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Subject: Lambic Digest #867 (June 12, 1996)
Lambic Digest #867 Wed 12 June 1996
Forum on Lambic Beers (and other Belgian beer styles)
Mike Sharp, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
AHA Talk Part 2 (Jim Liddil)
AHA Talk Part 3 (Jim Liddil)
AHA Talk part 4 (Jim Liddil)
AHA Talk part 5 (Jim Liddil)
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Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 7:29:58 -0700 (MST)
From: Jim Liddil <JLIDDIL at AZCC.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: AHA Talk Part 2
Grist
The grist for a lambic beer is usually composed of 30-40%
raw wheat with the rest consisting of pils-type barley
malt. Homebrewers have various forms of wheat available to
them for use in making this type of beer. Which form you
choose to use is based on the equipment you have and how
traditional you want to be in your recipe formulation. The
various forms of wheat available include whole wheat
berries of either red, hard or white, soft varieties, flaked
or rolled wheat and malted wheat. Wheat flakes and rolled
wheat are pregelatinized making for a less time consuming
mashing procedure. Wheat malt is usually readily available
through most homebrew stores and also simplifies the
mashing step. Both of these forms of wheat are suggested
as alternatives to raw wheat by Guinard.
These days more and more homebrew shops are supplying flaked
or rolled wheat. These forms of wheat can also quite often
be found at a natural foods or cooperative market. These
types of stores also usually carry raw wheat of either the
hard or soft varieties.
If one chooses to use raw wheat there are a couple of
different mashing techniques one can choose to follow. The
easiest method is to pregelatinize the wheat as described
by Guinard (2). After this is done the whole mash is
combined and either a single step or multiple step mash
followed. Alternatively the wheat can be combined with the
malt directly and then mashed using a single or multiple
step mashing procedure. The final and most time consuming
procedure involves what is called the turbid mash method.
In this method the crushed raw wheat and malt are combined
and a portion of the liquid is removed and boiled to raise
the temperature of the mash to each mash temperature point.
In the mashing section various schedules will be described
in more detail.
(set up a table format for mash schedules)
A word about crushing raw wheat is in order. Because it has
not been malted and kilned it is not friable. Raw wheat
has a tendency to be squished rather than crushed. This
makes it hard to mill even with a roller mill. Running the
wheat through a roller mill multiple times will help reduce
it to fairly small particles. If you have a Corona-type
mill this is one place where it may have an advantage over
one of the various roller-type mills available. Wheat has
no husk so grinding it up to a fine powder is not a
problem.
A final note concerns the use of wheat flour. A few
individuals have reported replacing the wheat fraction of
the grist with whole wheat flour. They reported no
problems with a stuck mash or slow run off. Of course as
they say, your mileage may vary. Whether or not this will
work for you will depend on your mashing and lautering
setup as well as your level of experience. If you are
feeling adventurous give it a try.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 7:32:36 -0700 (MST)
From: Jim Liddil <JLIDDIL at AZCC.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: AHA Talk Part 3
Mashing and Wort Composition
A traditional lambic grist is composed of 30-40% raw wheat
with the remainder being either 2 row or a combination of 2
and 6 row barley. Using this grist composition will give a
wort that is high in amino acids and dextrins and light in
color.
The simplest approach to making lambic-style ale is to use
extract, either dry or liquid. Since you want and need
extra amino acids and dextrins in the wort to support the
long fermentation you should consider using an extract meant
for making wheat beer. These are typically made from
60-70% malted wheat and are readily available in liquid and
dried form. You can also blend the wheat extract with
malted barley extract to achieve a 30-40% wheat content.
You might also consider buying some 100% wheat extract and
blending it with malt extract at the more traditional
30-40% range. The 1994 AHA Homebrewer of the Year brewed
his lambic-style beer using the wheat based extract
produced by Briess. So do not despair thinking that you
can only make lambic-style beers if you are an all grain
based brewer. You should get the freshest extract possible
and carry out the boil for a full hour to maximize the
extraction of the hop antiseptic compounds and to
precipitate the excess proteins in the extract. The main
problems with extracts as a whole are that they generally
produce beers darker than equivalent all grain beers and the
extracts themselves may be somewhat nutrient deficient
(5,6).
