Easy Way to Make Sour Beers (1 gal wort + dregs)

[Almighty]

badlee- the Saison yeast from Dupont is fantastic and I'm actually making a starter from a bottle right now for my next Saison. If you want to add Brett, you can add the dregs from Orval (which I think you got before) at bottling.

Coff - it is not really necessary, but I typically add some dry wine yeast to my beers at bottling. For me it is a very cheap insurance that the bottle will carbonate. A $2 pack lasts me about 10 batches.

 

[badlee]

Pop! Went the bubble.
Almighty, how would you say would be the easiest way to add Brett at bottling time?
OR, if I didn't add Brett at all, I dont need to ferment in a seperate FV from my other batches.Is that right?

 

[Almighty]

One of advantages adding Brett to Saisons is that they ferment out so low (or at least they should). I prefer to have my Saisons finish down in the 1.004 or less range. And if this is the case then there is little concern with Brett over-carbing the beer, so it can be added at bottling. I still use thick bottles because I like my Saisons highly carbed.
There are a couple ways to add Brett at bottling:
1. Pour a bottle of dregs into your bottling buckets - could contaminate your bucket and filler, but fine if you are already doing this with your current wild beers
2. Use a pipette to add 1 ml of Brett slurry into each bottle

If you aren't using Brett than there is little chance to infect your equipment with Brett. The Dupont dregs do not have Brett as far as I know.

 

[badlee]

Cheers for that.
All sorts of ideas running wild through my mind now

 

[dougdecinces]

I tried searching for an answer to this question, but couldn't find it; so I'm going to throw it out there:

Has anyone had success pitching the dregs of a 1 gallon experiment into a five gallon batch? It seems like this would be a great money-saving option; especially if you have some unique strains you really want to use.

 

[badlee]

Ah haaaa. The man has a great question there
I would also think that it is a great way to get sweat yeast at less cost(or for me, just get yeast that I can't get my grubby little mits on).

 

[Almighty]

Yes, I thought I described that earlier in the thread (but it is probably hidden somewhere).

I use these 1 gal batches as test batches to find out if I want to make 5 gal batches of the beer. In the past, there has only been a few beers that I made into 5 gal batches (mostly because I like trying new yeasts) and I simply used the yeast from the 1 gal batch and had great success.

I have done this with both:
Brett (100% Drie Brett in ESB wort)

Sacc (2 - 1 gal batches of Achouffe + Rochefort to use in 5 gals of my Belgian Dark Strong)

 

[HokieBrewer]

Update from my 1 gals so far:
IPA with Fantome and Jolly Pumpkin dregs
Got some great overripe tropical fruit flavors from the Brett in the aroma. Mixes well with the Nelson Sauvin late hops to provide a lot of mango. As it warmed, it picked up some extra funky barnyard notes that I wasn't a huge fan of. Virtually no sourness due to the IBUs.

BDS with Jolly Pumpkin, Weyerbacher Riserva, Fantome, Oed Beersel Kriek and tart cherry juice
Really happy with this one. Mouth-puckering sourness (which was to be expected based on the Riserva) with some nice brett leather and horse notes too. Background cherry flavor. My wife pegged the cherry taste without me telling her I added the juice. Ends with some roasty malt notes, which was a little weird tasting to me, but not surprising given the malt bill.

I've got another one gal batch going now - extra one gallon from a Berlinner Weisse with dregs from the BDS, more Jolly Pumpkin dregs and mulberries. It is currently bright pink!

I tried searching for an answer to this question, but couldn't find it; so I'm going to throw it out there:

Has anyone had success pitching the dregs of a 1 gallon experiment into a five gallon batch? It seems like this would be a great money-saving option; especially if you have some unique strains you really want to use.

I used 2 white labs vials worth of slurry from a one gal batch to inoculate a 5gal batch that had just finished fermenting. Now we wait!

