Hi guys. Yesterday I have brewed the second batch of Straight Lambic using my captured yeast, as you can see in the pictures it seems a normal fermentation as I would have been using commercial yeast. This time I have split the batch into 2 fermentors : a 5 gals bottle and a 1 gal Erlenmayer , so I will be able to have a testimony of what is happening in the main fermentor without disturbing it. According what has happened with my first lambic I think my captured yeast has little qty. of different microbes or at list little population taking into a count that fermentation has endured 90 days and beer tastes very subtle sour. According these thoughts this time I have raised bitterness to 15 (10 before) Ibus while conserving the same OG 1051. I have no experiences how bitterness and sourness fermorm altogether. Even recipe has been modified adding more wheat do you think flavor coming from yeast will differ too much from the first one?. I would like to hear your opinion and whatever you think is useful to guide me to understand this kind of brewing I will appreciate.TIA Some photos :
90 days isn't really long enough to understand where your wild yeast capture will go. The pedio will take longer than that to really bloom and sour it up. The Brett will take some time to develop as well. Give it time. I wouldn't use the erlenmeyer for sampling. There is a much bigger head space in there. Each time you open that container it will flood with O2 which any acetobacter will feast on and and turn the beer to vinegar. I would just use the flask beer to top off the carboy after primary dies down. Taste it every couple months.
I thought my first lambic fermentation was completed because I took 3 samples in a week and FG was the same the 3 times. I did it wrong?. Should I leave it more time to get sourness?. OG was 1051 and FG was 1005, are these remaining 5 points what pedio or lacto use to sour this beer?. Edit : I think there is not acetobacter there because I took 1 gal from the first lambic fermentation bottle wich left a big head space inside and I opened it many times without any vinegar problem in the final product.
Just wait. Acetobacter uses air to consume alcohol. If there was exposure to air post fermentation there is a possibility for acetic acid production. It occurs naturally in the air just like the other bugs. Brett works a lot slower and so does pedio. Lacto is probably done, but you may drop another point or two over a few more months. Pedio is your main souring but, the sourness you're tasting now is probably from lacto. With more time Pedio will start to really acidify the beer. It doesn't really drop the gravity, nor does it produce CO2.
For a sour beer you always want to wait at least 9 months (typically), sometime longer. The 1.005 is going to drop even lower over time. The Brett hasn't really taken hold yet and it will drop the FG even more. My primary was done after 3 weeks at 1.006. After 1 year it was down to 1.000. These are slow beers that require a lot of patience. I just kegged a soured Amber Saison that I originally brewed in February 2014.
So, I have made a mistake thinking fermentation was done, cos I have already pasteurized,force-carbed and bottled the first batch. Beer tastes very good though, but it lacks of sourness-tartness I guess. This time I will wait until beer gets the sourness I feel happy with, using my Erlenmayer fermenting wort I will take samples, then pasteurize , force-carb and bottle again. Is that right?
I would skip the pasteurize and bottle a year or so from now, personally. That yeast culture should continue to evolve the beer in the bottles as it ages. As stated above, I would use the elenmeyer to top of the fermenter since it will probably turn to vinegar quickly.
My immunologic system doesn´t alllow me to take the risk of ingesting unknown microbes, I ´ve been treated with chemotherapy. Sadly I couldn´t taste the first batch unpasteurized but I am happy with the achieved flavor though, beer smells and tastes fantastic .
Good to know. Sorry to hear that. I would let it set for at least 9 months before packaging. I would also invest in a (even cheap) pH meter so you can know about how sour it is before packaging.