If you are an all grain brewer you have a number of options
available. You can choose to use malted, flaked or raw
wheat in your mash as well as performing various mash
routines. Probably the simplest mash consists of 30-40%
malted wheat with the remainder being made up of 2 row pils
or lager malt. This can then be mashed using a single step
infusion mash in the 150-155 F (65-68 C) range. This will
produce a reasonable dextrinous wort that is also very light
in color. Or you could also modify the mash schedule using
a step mash or decoction mash of the type outlined by
Warner(7). Such a mash technique helps break down the
excess wheat proteins and provides the extra amino acids
needed by the various yeast and bacteria. One problem,
though, with an intensive mash schedule is that it can lead
to too much break down of the dextrins in the grist and thus
too little carry over into the wort.
The more traditional lambic mash uses unmalted wheat, and as
with malted wheat you have a number of options available
depending on how traditional you want to be. If you are
concerned about having to take time to gelatinize the wheat
or do not want to deal with raw, ungelatinized wheat
directly in the mash, then you can choose to use flaked
wheat. Flaked wheat, also sometimes called rolled wheat,
has already been gelatinized for you. All you have to do
is add it to the grist and carry out whatever mash schedule
you feel is appropriate. Generally flaked wheat can be
found at homebrew shops or at your local natural foods'
market or co-op.
Raw wheat, in the most traditional method it is not
pre-gelatinized before being added to the mash. Because of
this, a very time consuming form of mashing is carried out
and will be discussed in more detail later. The easier
route is to grind the raw wheat and then gelatinize it
before adding it to the mash. This is accomplished by
adding water to the wheat at the rate of 1.5-2 quarts per
lb. along with 10% of the malted barley. The mixture is
heated to the 150 F (65 C) range and allowed to stand for
15-30 minutes. This allows the enzymes in the malt to act
on the wheat starch and aid in their hydration. After the
temperature rest the whole mixture is heated to boiling
with constant stirring. Feel free to add water as the
mixture begins to thicken. Be sure not to heat it too fast
or stop stirring, otherwise you will have a big gummy burnt
mess. After it has boiled for 15 minutes you can then add
it to the main mash and continue with the mashing schedule.
Add the boiled wheat to the main mash slowly with stirring
so as not to raise the temperature of the mash too quickly
or unevenly. When using this method the author prefers to
have the mash at 100 F (37 C) and then add the boiled
wheat, slowly. The temperature will settle in the 120-130
F (49-54 C) range depending on the volume. Then begin to
heat the entire mash slowly to the various step
temperatures. A fast method involves resting at 130 F (54
C) or so for 15 minutes then raising the temperature to 145
F (63 C) and holding for 15 minutes and then raising to 152
F (67 C) and holding for another 30 minutes, followed by
mash out and sparging.
The most time consuming and labor intensive method of
mashing involves what is called turbid mashing. This type
of mashing involves removing the liquid portion of the
mash, boiling it and then reintroducing it to the whole
mash. This is somewhat like the reverse of decoction
mashing in which the grain portion is removed and boiled.
A good explanation of this whole mashing process has been
provided by Guinard,(2) with further details provided
Lodahl (3). Keep in mind that lambic brewers all have
their own individual methods of turbid mashing and some do
not use turbid mashing at all.
The goal of the turbid mashing procedure is to break down
the larger proteins of the raw wheat and malt into free
amino acids and produce a wort high in dextrins and
starches. A traditional turbid mash is carried out by
mashing in and then removing the liquid portion and boiling
it and at the same time adding boiling water back to the
mash to raise the temperature. This procedure of removing
the turbid liquid, boiling it and adding boiling water to
the mash is carried out a number of times until the mash
reaches a temperature at which the addition of the boiled
turbid runnings raises it to saccharification temperature.
After a 2 hour saccharification the wort is run off and the
grains sparged with close to boiling water. Again this
whole procedure helps break down the ungelatinized raw
wheat giving one a wort high in amino acids, dextrins and
starches. The whole process is followed by a 4 to 5 hour
boil to reduce the large volume of liquid and precipitate
the excess proteins and burst any starch granules.
A simplified turbid mashing method was proposed by Frank
Boon (8). He suggested mashing in at around 86 F (30 C)
using as little as 0.5 quart of water per pound of grist.
