Wyeast 3278 slow start

Yeast & Fermentation
1

Finally took the plunge into sour beers this weekend and brewed a lambic using wyeast’s lambic blend. It was a distracted brew day, and I didn’t notice until pitching time that 1: the pack hadn’t puffed up and 2: it was marked June '14.

As of last night a pellicle had just started to form, but there’s no krausen and no airlock activity yet. Fermenter is in a basement closet with an ambient temperature about 64.

Being that I’m new to the style, not sure if I should be concerned or just assume the blend lets the bacteria take hold first. Should I pitch a Belgian ale blend or just leave it for now?

2

If you haven’t seen activity yet, pitch some US-05. The brett and bugs tend to be more resilient than yeast. If you can get fermentation going you should still end up with a funky sour.

3

I finally have a krausen formed with the airlock bubbling. Is this kind of delay common with this blend?

4

I haven’t used the strain but I would guess the age of the yeast and being at the low end of the temp range would have a lot to do with the slow start.