Vinnie

Anyone on here heard of Vinnie from Russian River handing out chunks of oak that had been soaked in his mix of bugs? I believe he called them his 'dimebags'. I'd love to get my hands on one if someone knows where to look.

Santa Rosa, Ca.?

I think that was several years ago.

Yes I emailed him and this hasn't taken place for several years. Your best bet for some RR funk is bottle dregs. I prefer Supplication since it doesn't use champange yeast.

The oak chips were a one time thing at NHC.

Sad. Supplication is one of my favorite beers so dregs will be easy to come by. I guess I'll just put it in a growler with a small amount of wort and let the bugs go. How long until they are balanced enough for a larger build up?

I havent tried brewing with Supplication but I've made 2 batches that involved Temptation dregs. One batch was amazing after 6-12 months in the bottle (after being the carboy for 14 months) but has slowly been turning to vinegar over the last 18 months and I'm not sure I even want to open the remaining bottles. That used Temptation 003 dregs, then fresh. 0% wheat and it finished primary before adding the bugs, so I'm surprised that it got as sour and funky as it did.

The second batch is still in the barrel and had a ton of other bugs and really just got the Temptation 005 dregs (I think) as a source of pedio. Tasted some last week and it's very dry and lemony and resembling Beatification. I'm hoping it gets a bit funkier. I've already started another batch in which I overdid the brett B and L just to blend with the other batch.

The dregs work well, but I'd recomend using fresh bottles and watching out for acetobacter.

Acetobacter shouldn't be a problem in the bottle because it is an aerobic critter and once you bottle condition there's little or no oxygen left to create vinegar. You are probably getting a sharp acidity from continued brett activity or some other bacteria still working away.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

You are probably getting a sharp acidity from continued brett activity or some other bacteria still working away.

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No. It's vinegar. That sweet balsamic flavor. Supplication and Consecration definitely develop some vinegar over time.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

Acetobacter shouldn't be a problem in the bottle because it is an aerobic critter and once you bottle condition there's little or no oxygen left to create vinegar.

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I've seen that argument used before but I dont buy it. Lots of bottle conditioned beers oxidize like crazy (ever had a 10 year old Bigfoot?) and the lambics do produce acetic acid (Cantillon Kriek, Hanssens Oude Gueuze). I'd be curious to see some experimental data on just how much O2 yeast can eat. How much O2 will HEALTHY AND FRESH yeast consume? 10 ppm? And that's in the presence of lots of unfermentable sugar and amino acides, not to mention zero alcohol, where they can thrive. I suspect that the O2 in the headspace is A LOT more than what the yeast can consume.

How much O2 leaks through a cork?

We made a healthy starter from the dregs of a few consecration bottles that we pitched in a barrel of stuff...so far it has worked out pretty well