The mash should then be stirred and the milky wort should be
run off and boiled for a few minutes. In the mean time
fresh water should be added to the grist and a step mash
performed of your choosing. After reaching the 140 F (60 C)
range the boiled milky wort is added back to the mash to
raise the temperature to the saccharification range. Then
the mash should be allowed to rest and undergo
saccharification. After this the wort should be run off and
the grain sparged. This produces a large volume of liquid
and is one of the reasons for the suggested 5 hour boil.
The sparging of a lambic mash is typically carried out with
water that is hotter than 165 F (74 C) usually closer to
190 F (88 C). This aids in extracting dextrins and
unconverted starches from the mash. This procedure also
extracts tannins from the malt as well, but these are
precipitated out or broken down over the long fermentation
cycle and do not contribute to astringency in any large
part. The use of hotter than normal sparge water is
particularly important if one follows a true turbid mash
type schedule due to the poor conversion. In normal beer
production one does not want all of these various
components extracted into the wort but in lambic brewing
they are needed to support the long fermentation process and
will ultimately be utilized by the yeast and bacteria.
Without these usually undesirable products the lambic
organisms may not thrive and produce a beer with the right
flavor characteristics.
Whether or not a turbid mash is required to achieve optimal
flavor in a lambic is a matter of debate. There are some
lambic brewers who do not use this method. But two of the
more traditional brewers, Boon and Cantillon do use it.
Be aware that you will probably not get complete starch
conversion in a mash with raw wheat regardless of how
rigorous a mash schedule you use. But this is not a
problem since you want a certain amount of unconverted
starch to carry over into the wort to provide a substrate
for the microorganisms to feed upon late in the
fermentation and maturation.
Turbid Mashing for the Homebrewer
The following is a conversion of the Cantillon turbid mash
schedule to homebrew scale.(3) Based on the information
presented in the article from BrewingTechniques, the
Cantillon Brewery gets approximately 33-34 pts/lb/gallon.
The grist is composed of 34% Raw Wheat and 66% Malted
Barley. A number of assumptions have been made in scaling
down this mash schedule. It is assumed the we want to end
up with a wort with an original gravity of approximately
1.048. It was also assumed that a yield of 30
points/pound/gallon would be obtainable using this method.
As will be seen this assumption was not valid for this mash
schedule carried out using the equipment and methods
described. Your own individual results may vary.
The recipe was designed to provide 5 gallons of wort with an
original gravity of 1.048. If we assume that we can get 30
points/pound/gallon then we need a total of 240 points.
We will assume one pound of grain yields 30 points. We want
a 1.048 OG wort of 5 gallons. This is 48 points X 5
gallons = 240 points total. 240 points/30 points/lbs of
grain = 8 lbs of grain.
For 5 gallons you will need 240 pts total. 240 pts/30
pts/lb/gallon = 8 lbs of grain Based on this calculation we
will need 8 lbs. of grain. For a further explanation of mash
calculations see reference (9).
The grist is 66% malt and 34% raw wheat. The barley malt
fraction is 66% of 8 lbs which is 8 lbs X 66% = 5.3 lbs
malt. 8 lbs total minus 5.3 lbs of barley malt equals 2.7
lbs of raw wheat.
The Cantillon schedule calls for mashing in 1300 kg
grain/850L water (2860 lbs/900 qt) = 3.2 lbs/qt or 0.3
quarts of water/pound. We have 8 lbs of grain X 0.3 quarts
= 2.4 quarts of water. In all of the following steps the
temperature and water additions were taken directly from
the Cantillon schedule as published and scaled accordingly.
1.) In kettle #1 add water at 144 F(62 C) to the crushed
grain to achieve a temperature of 113 F (45 C) (about 2.4
quarts of water). Mix grain and water thoroughly and allow
to rest at 113 F for 10 minutes. This amount of water is
enough to just wet all the grain and flour. The mash needs
to be stirred very well to make sure all the grain is
wetted and no clumps of flour are present. Total time for
this step is about 20 minutes, with the temperature rest
included.
2.) Next, add enough boiling water (212 F)(100 C) to the
mash to bring the temperature to 136 F (58 C). Do this
over the course of 5 minutes making sure to mix thoroughly.
