12 replies to this topic

[ncbeerbrewer]

Ok so I don't have a recipe to post here and critique but I am putting forth a request to all of you here. My wife likes lambics especially the Raspberry Lambic from Lindeman's. I am wondering, I have never brewed a beer such as this. Can anyone here throw out a suggestion or share a quality Lambic recipe for me? I appreciate the help and wish you the best as well.Mike

[MtnBrewer]

Lambics are about more than a recipe; there's a whole process behind them. I'd pick up a copy of Wild Brews first and learn about turbid mashes and fermenting with bugs. I hope your wife is patient....lambics take a minimum of a year and often longer.

[wengared]

You can also order a "brewers best" kit that will give you a close clone of a raspberry lambic,

[ncbeerbrewer]

I have considered getting some of the belgium brewing books that are out there and Wild Brews is one of them. Thanks for the advice. Yes thankfully she is patient and that was the first thing I told her, one year minimum.

[3rd party JKor]

My wife is a fan of the Lindeman's Framboise, I'd think about making a conventional clone if there was a good recipe out there, but I'm not getting into Lambic brewing techniques.

[earthtone]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ....THE IMPATIENT MAN'S LAMBIC-ISH FRAMBOISE.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Or ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ........................... "A Cheater's Framboise" ........................ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (Calculations are for 5.5 gallons, assuming .5 gallons lost to trub in the kettle, etc. I boiled 5.5 gal's and topped off to remake volume before chilling) GRAINS Mash: 7.5 lb British two-row 0.6 lb Crystal 20L 0.6 lb Crystal 40L 0.6 lb British crystal 50-60L 0.25 lb CaraPils 1 oz Black Patent 1 oz Roasted Barley 1/2 oz Smoked Malt (Gravity at this point is 1.044) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SOURING THE WORT Add 1/2 lb crushed (but unmashed) 2-Row malt to the wort/runnings once it has cooled to 120 degrees F Let it sit for 15-24 hours, insulated with a blanket. Important: Keep close tabs on it in the hours after 12. As with all things bacterial, and fungal, I think the activity was exponential. It soured a LOT in the last few hours. Keep an eye on it when doing this, esp. in the later hours and don't "assume" a certain amount time will be right. Ii got very very sour in the last 3 hours, when it had seemingly not soured at all (at least to taste) in the first 12 hours). Also: Pitch in the ground unmashed grains at about 120 degrees into the wort, not 130, as Papazian mentions. The higher temp seems to pasteurize or shock the stinky lactobacillus / pedococcus / diaperbacillus bugs. 110-120 works fine. Also: I kept the wort in my kettle as it was souring. I did not want to possibly infect anything in my brew-works with the lacto-bugs. I figured the boil would eventually kill everything in the kettle off. Oh: It will taste absolutely awful when it is done souring: sour, and "funky/moldy" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE BOIL Skim any gunk that has formed on top of the wort. Then pour the wort off of the crud (from the unmashed grains) at bottom of whatever vessel you soured it in, and put back in your kettle. Bring the Wort to a boil. (Total boil time is 90 minutes) Boil for 30 minutes. It will stink like hell for the first 30 minutes of the boil... At 30 minutes into the boil HOPS 60 Minutes: 0.25 oz Stale Cascade hops 5.3%* (plug) 30 Minutes: 0.25 oz Stale Cascade hops 5.3%* (plug) * These were old and very stale, so they had little or no bittering properties-- so the AA's there are probably not realistic AT ALL. I recently read you could do that to your hops by drying them out in a low oven for a while 15 minutes: Add to the boil 1lb Wheat DME (Recipe gravity before wheat: 44. With Wheat Extract 51.) Whirlfloc @ 10 minutes. Flameout. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PRIMARY FERMENTATION Top off with water to reach 5.5 gallons, Cool, and rack into primary fermenter. Pitch a healthy starter of American Ale Yeast 2 (Wyeast # 1272), and wait for hell to break loose. This one ferments wildly, and with the wheat dme, a blowoff tube is an absolute necessity. A note on my yeast choice: I chose this because of its description: "Fruitier and more flocculant than 1056, slightly nutty, soft, clean, slightly tart finish." Fruity and tart is what I was looking for, along with the "unplaceable" nuttiness. I also wanted a kick-butt strong-fermenting yeast with good attenuation. All seemed to fit the bill with 1272. I fermented at the top of it's range (72 degrees) to accentuate the fruity aspects of it. I am sure you could use a Belgian yeast if you wanted to, but the reason I used this one is because of the impatience. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SECONDARY FERMENTATION (& the Framboise part) When primary fermentation is pretty much done (5 days or so), rack the wort into a 6.5 gal secondary (transferring some of the highly flocculant yeast), on top of: 8-9 lbs of Raspberries I used frozen raspberries which were added to a pint of water (to prevent scorching/pectin setting on the stove), and pasteurized at 140 degrees for 25 mins and then cooled. Now wait for hell to REALLY break loose. Attach a blowoff tube. Trust me. When fermentation settles down, add pectic enzyme (at slightly higher doses than normal because of the alcohol content of the fermenter). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TERTIARY FERMENTATION Rack (avoiding the raspberry gunk) to a Tertiary fermenter to clear when secondary is done. (OPTIONAL: Depending on how sweet you want this to be, add up to 3 lbs (yes, 3 lbs) Lactose (boiled in enough water to dissolve it). I added most of it, but if you want something very dry, add none. It will be very, very dry, eventually.) Let settle/ferment/condition/clarify/whatever for about 2 weeks. For some reason, despite gravity readings being steady, I still got bubbling in my pipe. When I tasted it, it had a lot of CO2 in solution, which I think is what is bubbling). My final gravity was in the neighborhood of 1.010-1.012 Bottle with a healthy dose of carbonation (more than normal; suggest 5 oz corn sugar or, in my case, 3/4 cup honey). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It tasted great going into the bottles; very complex, the touches of black patent and roast barley, undoubtedly the horrible-smelling sour-mash, and probably the stale flavor hops, give it the "what's that flavor?" tastes I get with a lambic. The one flavor which I notice in lambics that is less pronounced (but not altogether absent) in this invention is the "soapy" flavor, which I actually don't miss. I haven't gotten it carbonated yet, but I will report in when I try one. There you have it & apologies to the purists. Respectfully submitted, --TT

