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addedreferences o Belgian lambic brewers using the term 'spontaneous fermentation'
'''Spontaneous Fermentation''', for the purposes of this article, refers to the inoculation of wort for fermentation with local ambient microbes. This term has been a long precedence of being used by Belgian lambic producers to describe the part of the lambic brewing process where yeast and bacteria inoculate their wort, and the term has been adopted by commercial brewers in other parts of the world to refer to this process <ref>[https://youtu.be/OBrRPbdCln4?t=4m Pierre Tilquin. Youtube interview. 09/16/2013. Retrieved 10/01/2018. ~4 minutes.]</ref><ref>[https://youtu.be/m_OJv5O8YL8?t=2m26s Jean Van Roy. Youtube interview. 03/13/2014. Retrieved 10/01/2018. ~2:26.]</ref><ref>[https://methodetraditionnelle.org/standards/ Méthode Traditionnelle standards. Retrieved 10/01/2018.]</ref>. Spontaneous fermentation is commonly achieved by use of open [[File:Tilquin blowoff tubes.jpeg|400px|thumb|right|Lambic fermenting at Tilquin with blowoff tubes]]cooling such as in a [[coolship]] where the wort is left exposed to the air and allowed to cool naturally over night and wild yeast and bacteria are introduced into the wort as it cools. Spontaneous fermentation is part of the traditional brewing process for [[Lambic]] <ref>[http://lambicandwildale.com/the-mystery-of-lambic-beer/ The Mystery of Lambic Beer. Jacques De Keersmaecker. Aug 1996. Retrieved 05/05/2015.]</ref>, however not all spontaneously fermented beers necessarily use other processes that lambic production methods use, and Belgian lambic producers insist that the term "lambic" should only be used for beers brewed in Belgium using the various lambic brewing methods (see [[Lambic#Lambic_outside_of_Belgium.3F|Lambic outside of Belgium]]). Spontaneous fermentation should not be confused with the various methods of [[Wild_Yeast_Isolation|culturing wild yeast and bacteria]] because many of the microbes that might make a flavor impact during spontaneous fermentation are killed off during the wild yeast culturing processes. Spontaneous fermentation should also not be confused with [https://byo.com/mead/item/1211-open-fermentation-tips-from-the-pros "open fermentation"], which is a generic method of fermenting many styles of beer including English ales and lagers in a vessel that is not closed.
==Defining Spontaneous Fermentation==
===Cooling===
A [[coolship]] is an open vessel used to cool wort by exposure to ambient air which traditional spontaneous fermentation brewers use to both cool their wort and to inoculate the wort with ambient microbes during the open overnight cooling (8-16 hours; extended cooling times of more than a day might lead to mold growth <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/JesterKingBrewery/posts/10154502699393649?comment_id=10154504389923649&reply_comment_id=10154512163043649&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R2%22%7D Thread on Jester King Brewery Facebook thread. 01/16/2017.]</ref>). Traditionally, a coolship is a broad, open-top, flat vessel in which wort cools overnight. The high surface to volume ratio allows for more efficient cooling, which is important at commercial production scales. In addition , this broad, shallow design maximizes the area of wort available for inoculation with ambient microbes. On a homebrew scale, where typical batch sizes cool more quickly, a wide shallow pan is not necessary to achieve appropriate cooling overnight given sufficiently low nighttime outdoor temperatures and the use of a wide shallow pan might result in cooling at a much more rapid rate than seen in traditional commercial production. Boil kettles and similarly shaped vessels are sufficient for overnight cooling for most homebrew batch sizes and may provide a rate of cooling more similar to that provided by coolships in commercial production sized batches <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1068826853145528/ Facebook post by James Howat] </ref>. Cantillon targets a cooled wort temp of 18-20 C (64.4-68 F) after the overnight cooling <ref name="Spontaneous Sour Hour" /> (~50 min in). Traditional producers only carry out spontaneous fermentation between fall and spring when nighttime temperatures have a low of -3.9 to 8°C (25-46°F) to appropriately cool the wort overnight <ref>Conversation between Dave Janssen and Armand Debelder of [[3 Fonteinen]], July 2011</ref><ref name="Spontaneous Sour Hour" />(~39 minutes in, ~54 minutes in). The ambient microbial balance may also be more favorable during this time of year (--some sources say there are more acetic acid bacteria in summer--), but inadequate cooling could result in similar results of enhanced acid production (similar to the effect of warm incubation in [[Wort Souring]], see also [[Spontaneous_Fermentation#Alternative_Applications_of_Spontaneous_Fermentation|Alternative applications of ''Spontaneous Fermentation'']] below). Whatever the root of the different resulting beers based on time of season/ambient nighttime temperature, producers do report different times of year/temperatures exerting a strong influence on the final beer, for example Rob Tod from Allagash Brewing reported solventy and ethyl acetate issues in beers after they were cooled over night at warmer temperatures and aged for 2 years <ref name="Spontaneous Sour Hour" />(~39 minutes in, ~54 minutes in).
Some more industrial producers of Belgian lambic as well as smaller North American brewers employing spontaneous fermentation acidify their wort before primary fermentation. This may eliminate the enteric bacteria step <ref name="Spitaels et al., 2015">[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074000201500012X/ Spitaels et al., 2015]</ref> (see below, [[Spontaneous_Fermentation#Microbial_Succession_During_Fermentation|Microbial Succession During Fermentation]]). In addition it may act as a safeguard against ''Clostridium botulinum'' (the bacterium responsible for botulism) in the beer as it can grow at the typical pH range of unfermented and unacidified wort and its spores can survive the boiling process <ref name="James Howat presentation at NHC 2015">[http://www.ahaconference.org/seminars/wild-and-spontaneous-fermentation-at-home James Howat presentation at NHC 2015]</ref>. The degree of botulism risk is not known, though if any reported cases of botulism poisoning from beer exist they are not known to us. Traditional lambic producers have been fermenting unacidified and spontaneously inoculated wort for decades to centuries, which suggests that the risk, if it does exist at all, is very small when following traditional lambic production methods. Furthermore, hops have antimicrobial properties against gram positive bacteria <ref>[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168160503001533/ Sakamoto and Konings, 2003. Beer spoilage bacteria and hop resistance.]</ref> and ''Clostridium botulinum'' is gram positive <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_botulinum/ Clostridium botulinum Wikipedia page]</ref>. The degree to which ''Clostridium botulinum'' might be resistant to the antimicrobial properties of hops is unknown. Some suggest eliminating any potential worry of botulism by acidifying your wort before inoculation <ref name="James Howat presentation at NHC 2015">[http://www.ahaconference.org/seminars/wild-and-spontaneous-fermentation-at-home James Howat presentation at NHC 2015]</ref><ref>[http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.com/2017/01/fact-of-fiction-can-pathogens-survive.html "Fact of Fiction - Can Pathogens Survive in Beer? The RDWHAHB Edition". Bryan of Sui Generis Blog. 01/05/2017. Retrieved 01/16/2017.]</ref>. Whether or not this protects from botulism, it will influence the final beer by preventing enteric bacteria growth. In addition, acidifying may influence the activity of ''Pediococcus'' in a spontaneously fermented beer, including the development of "sick" beer, and may therefore alter the final beer (acidic conditions can trigger exopolysaccharide production in some strains of lactic acid bacteria; see [[Pediococcus#.22Ropy.22_or_.22Sick.22_Beer|''Pediodoccus'']]) <ref name="Spontaneous Sour Hour" /> (~1:10 in).