Allow the mash to rest for 5 minutes at this temperature.
Remove about a quart of liquid from the mash and add to
kettle #2 and heat to 176 F (80 C). It will take about 3.5
quarts of water to raise the temperature to 136 F and you
will end up with a very soupy mash with plenty of excess
liquid. The liquid taken off should have the appearance of
milk. Once heated it will clear up and large particles of
hot break will form.
3.) Add more water at 212 F (100 C) to the mash over the
course of 10 minutes to bring the temperature to 150 F (65
C), again with constant mixing. It will take about 5
quarts of water to achieve this temperature. Allow the mash
to rest for 30 minutes at 150 F (65 C). At this point the
mash will be very soupy and the liquid much less milky in
appearance.
4.) Next remove 4 quarts of liquid from kettle #1 and add to
kettle #2. Continue to heat kettle #2 at 176 F (80 C).
The liquid removed from kettle #1 will be very cloudy but
not quite as milky as the liquid previously removed.
5.) Add more 212 F (100 C)water to kettle #1 to bring the
temperature to 162 F (72 C) and allow to remain at 162 F
for 20 minutes. Again it will take about 5 quarts of water
to reach the rest temperature. The mash should be very thin
and soupy with a great deal of small particulate matter in
the liquid portion of the mash.
6.) After the 20 minute rest the liquid in kettle #1 is run
off and brought to a boil in a 3rd kettle (#3). Enough of
the liquid in kettle #2, at 176 F, is added back to the
mash in kettle #1 to bring the mash to a temperature of ~167
F (75 C). The mash is allowed to rest at 167 F for 20
minutes. Any liquid left in kettle #2 can be added to the
previously collected run off in kettle #3. It will take
most all the liquid in kettle #2 (~1.25 gallons) to raise
the temp of the mash to 167 F.
7.) After 20 minutes the wort in kettle #1 is recirculated
to clarify it and the sparging with 185 F (85 C) water is
begun. Sparge until run off gravity has dropped to less
than 1.008 and boil it with the previous run off from kettle
#1. Boil the wort, now in kettle #3, until the volume is
reduced to ~ 5 gallons.
8.) As the wort begins to boil it is hopped with
approximately 4 ounces of aged hops as described in the
Hops section. With all the water additions and sparging you
will end up with about 9 gallons of wort. Total boiling
time to reduce this volume to 5 gallons will depend on what
kind of setup you have. At the beginning of the boil the
wort will be cloudy and full of large flocculent break
material. As the boil proceeds the wort should clarify as
the proteins continue to coagulated and the starch is
solubilized.
After boiling, the wort can be cooled using your method of
choice. This method of mashing does not seem to yield the
large amount of break that a typical all malt infusion mash
will yield. But as stated earlier your results may vary
depending on your equipment and technique.
Using this method yielded a wort with an OG of 1.040. This
is ~ 25 pts/lbs/gal. Thus the mash efficiency was not as
high as that obtained at Cantillon. The yield could
probably be improved by extending the times for the various
rest steps. Also it may be a good idea to heat the liquid
withdrawn from kettle #1 each time at a very slow rate. To
play it safe you may want to start out with a larger grain
bill based on the more conservative yield of 25 pts/lb of
grain.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 7:35:41 -0700 (MST)
From: Jim Liddil <JLIDDIL at AZCC.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: AHA Talk part 4
Hops
In lambic production aged hops (2-3 years old), which have
lost all their bittering principals, are used. The rate of
hopping is very high, on the order of 400-600
grams/hectoliter or 3-4 ounces/5 gallons of wort. Aged hops
are used to avoid any bitterness that could affect the
acidic, pungent character of the beer. Typical varieties
used are of the low to medium alpha acid range, such as
Hallertauer, Tettnanger or Brewers Gold, though almost any
hop variety will do. You should avoid any of the high
alpha acid varieties, such as Chinook.
The homebrewer has a couple of options with respect to
obtaining and using aged hops. The brewer can buy hops and
leave them out at room temperature for a year or two to age
and lose bitterness. This requires planning and is not
convenient for the beginning lambic-style ale brewer.
