Brew #24 – Cherry Lambic (Kriek) #1 (Secondary)

Brew #24 – Cherry Lambic (Kriek) #1 (Secondary)

05/05/2012 – Brewed 5.5 gallons

2# – 2-row
2# – Flaked wheat
3# – Light Pilsen DME
3# – Wheat DME
1 oz – Hersbrucker hops (60 min boil)
1 tsp – Irish moss (15 min boil)
1.5 packs – Wyeast 3278 Lambic Blend

Aerated with O2 for 45 seconds
OG: 1.061, 15.5% Brix

1 gallon of old tap water used accidentally.

Fermentation began after about 12 hrs.

Vintner’s Harvest, Sweet cherry puree (well-known sweet cherry varieties)
Specific gravity=1.092 – 1.115

08/11/2012 – Racked to secondary

Poured 2 cans of cherry puree into the secondary and racked the lambic on top of it.

Before the cherries…
I.G.: 1.008, 7.5% Brix (7% ABV)

After cherries…
8.4% Brix

Stirred up the cherries and put in the fermentation chamber at 68 degrees F

Some definite funk to the aroma.  Tastes mildly sour.  Very clear.

10/27/2012 – Tested and tasted

Still 8.4% Brix

Nice and tart, but cherries seem not to have been fermented at all.  When this was racked to secondary, almost no yeast cake was transferred, though it seems it was needed.  In an attempt to restart fermentation, I racked a bit of the yeast cake from the Kriek #2 primary into this secondary and stirred.  Hoping this will kick off the fermentation again.

08/20/2013 – Added Pectic Enzyme

The Kriek still has most of the fluff from the cherries at the bottom.  Dissolved  1 tsp of pectic enzyme in about a cup of Kriek and stirred it back in.

The smell is very nice.  The taste is pretty sour, with a slightly odd after taste.  I’m hoping that the pectic enzyme will improve it.

Filled the head space with CO2 before replacing the airlock.

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