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Spontaneous Fermentation

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'''Spontaneous Fermentation''', for the purposes of this article, refers to the inoculation of wort for fermentation with local ambient microbes. This is commonly achieved by use of open [[File:Tilquin blowoff tubes.jpeg|200px400px|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 method of [[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>.
==Defining Spontaneous Fermentation==
A spontaneous fermentation may also be achieved by inoculating small amounts of wort and growing up the spontaneously inoculated microbes to check for suitability. This is common in homebrew production <ref> [http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/04/ambient-spontaneous-yeast-starters.html The Mad Fermentationist Spontaneous Starters, accessed 7-May-2015]</ref> and allows for screening of the microbes to remove wild cultures with aggressive off flavors and/or mold. This is not unlike the potential of used oak barrels, where well performing barrels may be kept and used to ferment subsequent batches (where the organisms residing in the barrel can exert their influence on the batch) while poorly performing barrels may be discarded and removed from the brewery. As different microbes survive and thrive in different environments, barrels or pre-screened and grown starters will probably not provide a complete profile of the microbes present in traditional spontaneous fermentation beers. However a combination of a coolship to inoculate the wort with ambient/brewhouse resident microbes combined with a form of pre-screening such as barrel re-use and/or spontaneous starters may provide the full microbiota present in traditional spontaneously fermented products. For the purposes of this page, beers receiving additions of isolated cultures or bottle dregs are not treated as spontaneous and are discussed under [[Mixed Fermentation|mixed-culture fermentation]] and [[Commercial_Sour_Beer_Inoculation|commercial sour beer inoculation]].
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File:Spontaneous starters 2.jpeg|Spontaneous starter
File:DSCN2215.JPG|Spontaneous starter
File:Spontaneous starters 3.jpeg|Spontaneous starter
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==Wort Production==
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