Alternatively you or a friend may have some old hops that
you just could not part with but have never used. If these
are old enough they may serve the purpose. New hops can be
purchased and heated at low temperatures (<200 F) on a
cookie sheet for 4-5 hours. This procedure can also be
used for any hops you may have around and want to use.
Typically you want to heat the hops until all the aroma has
been driven off from the hops. Be aware that the smell may
not be one that others find pleasant. This author finds
that leaving hops in the Arizona summer sun for a week or
two seems to do a very good job of aging them. If you have
a total aversion to ruining perfectly good hops you may be
able to find hops at a reduced price at the end of the year
from your local homebrew shop or one of the many homebrew
mail order supply companies. Many times natural foods or
cooperative stores have hops in the herb department. These
are usually well aged and devoid of aroma with well
oxidized lupulin glands.
Whether you use whole or pellet hops does not seem to matter
as long as they are well aged. They can be used both alone
and together depending on what you have on hand. Crushing
the pellets into powder will help to enhance the oxidation
process. As the hops age they take on a very pale green to
yellow color and lose all aroma and the lupulin in whole
hops turns from yellow to orange-brown. During the aging
process the hops go through a stage of smelling rancid and
cheesy. This smell is unpleasant so it is best to leave
them in a well-ventilated area. You may want to put the
hops into a container with a fine mesh cover of some sort.
Then every once in a while you can mix the hops to enhance
oxidation.
Boiling
Once the collection of wort has begun then the boiling
process can begin. This should be a vigorous boil and it
should extend for 1.5 to 2 hr. or longer depending on the
initial volume of the wort. The boil serves a number of
functions, including precipitation of the excess proteins
from the wheat as well as reducing the volume of liquid
collected from the extensive sparging. The need for Irish
moss or other clarifying agents is unnecessary in lambic
brewing as the long boil will precipitate most of the
excess protein. Any that may remain in solution will be
utilized or precipitated during the lengthy fermentation
process.
Cooling
The Belgian lambic brewers pump the boiled wort into shallow
coolships and allow the wort to cool naturally overnight in
the loft of the brewery. During this time period the
microflora of the brewery inoculate the wort. These
microorganisms along with those present in the fermentation
casks are what ferment the wort. If you are a brave soul
you can try your hand at spontaneous fermentation. This
approach seems to have met with limited success here in the
US among homebrewers. You may want to instead consider
open cooling with the addition of some pure cultures.
Alternatively, you can use a wort chiller of your favorite
type and then inoculate the cooled wort with the
appropriate cultures. You can also allow the wort to cool
overnight in the pot it was boiled in with the lid on. The
next day, siphon the clear wort off the trub into a
fermentation vessel. This method of cooling leads to large
amounts of DMS being formed in the wort due to the long slow
cooling. This will all be volatilized during the lengthy
fermentation process.
Inoculation Schedules
Traditionally after the wort is boiled it is allowed to cool
overnight and during this time it becomes infected with
various bacteria and yeast. These microorganisms come from
the brewery s own microenvironment and cause the wort to
ferment. A few individuals here in the US who have
followed this approach have gotten mixed results. More
often than not the resulting product is not a very close
approximation of what real a lambic is like. The majority
of lambic-style brewers prefer to use pure cultures to
inoculate their wort and ferment it. This gives them a bit
of control over the process but can still lead to largely
unpredictable results.
In spontaneously fermented lambic there is a succession of
growth of the various organisms as described in Lambic
and elsewhere (2, 10, 11, 12, 13). With pure culture
lambic one has numerous options regarding when and how to
add the various microorganism. These range from simply
adding all the cultures right after cooling, to adding each
organism separately at various times to mimic the
spontaneous fermentation growth cycle.
The whole process is further complicated by the decision of
what size inoculum to use. Should one try to duplicate the
traditional method where the initial number of cells/ml
wort is very small or should one use larger cell numbers to
ensure proper growth of these microorganisms? There is not
a simple answer to these questions and again many
techniques have been and need to be tried.
The Brettanomyces and Pediococcus are slow growing
microorganisms requiring special environmental conditions
to grow. Even under the best conditions traditional lambic
brewers have problems with some cask not fermenting properly
because the various organisms fail to thrive or grow too
much (14). (See Table Variability of Fermentation ) The
same thing can happen to those trying to make lambic-style
beers using pure cultures. If the environmental conditions
are not correct to start with or change too quickly, one or
more of the microorganisms may fail to grow or grow too
much and the resulting beer will lack the proper balance of
flavors. Of course there are not any definite answers as
to how to ensure the balanced growth of all the organisms
either.