 

[GiraffeBrew]

So today we pitched a Wyeast pack of Lambic Blend, dated Sept 2008, to some pumpkin wort today. I wonder what happens next.........sorry, totally not on topic.

 

[badlee]

pumpkin wort?

 

[GiraffeBrew]

Yes, pumpkin wort. I work @ a brewery and pumpkin beer production has already started. So, as we were knocking out yesterday we pulled a 5gal sample to play with.

 

[badlee]

sweet! I have only brewed one pumpkin beer, which I realy liked.
Hope your experiment turns out well.

 

[phished880]

Well tonight was good and bad... I cracked open my 80 shilling with JP and Orval dregs, it's tastes amazing. Some sour some horse it's tasty. But, the wife got a sip( who am I kidding... She got the rest of the glass) now my 1 gallon supply does not look as plentiful as it once did.

 

[badlee]

I thought you were going to say" and she binned it!"
Good job well done

 

[Almighty]

Yes, I agree that is the tough part about the 1 gal batches, if you have something great you have a short supply. The good news is you can use the dregs from your 1 gal container and go straight to a 5 gal batch (and then a barrel).

 

[Spring_Chicken]

Yes, I agree that is the tough part about the 1 gal batches, if you have something great you have a short supply. The good news is you can use the dregs from your 1 gal container and go straight to a 5 gal batch (and then a barrel).

I have a 5 gallon batch going. Sounds like a need a barrel.

 

[dougdecinces]

I'm getting ready to bottle my first one gallon sour. It's a persimmon amber ale that I pitched Brett Brux on all the way back in December. OG was 1.046, FG was 1.004. Aroma is all barnyard and there's a pleasant tartness on the front that really allows the persimmon flavor to shine through. The base beer for this was mediocre, so I'm very excited that this was a rousing success.

 

[ploppythesausage]

I'm two weeks in to a version of the Drunk Owl Mango Sour in the recipes section - decided to do one gallon due to not having enough room to store 5 gallons full of only one beer for 6 months. Doubled the OG from the orginal and used nelson sauvin hops (but with all the trub + hops + mango I'm down about a litre already ). Think i'll bottle in about a month and let that ride out and pitch the dregs from the one gallon straight into a 5 gallon batch - I'm going to need more of this stuff!

 

[Almighty]

dougdecines - I also did a persimmon beer that is now about 1.5 yr old. I added a lb of fresh frozen persimmons to my 1 gal batch with Russian River dregs. I only got a mild citric acid flavor from them. How much did you add?
http://jeffreycrane.blogspot.com/2010/10/dreg-series-russian-river-golden-sour.html

ploppythesausage - I think the addition of Nelson hops to that beer sounds great. I just think you might get a better flavor from the hops if you add them 1 or 2 weeks before you're going to bottle. I have done this with batches that I age a year and then 2 weeks before I bottle I dry-hop them. I have been enjoying fresh hop character with some tartness in my beers.

Also I just did another dreg beer. I used Lost Abbey Red Poppy (using a starter in the bottle) in a 1 gal batch of Flanders Red. I had activity in 24 hrs and if my beer turns out anything like Red Poppy I'll be happy.
http://jeffreycrane.blogspot.com/2012/06/dreg-series-red-poppy-flanders-red.html

 

[dougdecinces]

dougdecines - I also did a persimmon beer that is now about 1.5 yr old. I added a lb of fresh frozen persimmons to my 1 gal batch with Russian River dregs. I only got a mild citric acid flavor from them. How much did you add?
http://jeffreycrane.blogspot.com/2010/10/dreg-series-russian-river-golden-sour.html

According to my notes it was roughly 4 lb of persimmon pomace for a 2.5 gallon batch. These are the midwestern persimmons, so they tend to have a more pronounced flavor, even though they're not really a hand fruit. I gathered them in late October and ran them through a foley food mill to extract the pulp. I took the leftover stuff and used that in the beer.

