TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
I've been wanting to do a three vessel solera for a while, and now that I have a vial of ECY20 coming, I thought about using that. So here's was I'm thinking:
For the solera, I'd annually brew up an Oud Bruin-ish style (5 gallons, about 1.055-1.060 OG), throw it in primary with a small amount of oak, and the inaugural batch would get half the vial of ECY20. The other half of the vial would go onto a pale unblended lambic-ish of 70/20/10 Pilsner/Rye/Munich, also 5 gallons, 1.040-1.045 OG.
Here are some things that come to mind:
1) My thought for the lambic is to save a portion of the cake to ferment the following year's solera batch (just in case I can't get my hands on a fresh vial), as well as second batch of the lambic. I realize this will change the bug ratio, but I'm not too worried about that, and I would probably pitch a small amount of fresh Sacch just to help fermentation. If needed, I could also use the cake semi-annually if waiting an entire year is inadvisable.
2) I'm curious how many generations I could get out of one vial, knowing (but not really caring) that subsequent generations would have varying bug ratios. I also know down the line, I would eventually have to hit it with a fresh batch of bugs.
3) Would the solera ever need to be transferred off of the yeast cake? Since this is an indefinite blending project, my thought is that I would, if needed, transfer the beer (along with the oak it's been sitting on) to a fresh fermenter when brewing the next year's batch.
What do you guys think? Is there anything else I might be overlooking?
For the solera, I'd annually brew up an Oud Bruin-ish style (5 gallons, about 1.055-1.060 OG), throw it in primary with a small amount of oak, and the inaugural batch would get half the vial of ECY20. The other half of the vial would go onto a pale unblended lambic-ish of 70/20/10 Pilsner/Rye/Munich, also 5 gallons, 1.040-1.045 OG.
Here are some things that come to mind:
1) My thought for the lambic is to save a portion of the cake to ferment the following year's solera batch (just in case I can't get my hands on a fresh vial), as well as second batch of the lambic. I realize this will change the bug ratio, but I'm not too worried about that, and I would probably pitch a small amount of fresh Sacch just to help fermentation. If needed, I could also use the cake semi-annually if waiting an entire year is inadvisable.
2) I'm curious how many generations I could get out of one vial, knowing (but not really caring) that subsequent generations would have varying bug ratios. I also know down the line, I would eventually have to hit it with a fresh batch of bugs.
3) Would the solera ever need to be transferred off of the yeast cake? Since this is an indefinite blending project, my thought is that I would, if needed, transfer the beer (along with the oak it's been sitting on) to a fresh fermenter when brewing the next year's batch.
What do you guys think? Is there anything else I might be overlooking?
