Lambic and Flanders Red Advice

[kldobbins]

I am posting after a 2.5 year break from brewing. I renewed my brewing this weekend with an IPA , but i have some questions regarding a lambic and a flanders Red I brewed 3 years ago.

My last brews were those wild ales and I let them sit and ferment. The lambic was brewed on 7/30/12. Now I am trying to figure out what to do with it. I thought about bottling a few and sending them to beer competitions as an unblended lambic. But I can't figure out if it should be carbonated or not.

Also, I was thinking about placing raspberries and turning the rest into a fruit beer. I am just looking for opinions. Any one have experience with fruit options.


With my flanders red. It tastes good... but still too tart. even after 3 years. I was thinking about brewing a light bodied ale and trying to blend the bunch with it. Any thoughts on that? I like sour beers, but its a little much to be drinking more than one.


any ideas are welcome. I waited 3 years so I am in no rush

Thanks
Kevin

 

[philipCT]

Subbed.

I totally want to hear opinions on this as I understand the best Flanders Reds are aged around three years and then blended with younger versions of same.

Also as of a recent romantic encounter I am smitten with the Duchess de Bourgogne and feel I am destined to attempt to brew one.

 

[bmiller8]

I always prefer a carbonated lambic.

As for the flanders, could you brew a new batch and blend some of the 3 year old with the new beer to add sourness? Problem is with this plan is, how long will it take to get rid of the 3 yo beer. Might be 5-6 years old by the time you're done.

 

[burninator]

Problem is with this plan is, how long will it take to get rid of the 3 yo beer. Might be 5-6 years old by the time you're done.

I, for one, would love to have this problem.

 

[secondbase]

You could brew a light bodied ale to blend it with, but I would make sure to have 15-25 ibu in the blending beer to keep the bugs at bay and save your beer from becoming even more sour. Then you'll need to wait until the gravity is stable again before packaging.

 

[sweetcell]

I thought about bottling a few and sending them to beer competitions as an unblended lambic. But I can't figure out if it should be carbonated or not.

to be to style an unblended lambic should be still, or just barely carbonated. that might not be the best tasting version, tho (a good competition beer and a good drinking beer isn't always the same thing...)

Also, I was thinking about placing raspberries and turning the rest into a fruit beer. I am just looking for opinions. Any one have experience with fruit options.

fruiting a sour beer can be awesome. something to consider is that raspberries can be quite sour once fermented out (i.e. all the sugar removed). if you've already got the berries, then roll with them. but if you're still shopping around, you might want to consider peaches, blackberries, or sweet cherries.

With my flanders red. It tastes good... but still too tart. even after 3 years. I was thinking about brewing a light bodied ale and trying to blend the bunch with it. Any thoughts on that? I like sour beers, but its a little much to be drinking more than one.

blending down is exactly what i would do. i would use a very attenuative yeast, like 3711/Belle Saison and ramp up temps during fermentation to ensure that there is very little residual sugar left in the new beer. blend, then let sit for a month or two for the bugs in the old beer to do their thing on the new beer.

alternately, blend the sour with whatever you want (even a sweet malty beer) and keep it cold. as long as it's kept in the fridge, it should effectively stop the bugs from doing much.

 

[kldobbins]

Awesome. Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated. Ill let ya know what i decide

 

[kldobbins]

What I decided....so far


I am going to bottle a 6 unblended lambics and use those for a competition or two. The rest I am going to blend with peach

I am going to brew a saison and blend that with the flanders red

Thanks for all the help

I'll keep everyone updated.

 

[TNGabe]

Can you keg? If so, something like a 100% munich beer with a fruity belgian strain will be much better to blend with the old red beer than saison.

Lambic is still, gueuze is carbonated. If you dont have much experience with the style, drink some of what you have while you look at the style guidelines before you bottle some just to enter.