Non-sour/acid Lambic

[DOMIN8R28]

I brewed a lambic in November of last year. Pitched my brett in February. Let it sit in 80 degree room for a year(as recommend by brew shop) opened it this year and tasted it. No acidity/sourness AT ALL!!!! Any ideas what happened? I can only think the Brett I pitched was no good. Also, when I popped the lid off the carboy, I had the stuff in the pic below....

 

[RPh_Guy]

Brett does not cause beer to become sour.

Lactic acid bacteria are what make the sourness.
Did you add a culture of Lactobacillus and/or Pediococcus?

The film is called a pellicle, and is likely a result of the Brett.

 

[cactusgarrett]

+1 to RPh Guy. Brett gives that funky, musty flavor/smell. You need lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or pediococcus to get the tang/pucker of sourness.

 

[Miraculix]

Too much hops and therefore no bacteria. I would perceive it as a win.

 

[mashpaddled]

What did you pitch in it? If you only pitched brett you should not have any acidity.

 

[DOMIN8R28]

Brett does not cause beer to become sour.

Lactic acid bacteria are what make the sourness.
Did you add a culture of Lactobacillus and/or Pediococcus?

The film is called a pellicle, and is likely a result of the Brett.

Thanks. No lacto added. I assumed the lambic yeast( WLP653 Brettanomyces lambicus) would've done that. And since that was all I got from the brew shop I thought it would've been correct. I ended up adding pomegranate puree and pitched WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix 1. I'm going to wait a month and taste/test it. I did get some lactic acid as a last resort.

 

[DOMIN8R28]

+1 to RPh Guy. Brett gives that funky, musty flavor/smell. You need lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or pediococcus to get the tang/pucker of sourness.

Thanks. No lacto added. I assumed the lambic yeast( WLP653 Brettanomyces lambicus) would've done that. And since that was all I got from the brew shop I thought it would've been correct. I ended up adding pomegranate puree and pitched WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix 1. I'm going to wait a month and taste/test it. I did get some lactic acid as a last resort.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Lambicus will give the funky, cherry-like profile. However, WLP655 you just pitched does have LAB and pedio in it. I didn't see a recipe posted, so as long as your IBU is low (<10), you should get some puckering/tang from the bugs. It will just take a long while.

Leave it alone for much longer than a month - constantly messing with it could introduce oxygen, and now that you've got bugs, oxygen could turn it acetic.

 

[brownni5]

The knock on these Wyeast and White Labs blends is often that they're a bit tame in the first generation but become more aggressive in subsequent pitches. It's probably not too late to add some commercial dregs to speed things along. Or, as others have stated, you could just wait it out - sours require patience, something I'm learning myself.

 

[sweetcell]

WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix 1 does have LAB in it, but the cell counts are very low, there is likely little food left for the LAB, and it will definitely take much longer than a month before any sourness develops (assuming it does develop).

sounds like you've opened up this bucket (not a carboy ) several times now - thus exposing the beer to a lot of oxygen. personally, i would chalk this up as a learning experience, enjoy your funky beer as-is, and start over. add bugs from the start (or just after primary), give the LAB a year to work their magic, and leave the bucket/carboy sealed (again, my opinion, but exposure to oxygen should be limited as much as possible).