Saving lambic yeast

JFB · Feb 8, 2017

My next brew in two weeks is going to be a cherry lambic from GH's book.
Ill be fermenting for two weeks with wb-06 and cherries then adding WLP brettanomyics lambicus for four weeks.
I would like to save this yeast for a go at a flanders red ata later date.
Am I going to run into any troubles with cherries all mixed up in the yeast and trub?
This will be my first lambic and first time saving yeast.
Cheers

dad_of_jon · Feb 8, 2017

JFB said:
My next brew in two weeks is going to be a cherry lambic from GH's book.
Ill be fermenting for two weeks with wb-06 and cherries then adding WLP brettanomyics lambicus for four weeks.
I would like to save this yeast for a go at a flanders red ata later date.
Am I going to run into any troubles with cherries all mixed up in the yeast and trub?
This will be my first lambic and first time saving yeast.
Cheers

if you're adding bugs to your beer many brewers advise to keep that kit separate from your other brew kit to avoid infecting your 'regular' brews.

strange-steve · Feb 8, 2017

Are you adding a lactobacillus or pediococcus culture to these? For a lambic or flanders red you really need a bacteria blend to get the proper flavour profile. That white labs is a brett strain only meaning you won't get any souring.

JFB · Feb 8, 2017

strange-steve said:
Are you adding a lactobacillus or pediococcus culture to these? For a lambic or flanders red you really need a bacteria blend to get the proper flavour profile. That white labs is a brett strain only meaning you won't get any souring.

Aa! it kind of said on the label found in lambic style beers so thought it would do??
If its no good for a lambic would it be ok for a flanders red? Ive alresdy bought the yeast so need to use it :lol:

JFB · Feb 8, 2017

dad_of_jon said:
if you're adding bugs to your beer many brewers advise to keep that kit separate from your other brew kit to avoid infecting your 'regular' brews.

Yea got myself a glass carboy just for the job:thumb:
Not quite sure about the bottling yet but ill think of something.

strange-steve · Feb 8, 2017

JFB said:
Aa! it kind of said on the label found in lambic style beers so thought it would do??
If its no good for a lambic would it be ok for a flanders red? Ive alresdy bought the yeast so need to use it :lol:

Flanders red is also sour, you can still use the wlp653 but you would have to add a bacteria culture too. Get yourself a couple of bottles of Rodenbach Grand Cru (one of my favourite beers) and add the dregs to the brew. Or you could just add a fresh lacto culture such as wlp677 but this won't have the same complexity.
That's a tough style to get right so kudos to you for giving it a go :hat:

JFB · Feb 8, 2017

strange-steve said:
Flanders red is also sour, you can still use the wlp653 but you would have to add a bacteria culture too. Get yourself a couple of bottles of Rodenbach Grand Cru (one of my favourite beers) and add the dregs to the brew. Or you could just add a fresh lacto culture such as wlp677 but this won't have the same complexity.
That's a tough style to get right so kudos to you for giving it a go :hat:

Just been doing a lot of googling seems I did get the wrong yeast :doh:

I've come up with two options..
One- pitch in a saison ive got planed along with the MJ saison blend.
Two- go with the red ale adding some sour malt ive got and the dregs of my last ichtegems grand cru.

And out of interest is there a one pot sour blend that would be suitable for the cherry lambic?

strange-steve · Feb 8, 2017

JFB said:
Just been doing a lot of googling seems I did get the wrong yeast
I've come up with two options..
One- pitch in a saison ive got planed along with the MJ saison blend.
Two- go with the red ale adding some sour malt ive got and the dregs of my last ichtegems grand cru.

And out of interest is there a one pot sour blend that would be suitable for the cherry lambic?

I reckon go for option one, a brett saison is lovely :thumb:
The yeast blend you want for a lambic is wlp655 Belgian Sour Mix. It is a blend of sacch, brett, lacto and pedio and makes a great sour, it'd be perfect for a flanders red too.

JFB · Feb 9, 2017

strange-steve said:
I reckon go for option one, a brett saison is lovely :thumb:
The yeast blend you want for a lambic is wlp655 Belgian Sour Mix. It is a blend of sacch, brett, lacto and pedio and makes a great sour, it'd be perfect for a flanders red too.

Think I got myself slightly out of depth on this one!
Going on option one. I should pitch the saison yeast for a week then add the brett lambicus and leave for how long till bottling?
Or should I rack into a secondary and then add the brett??

strange-steve · Feb 9, 2017

Yeah pitch the saison yeast, then when the krausen drops rack to secondary and add the brett, then leave it for at least a month before bottling. I hope you like brett beers because that strain is particularly funky apparently.
Are you still planning on brewing the flanders red? I reckon it's one of the most difficult styles to brew, but also one of the most delicious.

JFB · Feb 9, 2017

strange-steve said:
Yeah pitch the saison yeast, then when the krausen drops rack to secondary and add the brett, then leave it for at least a month before bottling. I hope you like brett beers because that strain is particularly funky apparently.
Are you still planning on brewing the flanders red? I reckon it's one of the most difficult styles to brew, but also one of the most delicious.

Thanks for helping to dig me out of a rather large whole Steve:thumb:
I'm ok with brett no head over hills, but I'm of the mind set that your learn how to enjoy certain tastes if that makes sence. So I will happily get on the taste and am sure ill love it when i understand it.
After the saison I'm going to make the cherry lambic then I think it will be the flanders red. Would a mix of saved wlp653 and wlp655 make a good option for this?
And going back on the lambic would you use the same method of fermenting with the primary yeast then racking into a secondary to add the sour blend? And I what stage would I add the cherries?
Sorry for all the "Ands" and "?'s":lol:

sven945 · Feb 9, 2017

JFB said:
Yea got myself a glass carboy just for the job:thumb:
Not quite sure about the bottling yet but ill think of something.

