Last spring (2011) I brewed Northern Brewer’s Lambic partial mash kit. OG came out just as it should have. Primary fermentation went Ok. Moved it to Secondary after 1 or 2 weeks and put it in the basement and basically forgot about it for 18 months. When I started thinking about bottling, I discovered that probably some months ago, the water in the airlock had evaporated. I bottled it anyway. I put 2 bottles in the refrigerator 3 weeks after bottling. Both of them had a little pressure when opened, but the beer was basically flat. I’ve never had a “straight-up, unblended, and unobscured by fruit” lambic so I don’t really know what it is supposed to taste like. Did I ruin it by losing the airlock?
My biggest concern with a lambic having the airlock dry out would be the potential for increased growth of acetobacter, which could lead to a more vinegar-like acidity. Brett naturally creates a pellicle to protect against this to some degree, and a bit of acetic character is OK in a lambic anyways.
Basically, taste and see. I think you should be OK, but in the end your palate will decide if you like it. Try a couple of good commercial examples so you have something to compare it against. (Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, Boon, Girardin, etc.)
Did you add some yeast at bottling? After that amount of time your yeast might be really sluggish. I’d give it a few more weeks to carb and if it stays nearly flat then open bottled and add a grain or two of dry yeast.
As far as the airlock, I agree its not a huge deal. They store them in wooden barrels and that gives some amount of oxidation as well. If its not vinegary, its fine. It can even have a hint of acetic character but not much.
Thanks for the input. I gave it a few more weeks and the next one I tried had much better carbonation. I think the taste will be fine. It’s sour, and it is supposed to be. I will try to find some commercial examples to compare though.
