JeepDiver

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I kegged my OctoberFast last night and had about 3/4 gallon of beer left. I also had a JP La Roja that I was about to drink, so I came up with the idea to put the left over beer in a gallon jug and add the dregs from the La Roja. Now reading up on things, looks like I should have made a starter.

My thinking was I would leave this setting for a few months before doing anything with it, then trying to use it for a sour beer (Won't have time to brew one until this fall anyway). Should I mix up some DME and add it, or just leave it as is, or just pour everything out?

Just getting into sours, so guess I should have read up before I started

levifunk

Recipes 

Let it ride as is.

My understanding is you want to build up the starter so the brett/bugs are active and high enough cell count so that when you pitch it, they take off quickly. You will likely have to wait a while before you start seeing fermentation, and in that time enterobacteria may have time to grow too strong which will create a horrid flavor.

That being said, 3/4 of a gallon isn't all THAT much. I just poured the bottom 1/5th of a Cantillon 750 into a gallon of left over wort and fermentation took off without a hitch.

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ReverseApacheMaster

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That beer is definitely going to end up all sour and funky. You should probably send that to me for disposal.

JeepDiver

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well since that is what I want, I guess I will dispose of it myself Into 5 gallons of beer that I want to end up funky.

spearko520

Recipes 

you are talking about adding the dregs to beer already fermented with a sacc strain, right? If so, you don't have to worry about entero, but you may not end up with a ton of leftover yeasts for a bigger batch, or a mouthpuckering sour, but you may still have enough left over food in there to get some nice brett character if you leave it long enough. Adding some fresh wort or DME would help get whatever is in there growing.

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todd46

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i just did almost this exact same thing. i added the dregs of two bottles of La Roja into a one gallon batch of wheat. it showed no signs of activity for 3-4 weeks, so i then did a starter using the dregs from a bottle of JP Cinco Anos. i stepped it up once (took about a week total) then pitched that in and it took off immediately and hard. blew my air lock out overnight and i had to put a blow off tube on. its been fermenting strong for a week now. if i was you, i'd buy another delicious bottle of La Roja and make a starter with the dregs, then add that and you'll be golden.

EDIT

oh, fair point, your beer is already fermented (wasnt paying attention) so yeah... i agree with the other posters, probably just let it ride.

Calder

Recipes 

I'd probably add an ounce of sugar to get some activity to create a protective CO2 layer. Otherwise, place it in the corner for a few months until you are ready to use it.

JeepDiver

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I'll boil up a little dme and add to it today. busy weekend so didn't have time to do much with it this weekend.

JeepDiver

Recipes 

Well I had to make a starter yesterday for my wheat, so I made a little extra to add to my gallon jug. I already had a pecile going, but went ahead and added about 1 1/2 cups of starter. It's bubbling away this morning and the pecile was back at the top. Planning on leaving it on the water heater for 2-3 months at least since I probably won't have a chance to do anything with it until then (trying to get the pipeline built up after getting a kegerator earlier this year, realizing I'm drinking way too much right now )

gamb0056

Recipes 

I've got 3 x 1 gallon sour experiments going that were done the same way (and are 3.5 - 4.5 months old). All started with JP dregs (La Roja, Madrugada)+ dregs from another sour or two. I pitched the JP dregs straight and had pretty vigorous activity after 3 - 4 days in each. After 3 months or so, they all had a pretty intense, distinctive JP brett character and were pretty tart already - much more than I was expecting. Haven't tasted them since 3 months, but it seems like the dregs, without a starter, were up to the task.