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pLambic--extract with steeping grain

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akueck

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
My inaugural attempt at a plambic (cf: pleather). To soon be followed by a gluten-free (ish) version.

For ~5 gallons:
4 lb liquid light extract
3 lb liquid wheat extract
1/4 lb crystal 20
1/4 lb maltodextrin
2 oz aged hops
WLP655 & US-05 split pitch, to be recombined soon
OG 1.056

Fairly basic brewing procedures, with a 90 minute partial boil (4 gallons). Traditionally these are >30% wheat, ours is a little less (about 25%). Traditionally also unmalted wheat is used, we cheat here again. Ah well. The hopping rate is a little low as well, typically hops are added at roughly 1 oz/gallon. But this is all the aged hops I had, so there you go. Hops were 2-2.5 years old, though stored in a freezer (original packaging had been opened, stored in a ziploc bag). The last remaining aromatics were driven off a week before brewing by heating in the oven at about 90ºC for a few hours. Storage after this was at room temperature.

3 gallons were drawn off and inoculated with just yeast. The remainder (1.5 gallons or so) got the bugs. Pitched at 72 F, now fermenting at 64. The bug portion was foil-covered for 24 hours but now is sporting some white spotty colonies of something and an airlock/dowel combo. The yeast-only part is roaring along, oblivious to its eventual fate.

Check back next year for some results. :rolleyes:
 
The peak of activity is already passed for the yeast batch, and the krausen is now only about 1/3 gallon instead of 1/2 gallon of foam as it was this morning. Looks like this part of the fermentation will be quick and uneventful. Smells good too.

The bugs are happy too; the little white colonies are now covering 90+% of the surface. The airlock rigging is doing its job too, with some bubbles lazily pushing through. No idea how permeable that dowel is.... Smells boring, but it's only been 30 hours so I can't imagine the fun bits have arrived yet.
 
As usual, as soon as I say something like "it looks like things will go in this direction," the yeast laugh and do what they want instead. Good for them.

The yeast portion has surged and there is now almost a whole gallon of foamy goodness. The buggy container now has a yeasty krausen on it and the little while colonies are either covered up or dispersed or something.
 
wildoates said:
Photos. I want photos.

I'm a visual girl, what can I say?

;D
Click to expand...

Must ... remove mind ... from gutter!

You're bad lately. >:D

Ok, here are some pictures for the visually stimulated:
DSCN0717.jpg

The part with just yeast.

DSCN0718.jpg

The part with yeast and bugs and all. You can see my fancy airlock/dowel combo on top. Bonus viewing are the mead yeast tests still waiting to be bottled in the background. Maybe tomorrow? Probably not, I'll try for next week after NHC.
 
The one with the bugs...is there no foam in the center? I looks like a monk's tonsure. :)

(here's hoping that if I bring up Monks I won't be accused of being naughty!)

:angel10:

It looks very amazing--it's what you miss when you primary in a bucket.
 
No foam in the middle. If I had to guess, I would say it has something to do with the indent (does punt still apply to carboys?) in the center of the container, which is approximately the same diameter. It's a pretty severe dent, so maybe it messes up the fluid dynamics above it and you get no foam in such a shallow batch. Or not, who knows, I never had a fluid mechanics class. Materials science is usually occupied with solids. ;)
 
No, I didn't take any of those classes either...math idiot here, which is why I studied paleontology.

So your hypothesis sounds as reasonable as anything else to me!
 
The no-foam hole has shrunk to about the size of a half dollar (remember those?) as of right now. Looks like the answer is "the foam started at the outside". Still might have something to do with the punt, maybe?
 
Both portions of this batch have completed the primary yeasty action. Yesterday the US-05 part was racked into the buggy container. We also added 3/4-1 oz of oak cubes that were used in various previous mead batches. These will probably lend some oak character to the beer, and maybe even some cyser/melomel/whatever flavors from the cubes' previous lives. Also, we plan to use the oak as storage & propagation systems for future batches.
 
There is a very wispy whitish film on top of the pLambic. Could it be the beginnings of a pellicle? Stay tuned!
 
First tasting!

Not too bad, it has a sourness which is very lambic-like. There is a strong malty flavor and even some hop presence, which is odd for a lambic but not terrible. Has some promise, but for now it's back in the cabinet. Going to have to figure out how to bottle it at some point soon.
 
Yes, that was the original idea. There are some oak cubes hanging out in there which should be full of bugs now. I might try keeping some of the lees too.
 
Thought I forgot about this one, didn't you?

Bottled today! It is a beautiful color, kind of a deep ruby. Smells great, haven't tasted my taster bottle yet but I plan on it today. I'll try to post up a picture too.

Yield: 5 6-packs of 12-oz bottles, 5 750 ml, one 22 oz, and a taster bottle with about 10 oz in it.

The oak cubes are in two baggies in the fridge. One bag is just cubes (moist), and the other is cubes plus leesy sludge.
 
This one is taking its sweet time to carbonate, which I suppose isn't surprising. There is some sediment in the bottles, though very little, so something is going on. Bottles I have checked over the past few months have been flat still. Mixing with some carbonated water does perk it up, so assuming it does carbonate it will be very nice. Otherwise, an excellent mixer for bland beer or the strangest Cosmopolitan you'll ever have. The flavor really is very good, and the color is amazing, it just needs bubbles.
 
What was the gravity when you bottled? I've read that traditional lambics have near 100% attenuation when fermented for three years, so I'm curious how well your colony did in the shorter time.

Definitely an awesome idea, and something I'm going to have to try now! :)
 
Can't remember if I measured it. Next time I open a bottle I'll see what it is (although priming sugar was added).
 
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