Lambic Help

[NZLunchie]

Hi Everyone.

I'm looking to brew a lambic - I have yeast that captured off silage (yes, fodder), but I have some questions, hoping someone here can answer them:

1. I have already grown the yeast. In the words of a fellow brewer here, it smells terrible but tastes like orange juice. Since I have no idea what is in what I captured, am I better off doing a sour mash with it?

2. I have no idea on a recipe. I have done some reading and it seems a 70/30 Pilsner/Wheat seems to be the way to go. I looked into a turbid mash, but I think for my first time, I'd like to go for a single decoction mash. Is it possible to use a 70/20/10 of Pils, Wheat, Dark Wheat to add some complexity to the beer?

3. I have fruit to add. Around 8kg (17lb) of frozen feijoa I have ready to go. I'm thinking this will be too much for a 23l (6g) batch? When do I add the fruit and how much do you think? I'm keen for the whole lot depending on how sour it gets.

4. I do not have any glass to secondary in so am thinking of tying up a keg for the secondary/aging process. I was also thinking of throwing in some oak. Is this something that is normally done? If so, should I use raw oak, or toast it first?

5. Hops. From my reading I see aged hops seem to be the way to go. I don't have any, so would a noble hop be suitable to use? Since I'm in NZ, I'm thinking a low dose of Motueka maybe? Low AA% but high aroma. If I do, how many IBU am I looking to get?

I'm sure I will have other questions but for now that's it.....

 

[JJack887]

Make absolutely sure your IBU is LOW as to not inhibit the bacteria. I think you can order aged hops specifically used for lambics. Your grain bill is fine. 17lbs. is a bit overkill for six gallons, so save a portion for another brew or wine. As for your yeast and oaking, I'm not really sure. I say go for it with the yeast. I've never oaked before, so...

 

[NZLunchie]

Make absolutely sure your IBU is LOW as to not inhibit the bacteria. I think you can order aged hops specifically used for lambics. Your grain bill is fine. 17lbs. is a bit overkill for six gallons, so save a portion for another brew or wine. As for your yeast and oaking, I'm not really sure. I say go for it with the yeast. I've never oaked before, so...

Thanks for your response
I've had some more input from the lovely folks on Milk The Funk on Facebook and have decided to just do a plain lambic for now, without the fruit. I have a couple of 30L sanke kegs that I plan to use as my sour beer fermenters. Once I can get around to modifying those I'll get to brewing.

Still planning to use the same recipe 70/20/10 of Pils, Wheat, Dark Wheat and if I can find some aged hops here in NZ, or just like you say, go low on the IBU and let it funk up.