Dear all.
After some thinking time, I've come to the point where I can no longer hold myself back. It's time to brew my first lambic style 'wild' brew.
Considering that the process will take around two years, I want to be absolutely sure (well, as sure as one can be when it comes to beer) that I end up with an acceptable product two years from now.
I've decided to have a fairly thought through strategy ready, and I would love to get any feedback, both good and bad, from the lot of you.
Materials: (5-gallon batch)
3 kg Maris Otter
1,5 kg unmalted wheat (organic bio stuff from a local farm)
100g aged low-AA hops (fake aged... It's going in the oven)
WLP655 (Belgian Sour Mix 1)
I aim for a OG of around 1.050, the grain should get me to that point.
Fermentation & aging:
WLP-yeast, at the moment I'm not able (and gutsy enough) to go 'true' wild.
I do my primary & secondary fermentation in plastic buckets, and I plan to do that here also. I am not bothered with the sour taste getting stuck in the bucket.
After an month or so, it is my plan to transfer the liquid into a Cornelius keg with a pressure vent, then let it sit for 18-24 months in the attic. I am not worried with temperature shifts, it'll do something to the beer, and that's fine.
After the 18-24 months I've thought about tapping half the batch in bottles (with a small amount of priming sugar (dextrose)), and adding fruit to the second half. I'm thinking cherries or strawberry, depending on what local stuff I can find at the time.
Actually i might just end up filling 4 kegs with 4 batches and then 'fruit' an entire batch up after the waiting period.
So, there we are, that's the plan. I've tried to think of everything, and of course I've probably missed several things, so if any of you have any comments, feedback, suggestions or straight up warnings please shoot away. I'm planning to start the brew within a couple of weeks but I will prospone if I'm in trouble.
Thank you all in advance!
After some thinking time, I've come to the point where I can no longer hold myself back. It's time to brew my first lambic style 'wild' brew.
Considering that the process will take around two years, I want to be absolutely sure (well, as sure as one can be when it comes to beer) that I end up with an acceptable product two years from now.
I've decided to have a fairly thought through strategy ready, and I would love to get any feedback, both good and bad, from the lot of you.
Materials: (5-gallon batch)
3 kg Maris Otter
1,5 kg unmalted wheat (organic bio stuff from a local farm)
100g aged low-AA hops (fake aged... It's going in the oven)
WLP655 (Belgian Sour Mix 1)
I aim for a OG of around 1.050, the grain should get me to that point.
Fermentation & aging:
WLP-yeast, at the moment I'm not able (and gutsy enough) to go 'true' wild.
I do my primary & secondary fermentation in plastic buckets, and I plan to do that here also. I am not bothered with the sour taste getting stuck in the bucket.
After an month or so, it is my plan to transfer the liquid into a Cornelius keg with a pressure vent, then let it sit for 18-24 months in the attic. I am not worried with temperature shifts, it'll do something to the beer, and that's fine.
After the 18-24 months I've thought about tapping half the batch in bottles (with a small amount of priming sugar (dextrose)), and adding fruit to the second half. I'm thinking cherries or strawberry, depending on what local stuff I can find at the time.
Actually i might just end up filling 4 kegs with 4 batches and then 'fruit' an entire batch up after the waiting period.
So, there we are, that's the plan. I've tried to think of everything, and of course I've probably missed several things, so if any of you have any comments, feedback, suggestions or straight up warnings please shoot away. I'm planning to start the brew within a couple of weeks but I will prospone if I'm in trouble.
Thank you all in advance!