Reusing an Infected Carboy Full of Roeselare and Oak?

I brewed my first Flanders Red last July. Per JZ's recommendations, I fermented it down to 1.022 with US05 first (which was not the best idea, because it hasn't produced the level of sourness that I want, but that can be fixed with lactic acid...but I digress). I racked off the US05 cake, and it's been in this fermenter with the Roeselare blend since around the end of last July, with a layer of oak cubes floating in there and an oak dowel shoved through the bung. It's still got a bit of a pellicle, but I'm racking to keg soon and was wondering...after this long, could I just brew another Flanders Red and dump the wort right into that carboy? Any downsides?

No downsides that I see, unless you consider having another 5 gallons of (more sour)Flanders in 8-12 months a bad thing.

When I rack mine I'm going to put another one right on top of it.

Werd. Was ordering some stuff, wasn't sure if I needed some more Roeselare. Going with the VSS Trappist Blend instead.

The only potential downside (and I'm only speculating) is that the flavor profile of a subsequent batch may be quite different from your original one because of the varying growth rates of the microbes in the blend. After the ferment and aging, I'd suspect that the ratios are quite different from that of a pure culture.

flyangler18 said:

The only potential downside (and I'm only speculating) is that the flavor profile of a subsequent batch may be quite different from your original one because of the varying growth rates of the microbes in the blend. After the ferment and aging, I'd suspect that the ratios are quite different from that of a pure culture.

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I suspect so...but I'm willing to give it a try. After all, I'm not Cantillon, and so I don't have a particular product I'm trying to make...as long as it's good .

Evan! said:

I suspect so...but I'm willing to give it a try. After all, I'm not Cantillon, and so I don't have a particular product I'm trying to make...as long as it's good .

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Rodenbach, fool.

I'd give it a shot for sure. I reserved a pint jar of Roeselare slurry as I just transferred mine out of primary into secondary onto the oak. Thinkin' Flanders Pale.

flyangler18 said:

Rodenbach, fool.

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I know, just talking about sour breweries in general.

I'd give it a shot for sure. I reserved a pint jar of Roeselare slurry as I just transferred mine out of primary into secondary onto the oak. Thinkin' Flanders Pale.

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That sounds badass!

Evan! said:

That sounds badass!

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Yeah, there's a recipe in 'Wild Brews' that caught my eye when I was thumbing through it the other day.

Don't have it right in from of me now, but I'll post it up later.

Evan! said:

...after this long, could I just brew another Flanders Red and dump the wort right into that carboy? Any downsides?

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I asked Wyeast if a starter could be used with this yeast and if pitching on the cake from a smaller batch was ok. Here's the reply:

Herman,

It is not recommended to make a starter with this blend. You will
definitely throw off the balance of cultures in the blend. Basically,
you will increase the Saccharomyces population w/o increasing any of the
other cultures.

The second technique you listed would be better than a starter, but once
again, you will not be propagating all of the cultures. This time, you
would be increasing the Saccharomyces culture and maybe some of the
lactic acid bacteria.

Let me know if you have other questions.


Jess Caudill

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I bet you get more sour character out of this round than the last round, which is what you wanted in the first attempt.

AnOldUR said:

I asked Wyeast if a starter could be used with this yeast and if pitching on the cake from a smaller batch was ok. Here's the reply:

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Yeah, again, because of how I did the process on this initial batch, I'm not so sure the saccharomyces is going to be out of whack simply because it didn't really have any sugars to convert in the first place; if anything, it will be underrepresented.