Should I rack it?

[LeverTime]

I'm making a Chateau Northern Lambic Grand Cru, and the instructions call for racking it to secondary after 1-2 weeks. I don't care for a lot of recipe kit instructions, because they usually tell you to bottle your beer after a week, or some other thing that may not be optimal. A lot of people here seem to not rack sours, because the Brettanomyces will eat the dead yeast (?). This is my first sour, and my first beer that I plan to age for an extended period of time, so I don't really know what I'm doing.

Should I rack it? I'm planning to age this for at least a year before tasting it.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Do not.

 

[Azurecybe]

Per the description on the site...

Disclaimers up front: if you plan to bottle this beer before it's at least 12 months old, you might as well not bother making it.

 

[LeverTime]

Per the description on the site...

Disclaimers up front: if you plan to bottle this beer before it's at least 12 months old, you might as well not bother making it.

Sorry, perhaps my original question was not clear. I'm asking if I should rack it to a secondary vessel, or keep it in the primary bucket (on what is probably a giant yeast cake). I'm not planning to bottle it for at least a year, as they recommend.

 

[spearko520]

i think the common advice for the yeast cultures that are a premixed blend of strains and bacterial cultures are to not rack, since you don't know what you are moving from the beer. I have racked so i could use the cake, and they turned out fine- just as sour as the ones i left - so now i usually do rack a few months in, before there is any pellicle. I also have sediment in my secondary (i swirl a little up from the bottom when i rack) so i'm not worried about a snack for the brett. The reason i do it is to get something on the cake sooner... I don't know what yeast came with your kit, though.

 

[LeverTime]

i think the common advice for the yeast cultures that are a premixed blend of strains and bacterial cultures are to not rack, since you don't know what you are moving from the beer. I have racked so i could use the cake, and they turned out fine- just as sour as the ones i left - so now i usually do rack a few months in, before there is any pellicle. I also have sediment in my secondary (i swirl a little up from the bottom when i rack) so i'm not worried about a snack for the brett. The reason i do it is to get something on the cake sooner... I don't know what yeast came with your kit, though.

It came with a Wyeast 3278 Lambic blend smack pack. I made a starter before pitching it, if that matters.

 

[weremichael]

You traditionally do not rack lambics, because the yeast and bacteria benefit from all the dead cells and trub at the bottom of the fermenter.

 

[spearko520]

i have racked off that blend and really couldn't put a finger on a whole lot of difference between non racked. I don't think you want to rack clear, but if you want at a yeast cake that will be more sour, you could. Traditionally lambics are not racked and are just left to be for a cycle of cool season and warm season. If you are worried, leave it alone...

 

[LeverTime]

i have racked off that blend and really couldn't put a finger on a whole lot of difference between non racked. I don't think you want to rack clear, but if you want at a yeast cake that will be more sour, you could. Traditionally lambics are not racked and are just left to be for a cycle of cool season and warm season. If you are worried, leave it alone...

Consider it done. I'll throw this in my crawl space and forget about it.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

I would actually recommend racking it in a few months. Since you have it in a bucket it will absorb oxygen more quickly than if it were in your carboy, and that could be problematic.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I would actually recommend racking it in a few months. Since you have it in a bucket it will absorb oxygen more quickly than if it were in your carboy, and that could be problematic.

Well he didn't clarify it was in a bucket in the first post. Racking it probably is a good option but I think the beer would probably still be ok in the bucket the whole time.

 

[spearko520]

yeah - i think a lot of guys have been okay with the permeability of buckets, even though the math on the rates by raj b apte seems to indicate that it would allow too much in. old sock has an item on his blog about it- that he thinks that maybe there is something else going on that allows more oxygen into tun or barrel aged beers than is traditionally thought. i have never left anything in a bucket for more than half a year or so- so i wouldn't be one to know for sure, but i've never made vinegar unless it was on purpose