A number of individuals have tried varying the starter size
as well as the addition schedule. Because lambic-style
ales take so long to develop the results so far are not
conclusive. One thing is known, and that is that you need
to have healthy cultures to start with and you need to
provide them with the proper environment with all the
necessary nutrients for growth. These goals can be achieved
by buying fresh cultures and using fresh extracts or
all-grain wort.
Wort and Fermentation Temperatures
After you settle on an inoculation size and schedule there
are things you can do to achieve good growth of the various
yeast and bacteria in the wort. First of all you should
have a wort high in dextrins and unconverted starch. This
can be achieved by following the guidelines for wort
composition already described. Once you have cooled the
wort and it is inoculated you should allow it to remain in
one vessel for the entire fermentation process. This runs
counter to the typical practice of racking the beer to a
new container after primary fermentation is complete. By
not racking one does not remove the nutrient rich trub and
yeast which will undergo autolysis and provide nutrients
for the Brettanomyces yeast and Pediococcus bacteria. It
has been shown that once the Saccharomyces has done its
work the majority of B vitamins and amino acids have been
removed from the wort. Thus they act as a storage depot
for these nutrients which are later utilized by the other
microorganisms. (10)
Temperature control is not as crucial in lambic brewing as
with other styles of brewing, but one should still try to
avoid extreme temperatures and fluctuations. A temperature
that is too high or low may lead to too little or too much
growth of one or more of the various microorganisms. In
Belgium the temperature of the lambic cask rarely exceeds
77 F (25 C). Those who have been to Belgium have noted that
it is generally pretty cool most of the year. It has been
noted by one person that even in April the Boon Brewery was
cold . At the same time do not get too concerned about
the temperature since it may be hard to find an ideal
temperature environment for the 1-2 years it will be
fermenting. Overall you may be better off having your beer
too cold than too warm. It is speculated that cold
temperatures will help prevent over acidification of the
beer by the yeast and bacteria. At the same time this will
allow the other flavor characteristics to develop.
The truly dedicated brewer might consider having a
fermentation area with both heating and cooling. Then by
checking the weather reports for Brussels, Belgium each day
via the internet he could make temperature adjustments and
have his beer ferment at close to the same temperature as
the real thing.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 7:40:43 -0700 (MST)
From: Jim Liddil <JLIDDIL at AZCC.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: AHA Talk part 5
Fruit
When many people hear the word lambic they think of beer
flavored with fruit. Indeed most of the lambic sold in the
world today is of the type flavored with fruit in one form
or another. Traditionally cherries and raspberries were the
fruits of choice for use in the beer. Now one can find
lambic flavored with any number of fruits, including
banana. The more traditional brewers use real fruit in
their beers. Because this is both expensive and time
consuming many brewers choose to use fruit juices and/or
extracts. They also pasteurize the beer to stabilize the
fruit flavor. If they did not do this the Brettanomyces
and lactic bacteria would continue to ferment the various
sugars and dextrins and strip a great deal of the fruitiness
from the beer. The beer would not have that big fruit
flavor and aroma that has come to be associated with these
types of beers. Of course brewers who follow more
traditional techniques allow the fruit lambic to continue
fermentation in the bottle and this leads to a much drier,
less fruity product. Both styles of products are meant to
appeal to different drinkers.
As a homebrewer you have many options available to you. You
can use real whole fruit, fruit juice or fruit extracts or
a combination of these. From the information I have
gathered it appears that approximately 2 lb. of fruit/gallon
of beer is the amount used by a number of the lambic
brewers in Belgium. (See Table) You might think any fruit
would work, but this does not seem to be the case. You
really should use a strong flavored, tart fruit such as
sour cherry or raspberry or possibly blackberry. Less
intense fruits simply do not have the flavor to stand up to
the flavor of lambic- style beer and refermentation. Of
course there are exceptions to this general view. As
stated before some lambic brewers have gone to using almost
any fruit under the sun. They are able to get a highly
flavored product through the use of fruit juices and
syrups. They also add sugar to the beer, blend it with very
young lambic, force carbonate and pasteurize. Of course
then they end up with a product which many feel is very far
removed from traditional lambic.
