I sampled the 4 carboys of Lambic that I have had around for quite some time. I never sampled any before because I didn't want to bother the pellicle. I will be blending some Lambic for the production of a Gueuze. It was great to see that there was at least some Lambic that was tasting how I'd hoped it would. While the beer was clear, there was turbidity in the samples from the pellicle. The assessments are as follows:

Lambic 1 (Dec '05), Wyeast Lambic Blend: Probably deep gold in color. Big, nice horsey aroma with some light fruitiness. Flavor: Moderatly sour, hop bitterness, moderate acid, some alcohol warmth. Attributes: Good aroma, bitterness. Has a pellicle like the one I saw in the barrels at Wyeast.

Lambic 2 (Mar. 18, 08), Wyeast Lambic Blend: More color than #1. Maybe deep gold/lighter amber. Some horsey, earthy, darker aroma, sulphur. Juicy grapefruit acidity on the pallet, some late bitterness. Attribute: Big acidity and should be large portion of the blend.

Lambic 2GF (Mar. 18, 08), GueuzeFest I starter: Same color and wort as above. Dark blueberry, watermelon (!?) aroma, fruity, horsey, minty/herbal. Orange juicy palate, grapefruit bitterness. Acidic, but not as bright as it's brother. I think I can understand some of the character from the Boone Biers involved in the starter. Attributes: Really complex aroma.

Lambic 4 (July 11, 08), Wyeast Roeselare Blend: Young. Fatty, some buttery popcorn, fruity, maybe a little bit of iron. Too young, not much there.

I'm seeing blending with 1, 2, and 2GF. Mostly 2 with some 1 and some 2GF. 1 has all the hoppy character that one would want. 2 has the main body: sourness. 2GF adds some earth and complexity. 4 is way too young. This is what I know so far.

LAMBIC IV


17 1/2#    Weyermann Pils
6#            Wheat
2 oz.        '01 Crystal hop flowers @90 min.
GueuzeFest  II & III bug starters

10 gallons H20 with 2# pils & 6# wheat @ 148 down to 143: 30 min.  Bring slowly up to 212 & boil for 30 min.  Add 3+ gallons of cold H20 + 14# pils @ 144 up to 158: 1 hour+.  Sparge with 200F.  Collect 14, boil down to 12.

OG:  1.054

Biers in GF II:
    -3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze: Nov '05
    -Petrus Aged Pale
    -Oude Beersal Gueze
    -?

Biers in GF III:
    -Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru: Sept '05
    -Gueuze Fond Tradition/St. Louis
    -Oude Beersal
    -Gueuze Girardin 1882
    -3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze: Nov '05

This time I made Lambic, I wanted to make sure to have plenty of starch in it for the Brettanomyces & bacteria to chew on for the long term.  I don't think that I'd provided enough in the past ones.  Mash schedules were more conventional multi step ones.  So, I performed a version of the Wyeast Lambic Mash Schedule™.  A lazier version, perhaps.  I also wanted to add aged whole hops because in the past I'd just used debittered chinook at about 1% alpha.  It might be best to use no hops at all.  This would allow the bacteria free reign to acidify without the possiblity of being impaired by certain hop compounds.  I couldn't resist, though.  So I compromised and used 2 ounces instead of like 9 or 10 which would be a more stylisticly appropriate amount.

GueuzeFest II starter tasted awesome.  Plenty of acid and complexity, and it has been the first bugs outa the gate to show visual fermentation.  Not a pellicle, but a blotchy head of foam.  GF III has just started to show some action, too.  Foam may have been any Saccharomyces that were in these, but who knows.  I yielded about 12 gallons so I was able to use some to feed to the Yard City Terrior bugs.  That carboy is pellicling up nicely now.

Look at these kids. Two vigorous Lambic ferments. Jib sticker has the GueuzeFest mix. Both were at 65F for most of the time. Then the kitchen heated up a bit. Ferment without the extended mix of bugs is calming down a bit sooner than its neighbor. And now they are residing nearby their other wild neighbors under the stairs in the basement... for a very long time.