The dregs were from Bayerischer Banhoff Leipzieger Porticus -- a baltic porter with, I believe, Brett Brux. I plan on washing the yeast from this last batch and pitching some of it on a gallon of a Belgian blonde with Rye I made last week.

 

[jtakacs]

I tried searching for an answer to this question, but couldn't find it; so I'm going to throw it out there:

Has anyone had success pitching the dregs of a 1 gallon experiment into a five gallon batch? It seems like this would be a great money-saving option; especially if you have some unique strains you really want to use.

my house bug culture is stepped up dregs from single gallons that have been stepped up for five gallon batches.

 

[levifunk]

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3puwl2/

 

[dantheman13]

Here is my brewday. I used dregs from a bottle of Russian River Temptation and a bottle of Cascade Brewing Kriek. A third used a mixture of Temptation and Cascade Brewing Sang Royal dregs. We'll see how the extract comes out. I'll post more videos as the beer progresses.

Homebrew Wednesday #5 - Sour Beer Experiment - YouTube

Here is an update on my sour experiment. One question, can anyone explain why the one beer is so much darker than the other two? These are all from the same wort. What the heck happened???

 

[Spring_Chicken]

Here is an update on my sour experiment. One question, can anyone explain why the one beer is so much darker than the other two? These are all from the same wort. What the heck happened???

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfPo_y2QZag&feature=plcp

I can't explain it, but I've seen it with all the beers I've done this way. Each is it's own color. Always try it before passing judgment.

 

[Almighty]

dantheman - That is pretty strange. There is usually a slight difference in color just based on yeast flocculation, but that is extreme. I have never seen anything like that. I do know the more oxidation the darker the color. And it looks like you have a dry airlock there. So oxidation could be the reason for the color difference, I just didn't think it would be that extreme. You can confirm if you have oxidation by tasting - any acetic acid (vinegar)?

 

[dantheman13]

dantheman - That is pretty strange. There is usually a slight difference in color just based on yeast flocculation, but that is extreme. I have never seen anything like that. I do know the more oxidation the darker the color. And it looks like you have a dry airlock there. So oxidation could be the reason for the color difference, I just didn't think it would be that extreme. You can confirm if you have oxidation by tasting - any acetic acid (vinegar)?

Thanks, Almighty. The airlock wasn't totally dry, there was still a seal on it. I left out a potentially important detail in the video. I inoculated this one with dregs from a Cascade Kriek bottle, but it didn't have any activity for a good month. I decided to put some US05 in there, which caused an explosion of a fermentation... which I forgot to check on and made that mess in the airlock. It's been sitting like that for about 5 months. I suppose oxidation is possible, but I don't think that it is the cause. I haven't been brave enough to taste yet, but I suppose that will be something to do for next Homebrew Wednesday! I will definitely report back the tasting results in hopes you or someone else has an idea what caused this darkening.

Thanks again, Almighty, I really appreciate your responses here.

 

[dantheman13]

I can't explain it, but I've seen it with all the beers I've done this way. Each is it's own color. Always try it before passing judgment.

You've seen them get this dark? The wort was a light orange color, around 9 SRM (as you can see in the brewing video).

 

[Spring_Chicken]

I had straight 2-row come out about halfway to that color. I DID intentionally let the airlock dry out on that gallon for a little vinegar character because I was trying to clone Duchesse and was trying to see if that helped. I've only done about 10 of these and each has been its own color. Some light, some orange, some brown. Fun to see the differences since I always use 2-row at 3 IBU at 1.040.

 

[dantheman13]

I just did a tasting, I'll throw up a video on it next week. Quick question for now though, do you rack your sour beers and when? I didn't rack any of these and they are still in primary. I really don't want to disturb the batch that has a pellicle. Any general advice on racking to secondary and/or leaving in primary only? Thanks!

 

[Spring_Chicken]

I try to rack after the 'primary fermentation' is done. I did just rack a BW a week ago and the pellicle is back already and there can't be much left to eat in there.