented in the bottle for usually a antoher 6-12 months. It's after this refermentation in the bottle is complete that you can call it "gueze." Hence why it's called "the champagne of Brussels."

Definitely just brew 5 gallons, you'll need enough to play with for blending. If you are left with a few gallons after blending, you can always transefer that to a smaller vessel to keep around for blending later,kind of like a solera project.