In order to emulate what traditional lambic brewers do you
should use plenty of real fruit, of the best quality you
can find. Again based on the information gathered you will
want to let the lambic-style beer stay on the fruit for 3-6
months. The lambic- style ale you use should be at least
one year old and should show some potential of being a nice
beer without adding fruit. You are not going to make a silk
purse out of a sow's ear. You will not magically transform
a so-so gueuze-style lambic into a Cantillon Rose de
Gambrinus clone simply by adding fruit!
If you are going to add fruit to a beer rack the beer into a
larger vessels such as a 8 gallon plastic fermenter. This
will allow for the extra volume from the fruit as well as
provide head space as fermentation begins again. Let it
settle for a few days and then add the fruit. Add the
fruit carefully to avoid splashing and excess aeration of
the beer that may lead to acetobacter contamination and
growth. Alternatively you can rack the beer onto the
fruit. You can use fresh, frozen or canned fruit. You may
want to crush the fruit prior to addition. You may also
want to look into the fruit puree products that are
available. Refer to the supplier list (Oregon Fruit
Products). If the beer has developed the right mix of
Pediococcus and Brettanomyces then the conditions in the
beer should prevent growth of any unwelcome microorganisms
that may be present on the fruit. If you are going to use
fresh fruit make sure it is clean and free of molds and
dirt. Whether you crush the fruit or not will probably have
little effect as the various microorganisms should be able
to break it down after a few months.
After the beer has fermented on the fruit for the required
time rack the beer off the sediment into another vessel.
Then allow it to settle for a few weeks. Doing this lets
any large pieces of material that may have been racked over
to settle prior to bottling. When ready to bottle rack the
beer yet again and follow the bottling instructions for a
standard gueuze style beer.
Brewer Fruit Amount (lb/gal)
Boon (8) Kriek 1.67
Framboise 1.67
Mariage Parfait (all) 2.0
Cantillon (15) Kriek 2.0
Lindemans (16) Kriek 1.7
Framboise 3.8
Peche 3.4
When making lambic-style beer with fruit, it is difficult to
make a product that has good lambic-like qualities along
with balanced fruit flavor. As already stated many lambic
breweries now add fruit juice and pasteurize their products
and this gives them a sweet, fruity product. This is not
the kind of balance many of us are trying to achieve. For
many of us an ideal product is something like a Hanssens
Kriek or a Boon 1986 Mariage Parfait Framboise. These are
products with an assertive lambic quality and an excellent
fruit flavor, without being toothache sweet.
The question among homebrewers has always been how does one
make such a product? Of course you must start with a good
base lambic-style beer and use plenty of fruit. But even
then many of us have failed at our attempts to reach
Nirvana. Opinions vary on how one might achieve a good
fruit lambic-style beer. Do not use a beer that is
excessively acidic or hard as the base. If you need to,
blend it with some younger softer beer. Fruits like
raspberries contribute their own acidity to the beer.
Starting with a too acid beer just seems to make matters
worse. Ferment the beer with fruit at cool temperatures to
slow the growth of microorganisms yet allow the beer to
extract the flavors from the fruit. Cool being something
in the range of 60 F or less.
Based on some limited experimentation it seems that
sweetening a fruit beer that is overly sour helps bring out
the fruit. The problem is as long as there are live
microorganisms in the beer, they will ferment any sugar you
add to the beer either before or at bottling. It has been
suggested that one traditional lambic brewer adds
unfermentable sugar in the form of saccharin to the beer at
bottling so it retains its fruit character without being
pasteurized. Saccharin works well when added to lambic in
the glass to counter the acidity. If you choose to try
saccharin dissolve it in a small amount water and add it to
a glass of beer using an eyedropper to see how you like it.
Many people find a little saccharin goes a long way. And
some find the sweetness from saccharin too chemical in
nature. So test it before you decide to add it to 5
gallons of precious beer.
Another option is to sterile filter (0.2 micron) the beer
prior to the addition of fruit (whole, syrup or extract).
