Racking (to bottle) from under (giant) pellicle, and when?

[Ted123]

Hello all,
I have a Lambic-style beer aging away, for about 10 months now. It has been in the Primary (a 6.5 gallon glass carboy) for the entire time. About 3 months ago I added 7 pounds of organic, whole, pitted (frozen) apricots, and they sat on the bottom of the carboy for about a week, and then hitched a ride (on bug lifeboats?) to the surface, where they have been ever since.
There is thus a 3 inch layer of apricots up on top, with a half-inch of pellicle on top of them.
I'm wondering when to bottle . . . and do I "simply" poke the racking cane thru the pellicle-apricot-layer and suck/rack the beer out from under and into the bottling bucket. . . . but mainly, I'm wondering about timing on this (I guess I could take a sample to taste and judge, but that would mean breaking the pellicle?).
Thanks--Ted

 

[sweetcell]

I added 7 pounds of organic, whole, pitted (frozen) apricots, and they sat on the bottom of the carboy for about a week, and then hitched a ride (on bug lifeboats?) to the surface, where they have been ever since.

once the brett got going and started fermenting the sugar in the apricots, CO2 was created. it's the rising co2 that caused the fruit to float.

There is thus a 3 inch layer of apricots up on top, with a half-inch of pellicle on top of them.
I'm wondering when to bottle . . . and do I "simply" poke the racking cane thru the pellicle-apricot-layer and suck/rack the beer out from under and into the bottling bucket. . . .

it's ready to bottle when gravity is stable. waiting 3 months should take care of that, if you don't want to take samples. and yes, poke through the pellicle, try not to suck it up but don't worry if you do.

but mainly, I'm wondering about timing on this (I guess I could take a sample to taste and judge, but that would mean breaking the pellicle?).
Thanks--Ted

don't worry about breaking the pellicle. the bugs will fill it in if needed.