Lambic 3.0

Last year around this time I brewed my first Lambic (v1.0).  I brewed it using a turbid mash, fermented it with Wyeast Lambic Blend and added dregs of various bottles of Lambics over the year for a more diverse microbe flora and flavour complexity.  I also brewed another one a few months ago using Steve Piatz’s extract recipe, which became my Lambic v2.0

Last week I bottled 2.5 gallons of v1.0 straight.  An additional 2.5 gallons was racked over 4 pounds of local strawberries that I picked last summer. This batch will mature for another six months before bottling. I also kept one gallon of v1.0 with the intention of aging it for another year, then blending it with some of v2.0 and v3.0 to make a Gueuze.

For this year’s version, I stayed with the typical Lambic grist which consists of about 60% malted barley and 40% raw wheat.  It was brewed using a turbid mash again, debittered hops and boiled for three hours. 

For the yeast and bugs, I used the slurry from v1.0 and a fresh pack of 3278. The fresh pack probably wasn’t necessary, but I would rather be safe than sorry, especially since I will be waiting a minimum of 12 months before processing it. 

I will end with a quote that can be found hanging at the Cantillon brewery that I really like.  For wild ales, this couldn’t be more true!

“Le temps ne respecte pas ce qui se fait sans lui. » which translate to « Time does not respect what is made without it.”

Recipe Specifications

Batch Size (Gal): 12.00

Total Grain (Lbs): 23.00

Estimated OG: 1.053

Anticipated SRM: 3.9

Anticipated IBU: 0.0 IBU

Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %

Wort Boil Time: 180 Minutes

Grains

60.9% (14 lbs) - Pils

39.1% (9 lbs) - Raw Wheat

Hops

8.00 oz Debittered Hops @ 180 min

Yeast

WY3278 Lambic Blend + slurry from v1.0

Mash Schedule

Acid Rest - 15 min @ 113F

Protein Rest - 15 min @ 126F

     -transferred 1.5 gallon to kettle #2 and heated to 190F

Sacc Rest - 45 min @ 149F 

     -transferred 2 gallon to kettle #2 and heated to 190F

Sacc Rest  - 30 min @ 162F 

Sparge about 4 gallons to kettle #1

Added kettle #2 to mash to acheive mash out temps rest

Mash Out Rest - 20 min @ 172F

Notes

04/21/14: Brew day

Fly sparge with 190F water

Collected 12 gallons

OG = 1.051