Newb Brett/Lambic Brewer

[DurtyChemist]

I've never fermented with Brett. I've never brewed a Lambic. I get married 9.20.14 and my soon to be wife really likes this so I'm thinking of making a batch every year on our anniversary and saving it for the next year. I can't seem to get a clear cut understanding of the process of brewing with brett, if this is a sour, how to mash, when to add what yeast/brett/pedio/lacto/bacteria and how long to leave it.

Here is what I'm looking for

1. basic understanding of the fermentation schedule. It seems like everyone has their own method and there isn't a "beginner" version.

2. understanding of what all the different bacterias add. I've tried searching but it seems the more I search the more I confuse myself. some say yeast inhibits the bacteria, some say you can pitch a blend, some move the beer every time they pitch a bacteria.

3. can I pitch just Brett and leave the whole batch in a Better Bottle for 9-10 months then have enough to carbonate in a 22 ounce bottle?

4. fermentation temperatures, what should they be? Will leaving it inside the house that is in the 65-80 range be okay? The wife likes the house warmer in summer.

5. Would brewing this in Summer time (80-110) be better to let it sit in a Better Bottle and age for 18 months be better?

6. Can it be as simple as "Mash as normal, pitch Brett at 80, let it sit 10 months then bottle/keg"

It just seems like this is such a WIDE OPEN brewing process that a basic understanding of the process would help. My understanding of bacteria is once they run out of a food supply they'll die. Won't the dead cells hurt my beer? I've also heard it's better to bottle these since the flavor never really comes out of the kegs.

 

[estricklin]

Don't move the beer around unless you move it to a barrel or something. If you just have to move it, only do it once.

Wyeast has a good lambic blend that I've used and have had success with. I've got a 9 month in bottles now actually and it is some kinda sour. I personally love lambics about 100 times more with fruit.

I've fermented mine around 68 or so, then I just leave them at room temperature after a couple weeks. I've heard of many people doing this at room temperature and higher. Most people seem to pitch the brett and lacto pretty close to the start, at least from what I've noticed.

If your really serious there is a new book out there on brewing sour beers and the author is also a member of this forum, you should check it out.

I'm sure some others with more info will come along soon.

 

[lousbrews]

Read american sour beers. Totally a good reference for all of your questions.

 

[Gus_13]

Like others have said, American Sour Beers has become a brewing bible for me.

I just brewed a Lambic last weekend and pitched the Lambic Blend from Wyeast and a couple bottle dregs of favorite beers as suggested by others. It was in my temp controlled fermenter until last night. Now it's sitting in my closet. I'm going to leave it for a month then rack it and put it back. I plan on brewing another batch and using the yeast cake of this one to keep things going. It's all an experiment as we can't technically brew a lambic here in the states. But I'm hoping some tasty stuff will come out of my experiments.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

#6 is yes for the most part. But mash high, like 155-158.

Figure out what you want to do first. All lambics are sour beers, not all sours are lambic. Lots of onfusion there and honestly the forum title can be misleading. I honestly wish it would be the sour and wild, and leave lambic out.

The less you do after pitching, the better. Pitch your bugs at primary, and then just keep the airlock full, its really that simple. No need to transfer, no need to control temps with precision, no need to take gravity readings all the time. No need to make complex grain bills. No need to do 6 hour turbid mashes unless you use raw grains on purpose. It really CAN be brew like normal, pitch, fuggheddaboutit for a year. Just keep the airlock full

 

[DurtyChemist]

I bought the book and he said to do everything like a normal batch for the first one. Pitched WLP655 last night on 4.75 ish gallons of BYO Berliner Weisse from their sours issued earlier this year.

 

[dcp27]

1. pitch bug mix, leave it alone for 9+months

2. lacto & pedio add sourness. lacto is fast, but more inhibited so does most of the early work, while pedio slowly works over the long haul. theres also aceto, but that produces vinegar, you want minimal oxygen exposure to keep this at bay. yeast only inhibit bacteria in the sense that they leave less sugar & create alcohol, you want yeast. do not move the beer each time you add bacteria

3. no, just pitching brett will not make a sour beer. brett adds funky, barnyard flavors and very minimal acetic acid. you need bacteria (lacto, pedio)

4. 65-80 is a fine temp range

5. lacto likes it warmer, around 100F, but I'm not sure if the rest would work well there.

6. yes if you use a sour mix, not just brett.

My understanding of bacteria is once they run out of a food supply they'll die. Won't the dead cells hurt my beer? I've also heard it's better to bottle these since the flavor never really comes out of the kegs.

no they don't die, sours continue to improve for many years. they also keg just fine