bug collection gone bad?

I have a ball jar that I put the dregs of funk beers into which has been sitting in the back of my fridge for a long time. I noticed its top layer of sediment was turning dark brown. I know for sacc this is an indication of the yeast having gone bad, but what about the funk? When I opened the jar I noted the liqued was "sick" with the snotty string stuff. Is this worth keeping, or is it so old that I should start over?

how long is a long time...?

4-6 months...I occassionally open it and dump some more dregs in.

although i have only held onto sour starters like that for a few months at a time, my guess is that its still good as long as it doesn't smell more foul than usual. 6 months is a pretty long time though. I'm sure some hang onto them for that long but i never did....sorry I couldn't be more helpfull on this one. Good luck.

Do you have a picture? I'd be interested in what it looks like. The snotty stuff may just be the Pedio taking over in the culture.

What are you planning to do with the dregs?

Without a picture or taste or smell it is hard to say. I only problem you may have is mold and that should look pretty obvious. I assume you just have a jar with a screw on lid so the beer is in contact with a layer of air.

And have you ever fed the culture? Is there any food source for them?

Unfortunately I already tossed it...it smelled fine, no signs of mold..and yeah, the snotty stuff was probably pedio doing its thing. I was saving them for a lambic I want to brew...but, I will have to start a new collection of dregs now.