This looks like a nice way to get close to the style without the worry of lambic contamination or the patience. Anyways, always stuck in the back of my mind as something I'd like to try - maybe it'll tickle your fancy. Here is the complete thread with comments, etc.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Thanks Earth. Hmm yes that does sounds interesting. That is the best method I have seen so far. and JK I too don't really wanna get into the Lambic brewing techniques either. We will see. I might try this before summer is through too.

[3rd party JKor]

Thanks Earth. Hmm yes that does sounds interesting. That is the best method I have seen so far. and JK I too don't really wanna get into the Lambic brewing techniques either. We will see. I might try this before summer is through too.

You ever try this, NC? I really want my wife to be able to drink some of my beer...but it can't taste like beer.

[ncbeerbrewer]

You ever try this, NC? I really want my wife to be able to drink some of my beer...but it can't taste like beer.

JK, No I never got around to giving this a try. I will at some point. I am with you though with the feeling for the wife. Mine has a great taste pallet but she never drinks mine or most any beer as well. Maybe she will change but I won't bank on it. If you give this a go let me know, I would love to hear your feedback.

[cavman]

The Lindeman's Lambics are not really Lambics, so I have no idea how to brew one. I do however plan to do a Three Philosopher's clone which Lindeman's Kriek is used to blend.

[kbhale]

I typed several replies. I settled on this one.Read Wild brews first. If haven't already.It took me 9 months to Ferment a good sour beer.I can add my sour beer to a carboy filled with fruit and a year later might have a good sour fruit beer.I just mix my sour beer to fruit wine.

[Jimmy James]

I have a Kriek going and there's a thread in this forum with my recipe and description of the process. FWIW you can get a sour brew in <1yr - my lambic was soured up pretty quick. I didn't follow a traditional process, in short I fermented out a lambic base beer then racked onto the fruit and pitched the bugs, then a few weeks later racked again and have been letting it sit until I get an open keg for it. When I transferred off the fruit it was already sour and had a nice flavor. Probably I will do some passion fruit lambic next, and maybe I'll wait a full year for that one to sour before adding the fruit, but I am not sure yet how I will do that one. A lot of the lambics you can buy out there are sweet and have unfermented fruit juice blended in. If that's what you're going for then I wouldn't be much help. Personally I would make a raspberry beer sour to cut down on the cough-syrup flavor they tend to impart. At least, that's always my perception of raspberry brews where the fruit is completely fermented out, and blending back in sweet juice would probably make it worse.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I have not had the time or really sat down and planned for brewing this beer yet. Maybe I will in the winter. I have been brewing a bunch of other things so far. I will follow ET directions I think it looks pretty good. Maybe I am nuts but I don't think I could recreate a beer like Lindeman's and my wife is not really much of a beer drinker so I am sure I would drink most of it or just share it with friends too.