Allow the filtered beer to extract the fruit flavor, if
using whole fruit, for a few weeks. Fine the beer (if
using whole fruit) and then add sugar as needed and keg it
and/or counter pressure fill bottles. Using this method you
can achieve a product that has a balance of qualities you
enjoy. This is a far from traditional method. But after
all this is not Belgium and we are homebrewers so we can do
whatever we want. Please remember not to call it lambic.
Fermentation Vessels
Lambic-style beer can be fermented in a number of different
types of vessels. These can range from the standard food
grade plastic bucket to the finest quality European oak
cask. This section will give an overview of the various
containers one can use, including the possible advantages
and disadvantages each provide.
Let s start with the standard food grade high density
polyethylene (HDPE) container. These come in a variety of
sizes ranging from 5 gallon buckets up to drums of 15
gallons or more. These vessels have the advantage of being
inexpensive, light weight and practically unbreakable.
Also HDPE is somewhat permeable to oxygen and other gases.
This will provide for a slow and continuous gas exchange
during the lengthy fermentation and may aid in the growth
of the Brettanomyces and subsequent flavor development and
maturation. This is purely speculation based on the fact
that wood is also gas permeable and is the traditional
material used for lambic fermentation.
A possible disadvantage of HDPE is that it is a plastic and
being such is relatively soft and the surface can become
scratched. The scratches in the surface may then harbor
the wild yeast and bacteria from the fermentation process.
Some people feel that a plastic vessel once scratched can
never be adequately cleaned and sanitized. This theory has
never been proven but is considered part of homebrewing
folklore. Thus once a plastic vessel is used for making
lambic-style beers you may not want to use it for anything
else. As stated previously if a vessel is cleaned and
sanitized properly there is no reason to be concerned about
cross contamination.
Another type of plastic container commonly used by
homebrewers is the 5 gallon water bottle made of
polycarbonate (PC) plastic. PC is harder and more rigid
than HDPE and has about twice the gas permeability for both
oxygen and carbon dioxide(17). As mentioned for HDPE this
gas permeability may be of some advantage in the long term
aging of lambic-style beers. PC being a plastic has the
same perceived disadvantage as HDPE in that it can be
scratched and thus harbor bacteria and wild yeast. PC has
the advantage of being able to withstand boiling water
without melting unlike HDPE. This allows one to thoroughly
sanitize such a container since the whole vessel can be
heated to a temperature that will kill all bacteria and
yeast. This can be done using boiling water or an
autoclave. Remember, be very careful when pouring boiling
water into a container to avoid personal injury. PC is a
clear plastic that allows observation of the fermentation
process over time. This quality seems to be important for
those first time lambic- style ale brewers who worry whether
or not their beer is developing a pellicle or ropiness.
If one is careful to keep their plastic brewing vessels
clean to start with then the more drastic measures such as
boiling water or full strength bleach are not really
necessary. A good general guideline is to always clean a
vessel when you are done using it and then rinse it with a
sanitizer before putting it away. For further information
on cleaning and sanitizing materials please refer to these
references (18,19).
Glass is generally considered by homebrewers to be the best
material for fermenting beer for a number of reasons. It
is very inert, easily cleaned, inexpensive and does not
allow gas diffusion to occur. Also the clarity of glass
allows one to observe the fermentation process and the
various stages a lambic-style beer goes through over the
course of time. Glass carboys of five to 7 gallon capacity
will work just fine for producing lambic-style ales.
Remember glass is fragile and large pieces of broken glass
can inflict serious injury.
The impermeability of glass to gas diffusion is not likely
to be as important in lambic- style beer production as it is
for other types of beer. As stated before the traditional
oak cask is far from absolutely gas impermeable. Also the
fact that glass does not allow gas diffusion is made moot
by the fact that studies show that in a vessel the majority
of gas diffusion occurs through the closure and it s sealing
surface ( i.e. stopper or lid), not the vessel walls
(Personal Communication, Nalgene Technical Services).
Another material used by brewers is stainless steel, which
has the advantages of inertness, strength and ease of
cleaning. It is relatively expensive and completely
opaque. Even if one has an extra pot or keg to ferment in,
one must remember that it will have fermenting beer in it
for a year or more and thus not usable for other purposes.
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End of Lambic Digest
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