Leaving a Flanders Red on the yeast cake.

[mitchard]

So a few months back, I brewed a Flanders Red, and opted to go with Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Blend.

I went to check on it the other day, as I originally planned on racking it off of the yeast cake into a secondary to avoid off-flavors due to autolysis and such. There is a nice pellicle going, and I almost don't want to disturb the beer now.

How bid of a risk do I run leaving it on the yeast cake? I've seen that the Brettanomyces strains in the blend will help clean up the yeast a bit, but how much? I found that info while reading up on Lambic brewing, and decided to leave my currently 7 month old lambic on the cake when the primary Saccharomyces fermentation had completed. I haven't detected any autolysis based off flavors in the Lambic as of yet, but i'm kind of worried about the Flanders since i've seen several sources saying to take it off of the cake.

 

[finsfan]

Brett can typically handle any autolysis that occurs, and that is actually encouraged by some brewers as the brett can develop further from that food source. Roeselare has two strains of brett so it shouldnt be an issue. Most lambics (as you mentioned) will stay on the yeast cake for the entirety of the aging process. I dont have experience in this particular situation, but I think you would be safe either way. I cant see a reason why it would be detrimental to the beer to leave on the yeast cake or rack off of it. More scientific info on this would be good though.

 

[j1n]

Should be fine. i got mine still on the cake and its been almost 4 months. only time im going to rack off the cake is when i brew another and will add the fresh wort to the same fermentor with the cake in it.

 

[Weezy]

I've got 4 gallons in a sealed five gallon corny as the ferm vessel. I pull the pressure release once a week and its got 2-3 psi in there every time... and its been 8 months.

Let'er rip and enjoy!

 

[mitchard]

Thanks for the input!

 

[microbusbrewery]

I usually pitch Roeselare as the primary strain. I left the first couple Flanders Reds on the yeast cake from 1-2 years. No ill effects that I could detect and the second one took gold in the sour category of a local comp.

 

[sfgoat]

Mine never developed a pellicle but it has been on the yeast cake for over a year now with the plan to bottle in September. So hopefully it turns out good because I've been aweful patient.:beer:

 

[mitchard]

Mine never developed a pellicle but it has been on the yeast cake for over a year now with the plan to bottle in September. So hopefully it turns out good because I've been aweful patient.:beer:

Have you sampled it at all?

 

[MileHighBrewer]

Not having a pellicle doesn't really mean anything. It's probably fine. If you rack or sample then I'd expect a pellicle to form due to the presence of oxygen

 

[sfgoat]

Have you sampled it at all?

No haven't sampled at all.