Tart beer?

[_CJ]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to make a tart fruit beer? I've had some pretty amazing tart beers, but have no idea how it's done. Special preparation of the fruit? Special yeast? Extended aging?

[husker267]

Tart beers (lambics, berliner weiss, flanders red, etc) get most of their character from very special yeast and/or bacteria. Here's a link regarding the different types available to homebrewers from white labs.
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/bacteria.html
I do have the lambic book from the classic beer series. It looks like the brewing process is pretty standard, except for the use of old/oxidized hops. But it's the extended aging process that could stretch into years that pushes me away from trying a lambic. Plus I've heard stories of the bacteria and yeast setting up permanent shop in your brewery that could contaminate every following brew.

[xjmatt]

Yup you're talking lambic if you want a tart beer. The most comercially available version would be something along the lines of Lindemans Framboise.

Lindemans is an example of a tart fruit lambic but there are many others out there. In general you would make your beer and use a neutral yeast that doesn't give off much of it's own character White labs 001 or wyeast 1056 are good for this. Once it's done you add your fruit and lambic-critters to secondary and buckle down for a long haul. Minimum 6 month secondary fermentation while the bacteria do their job. At 6 months it might be drinkable to a homebrewer and at about a year it'll probably be consumable by your friends who also enjoy your homebrew.

Before trying to make a tart beer do a LOT of research. A good book is "Wild Brews" by Jeff Sparrow. 6-12 months is a long time to wait to find out that you've made 5 gallons of cat pee.