Biogeeks: what is spontaneous fermentation?

I hear this term applied to the Brettanomyces yeast.

What do they mean?

Basically its wild fermentation..they keep the beer exposed to the outdoors and let wild yeast come in and ferment instead of adding yeast to a fermentation vat. No idea how this effects the quality of the beer though

I'm planning on brewing - but I've learned I have to learn the gotchyas before undertaking the task.

Yeast is a pernicious little critter. It is EVERYWHERE. Labs that work with yeast have to have special biocontainment because of it..almost like the super nasty infectious bugs..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast

So there are strains out there, undetected, that might make for the greatest beer this species has ever known.

Now this REALLY makes me want to get into brewing!

Dr. Taverner..yeast brewologist!:)

since they are full of yeast, too ;)
Probably not the right kind of yeast, but I have heard of some really old bakeries being able to do sourdough stocks without adding the previous day's dough to it and still end up with a yeasted dough.

before you bought yeast in a store. I've made a starter like that and it made some tasty sourdough, although it takes several days to a week. :9

That's what makes it so fun. :) You never know what you're gonna get.

It was a happy accident.

I'm not a biogeek, I just play one while I brew beer.

Could you, potentially, brew an IIPA with Brettanomyces Yeast? Would it suck to high heaven or could it work?

...but still, it's hard to imagine any IPA that included more than a trace amount of Brett being very good-- beers with Brett in the yeast mix tend to be distinctly yeasty, IMO (like Belgian ales). And any wild fermentation heavy on the Brett would likely be pretty musty. That's my thinking, anyway. I'm not a brewer though, so it's a guess, not based on experience.

How do you feel about lambics?

http://www.wyeastlab.com/com-lambic-brewing.cfm

Brewing beer with wild yeast and bacteria adds a new level of complexity to an already complex process. Making beer with these specialty cultures is less precise and much less predictable than brewing with a single yeast strain. The rewards however can be tremendous if a brewer has patience.

The most important factor to keep in mind is that these cultures take time to fully develop and do their jobs. A good lambic or sour style beer usually takes 1 to 2 years to fully develop. The temperature at which the beer is fermented and then stored will play a large role in determining how quickly the characteristic aromas, flavors and acidity develop.