Lambic - 6 months - no pellicle...

[cmcquistion]

I brewed a Lambic based on the recipe here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f72/lambic-bos-3rd-bos-two-golds-322168/

This was brewed last July. I pitched a smack pack Wyeast 3278 (Lambic Blend) (no other yeast, no starter). I let it ferment in a bucket fermenter for a month, then racked it to a glass carboy.

At this point, it has been in the glass carboy for about 6 months and has never developed a pellicle. I have been careful to keep it sealed up and not let the airlock run dry.

Is the lack of a pellicle a problem? What should I do about it?

My original intention was to let it go for a year and then bottle as straight lambic. I've recently been kicking around the idea of brewing another 2.5 gallons, racking off and bottling 2.5 gallons, now, and topping it up with fresh wort, then repeating this process every 6 months for a solera-type-thing. Considering it never developed a pellicle, I'm wondering if there is anything in there still alive.

 

[Rivenin]

it's not a problem... just means you have no oxygen!
The pellecle just protects the beer from the presence of oxygen. they're cool to look at, but they don't do anything specific.
if you want one, you can take a sample or two a few weeks apart, that'll introduce a touch of oxygen that will usually kick one up.

 

[Calder]

It is not a problem, however, I'm not convinced a pellicle is necessarily an indication of presence or not of O2.

My batches get started in a large glass carboy, and then split between gallon glass carboys, and a 3 gallon HDPE container. I fill the glass carboys up to the top (maybe an inch from the stopper and airlock, very little air, and they always develop an airlock. The HDPE containers have a lot more air volume and surface area on the top of the liquid, and never produce a pellicle.

If O2 is the cause of pellicles, it just seems the wrong way around, unless those thick rubber bungs (these are the solid type with a hole in) are a lot more O2 permeable than a few millimeters of HPDE.

Both seem to sour the same (as far as I can tell).

 

[dantheman13]

I had a sour where the airlock went dry for an unknown amount of time (significant though), and no pellicle formed in the 2 years I've had it. I used Russian River Temptation dregs though, so who knows how healthy the bugs were/are (the beer soured quite a bit).