I have a saison that I fermented with wyeast 3724 and have added Yeast Bay Brussels Brett to in a glass carbuoy, and I've got no idea how I'm going to bottle. I'd rather not have a whole set of bottling kit for the occasionalbottling day with funky beers, but I may have to. I'm tempted to try bottling using my old siphon, but I hated it and could never get a reliable siphon going, even without stopping it for each bottle.

strange-steve · Feb 9, 2017

JFB said:
Thanks for helping to dig me out of a rather large whole Steve:thumb:
I'm ok with brett no head over hills, but I'm of the mind set that your learn how to enjoy certain tastes if that makes sence. So I will happily get on the taste and am sure ill love it when i understand it.
After the saison I'm going to make the cherry lambic then I think it will be the flanders red. Would a mix of saved wlp653 and wlp655 make a good option for this?
And going back on the lambic would you use the same method of fermenting with the primary yeast then racking into a secondary to add the sour blend? And I what stage would I add the cherries?
Sorry for all the "Ands" and "?'s":lol:

For the lambic I wouldn't bother with a primary yeast, I'd use just the 655, it has everything you need. Likewise with the flanders, 655 on its own is perfect. Starting with a primary yeast before adding the bugs can cause issues sometimes because some of the bacteria strains aren't very alcohol tolerant.

For the kriek the cherries will be added after 6-12 months then bottled about 6 months later. A flanders will be bottled after the pellicle drops, roughly 12 months. I hope you're a patient man :shock:

strange-steve · Feb 9, 2017

sven945 said:
I have a saison that I fermented with wyeast 3724 and have added Yeast Bay Brussels Brett to in a glass carbuoy, and I've got no idea how I'm going to bottle. I'd rather not have a whole set of bottling kit for the occasionalbottling day with funky beers, but I may have to. I'm tempted to try bottling using my old siphon, but I hated it and could never get a reliable siphon going, even without stopping it for each bottle.

Don't worry too much about the brett, a good soak with bleach will kill it off no problem.

JFB · Feb 9, 2017

strange-steve said:
For the lambic I wouldn't bother with a primary yeast, I'd use just the 655, it has everything you need. Likewise with the flanders, 655 on its own is perfect. Starting with a primary yeast before adding the bugs can cause issues sometimes because some of the bacteria strains aren't very alcohol tolerant.

For the kriek the cherries will be added after 6-12 months then bottled about 6 months later. A flanders will be bottled after the pellicle drops, roughly 12 months. I hope you're a patient man :shock:

Wow the greg huges says ready to drink in 10 weeks!! I did think that went against every thing I had herd about lambics.
I really want to brew these styles though. Think if i'm going to have to wait that long I may get a couple of 23l carboys instead of the 15L one I'm using to age my strong beers.

JFB · Feb 9, 2017

sven945 said:
I have a saison that I fermented with wyeast 3724 and have added Yeast Bay Brussels Brett to in a glass carbuoy, and I've got no idea how I'm going to bottle. I'd rather not have a whole set of bottling kit for the occasionalbottling day with funky beers, but I may have to. I'm tempted to try bottling using my old siphon, but I hated it and could never get a reliable siphon going, even without stopping it for each bottle.

I was thinking jug and funnel carefully?? My kit takes up enough room already with needing more stored somewhere else.

strange-steve · Feb 9, 2017

JFB said:
Wow the greg huges says ready to drink in 10 weeks!! I did think that went against every thing I had herd about lambics.
I really want to brew these styles though. Think if i'm going to have to wait that long I may get a couple of 23l carboys instead of the 15L one I'm using to age my strong beers.

I don't have that book but there's no way you could make a good kriek or flanders that quickly. Sour beers take time. A very long time. These are the sort of beers you buy a spare fv for then hide them away somewhere and forget about them. And the problem is, who wants to wait that long without actually knowing if it'll be good or not :?

I'm currently making a gueuze, which is a blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old straight lambic which is then bottle conditioned for a year. So 4 years in total. I'm almost halfway there now and praying it'll be worth the wait :pray:

JFB · Feb 9, 2017

strange-steve said:
I don't have that book but there's no way you could make a good kriek or flanders that quickly. Sour beers take time. A very long time. These are the sort of beers you buy a spare fv for then hide them away somewhere and forget about them. And the problem is, who wants to wait that long without actually knowing if it'll be good or not :?

I'm currently making a gueuze, which is a blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old straight lambic which is then bottle conditioned for a year. So 4 years in total. I'm almost halfway there now and praying it'll be worth the wait :pray:

Do you use plastic or glass fv's and how long till you rack into the secondary?
Thinking I could do both the lambic and flanders soon and use the yeast from the first to brew the second straight after.
I'm quite happy to forget about a couple of fv's.

JFB · Feb 10, 2017

Woke up this morning and decided it was to cold for fishing so nipped down the m4 to the malt miller to pick up some Vienna and wlp655.
Just mashed in a flanders red ale. Decided to just keep to the one brew as the misses may not be happy about all the fv's in the spare bedroom!
To keep me occupied waiting for this to do its thing I'm going to have a go at kettle sour Berliner weisse and cheating with sour malt.

markcc · Feb 10, 2017

Roeselare blend from Wyeast is another alternative. I've got a Flemish ale I made with it which has been in secondary for about a year now.

Saving lambic yeast

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