Lambic Recipe and Procedure

[MikeB]

A while ago we were given a 5 gallon bucket full of raw wheat. The only beer styles that I can think of to use this in are Witbier or Lambic. Well we went with a lambic yesterday. Here is the recipe and procedure we used. It is based on the recipe for Gueuze-Lambic in the Classic Beer Styles book Lambic

Beer Name: Hope
Style: Lambic
Batch Size: 11.5 gallons (10.5 gallons in the fermentor)

14.5 lbs Pilsner Malt (Gambrinus)
7.75 lbs Wheat, Raw
1.0 lbs Crystal 40
6.0 oz Willamette (Aged warm for 2 years)
2 pkg fresh WYeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend (dates: 2-22-12 and 2-29-12)
2 pkg of old WYeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend (dates: 7-2011 and 10-2011)

Mash: Did a cereal mash with the wheat (7.75 lbs), 1.5 lbs of pilsner malt and 13 qt of water (168 oF). The initial temp was lower than the rest temp we desired so we heated this with stirring to get up to 158 oF. We let this sit for 10 min and then slowly and with constant stirring brought the CM to a boil. We stirred constantly for 30 min and it thickened up to the consistency of thick oatmeal. We then added the near boiling CM to the main mash ( 13 lbs pils malt, 1 lb crystal malt and 14 qts of water) which was resting at 120 oF. This got the temp of the main mash up to 150 oF. We added some rice hulls (~3/4 lb) and hot water to raise the temp of the main mash up to 153 oF and let this sit for 30 min. No mash out.

Vorlauf/Sparge: We vorlaufed with a pump for 15 min and then continuously sparged with 180 oF water to obtain ~13 gallons of wort. No stuck sparge!

Boil: We boiled for 90 min, and added the hops with 80 minutes left in the boil.

Cool/Aerate/Pitch Yeast: We circulated 1-2 gallons of hot wort before sending it through a small Shirron plate chiller. After running the cooled wort (66 oF) into two carboys, we pitched 2 pkgs of yeast (one old and one new) into each carboy. We then slowly bubbled oxygen (2 min) using an aeration stone into each carboy.

Fermentation: Started a controlled fermentation at 66 oF, no signs of fermenation yet...

We forgot to get a hydrometer sample of the chilled wort, but were able to get a refractometer reading of 14.4 Brix. Which suggest around a 1.058 OG.

Wish us luck!

[BDawg]

Good deal! Hope you'll let me try it-

[whoateallthepies]

Looks good to me. With a double batch, did you think of trying different yeast? Or are you planning on treating them diferently post-ferment? Fruit?

[MikeB]

Fermentation has kicked off and is pretty vigorous as of this morning.

BDawg - I will make sure you get to try some in all of its forms.

Pies - I did think about trying a different blend of yeast and microbes. We may periodically dump in dregs of various lambics into one of the carboys to make them unique. The plan going forward is to save 5 gallons for making gueuze and using the other 5 gallons to make fruit lambic. Not sure what fruit yet, but I'm leaning toward fruit that grow wild here in the Pacific Northwest like blackberries, blueberries or huckleberries. We'll probably also do a Kreik with local tart cherries.

This is our second lambic, so only one more batch to go before we can attempt to make a gueuze.

[MikeB]

Update:

We left the beer on the yeast/bug cake for 5 weeks and then transferred them to two five gallon carboys topped with carboy caps. We then placed them in a cool closet with the rest of our sour beers. The gravity had dropped from ~1.058 to 1.016. The beer was still very cloudy.

The hydrometer sample tasted pretty bad - soapy and slightly sour with an oily, nasty mouthfeel. How normal is this? I hope it turns the corner at some point. Even through the not so great hydrometer sample tasting, I could tell there might be something special brewing in there...

I'm planning to use half of this batch to make one or two fruit lambics at around the six month mark. That should be just about when apples, cherries, blackberries and blueberries are ready for picking.

[Meister]

This sounds awesome! As a fellow NW Washingtonian I feel like I should come in for some QA when the beers are finishing up. That way I could validate your tasting notes...

I like the idea of sticking to local fruits. I'm going to go out to one of the many orchards around the area and attempt to harvest some local yeast. At some point I want to make a local beer. Local yeast, local malt (right across the border), hops from my yard, and some local fruit.

Subscribed!

JER

[MikeB]

I also think it would be pretty cool to isolate a native yeast strain. Just like you, I think the apple orchards in eastern WA are probably a good start. Good luck on that pursuit.

Last night I had a glass of the lambic we made back in December of 2010 with the WYeast Lambic Blend cultures. We did that beer with 25% malted wheat and 10% flaked wheat (the rest pilsner malt) and a high mash temperature. It has a great nose - lactic sourness with rhubarb. The flavor has some funkiness and not as sour as you'd expect from the aroma - the funkiness reminds me of corn husk/silk; the sourness that does come through is sharp and tart. I've had it on tap for a while and keeping it at 38 oF has made it pretty stable.

Latest update on the beer we made back in March (almost 3 months ago): The haze is beginning to clear, I see a bubble every now and then rise from the bottom. There is a hint of pellicle formation at the interface of beer, headspace and glass. I loosened the small white caps on the carboy caps to let in a bit more air. I plan to leave these fairly loose until a good amount of crust has formed.

[brewinhard]

I also think it would be pretty cool to isolate a native yeast strain. Just like you, I think the apple orchards in eastern WA are probably a good start. Good luck on that pursuit.

Last night I had a glass of the lambic we made back in December of 2010 with the WYeast Lambic Blend cultures. We did that beer with 25% malted wheat and 10% flaked wheat (the rest pilsner malt) and a high mash temperature. It has a great nose - lactic sourness with rhubarb. The flavor has some funkiness and not as sour as you'd expect from the aroma - the funkiness reminds me of corn husk/silk; the sourness that does come through is sharp and tart. I've had it on tap for a while and keeping it at 38 oF has made it pretty stable.

Latest update on the beer we made back in March (almost 3 months ago): The haze is beginning to clear, I see a bubble every now and then rise from the bottom. There is a hint of pellicle formation at the interface of beer, headspace and glass. I loosened the small white caps on the carboy caps to let in a bit more air. I plan to leave these fairly loose until a good amount of crust has formed.

I would be careful not to let too much oxygen ingress into your carboy as this can lead to the formation of acetic acid (vinegar) through acetobacter which is naturally in the air around us. You will get enough micro-oxygenation with the use of carboy caps/stoppers and airlocks.
Those commercial lambic blends from Wyeast and WL are quite tame and can benefit from the addition of dregs of other commercial sour beers you can buy such as Jolly Pumpkin, Cantillon, Drie Fontenin, and Russian River. They will help to increase the complexity and depth of your lambic as well as increase the acidity and funk of the finished product.