Secondary with Lambic Blend

[oooFishy]

I'm working on a Saison which has been sitting in the primary for about a month. It's O.G. was 1.070, and now it's at 1.010 (85% attenuation).

I'd like to add the Wyeast lambic blend in with the secondary to hopefully get some complexity and a slightly sour finish. Will this work? Should I re-aerate? Add more "unfermantable" sugar?

 

[landhoney]

I'm working on a Saison which has been sitting in the primary for about a month. It's O.G. was 1.070, and now it's at 1.010 (85% attenuation).
I'd like to add the Wyeast lambic blend in with the secondary to hopefully get some complexity and a slightly sour finish. Will this work? Should I re-aerate? Add more "unfermantable" sugar?

You shouldn't aerate it, and you certainly could add some unfermentable sugars to the wort for the bugs to eat but it is probably not necessary. You're not making a pLambic, you're making a funky/sour Saison and at 1.010 there should be plenty for the bugs to eat. I think if you give the lambic bugs too much to eat - it may cease to taste much like a Saison at all, I think this is a risk even without adding more food for the bugs though. Also, its going to take some time, at least six months and possibly longer. It should get to a very low FG before bottling or you're risking bottle bombs. The bottles should improve with age as well, so keep some around for a few years. I've got two saisons going now that I added a different bug blend to, but I'm essentially doing the same thing. Hope this helps.

 

[oooFishy]

Yup, that definetely helps landhoney.

I just remember a bunch more questions.

I was thinking about making a small starter, maybe a cup or two, just to get the yeast actively fermenting before I add them to a high alc environment. What do you think about this practice for a lambic blend? Will this help only the saccharomyces strains in the blend, or will the brett and bacteria also be helped by a starter when I add them to the secondary?

The saison is currently in a water bath around 82F. Would the lambic strains also be helped from a higher temperature (sacc, brett or bacteria)?

Also, any thoughts on just adding directly to primary?

My goal is to drink in 3 months...or at least part of the batch. I'm not sure I can wait 6 months. Maybe I'll keep half the batch around for a while longer and do a comparison.

Thanks again landhoney. Seems like you really know your stuff when it comes to this kind of thing.