ECY on love2brew.com right now!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
finsfan said:
No kidding! I just got to my computer and refreshed the love2brew page before I saw they posted here and it was in stock. I cant believe I got some!
Click to expand...

I literally did the exact same thing. Dumb luck I guess!

Really glad to get some more ECY20, its killer.
 
I ordered bug county and dirty dozen but DD got dropped from my order as I was choosing shipping option. Wow.

Stoked to get bug county though!
 
I had the same thought, about getting the Flemish. I grabbed a dirty dozen, but it was out of stock in the few moments between adding it (and having to log in again?why?) to my cart and checking out.
Well at least I ordered a bug country. Very happy about that!

TD


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
Wow...ive been watching this thread religiously and still missed out on DD. So glad i got BugCounty though. Surprised that it sold out in that order.
 
Sigh, the DD got dropped from my order when applying a gift certificate. Also, I was trying to order a second vial of Flemish for a friend, but they would only let me order one vial! I wonder if it would be appropriate to make a starter for the Flemish and split it into two.
 
Gah, I snoozed on the trigger and missed out on Dirty Dozen. Still looking to trade for some if anyone is willing.
 
Is this really any good place to find out information on these strains besides just personal reviews here on HBT or elsewhere?
 
sweetcell said:
i'll let you know in 12 to 18 months :ban:

at a minimum it is more complex... complexity is good?
Click to expand...

Complexity, generally speaking, is a good thing in these types of blends. But, simply because a blend has a higher complexity of organisms going into the wort does not mean the resulting beer will necessarily be more complex than the same wort pitched with a blend containing less organismal diversity. When strains of yeast and bacteria are selected and blended correctly, it's possible to achieve incredible complexity without several dozen organisms. A few of Wyeast's blends are great cases in point. I've achieved some of the most complex sour beers I've ever made using Wyeast Roeselare blend (6 organisms).
 
Fermented_minds said:
But, simply because a blend has a higher complexity of organisms going into the wort does not mean the resulting beer will necessarily be more complex than the same wort pitched with a blend containing less organismal diversity.
Click to expand...
absolutely agree. much better to have 5 bugs that contribute very differently vs. 50 bugs that all spit out the same thing.

i trust Al and his offerings, so that gives me some confidence in this 20 bug blend.

and if i had to bet, i would put my money on a 20-bug blend being more complex than a 6-bug blend. not guaranteed, but all else being equal it seems more likely to me.

Fermented_minds said:
I've achieved some of the most complex sour beers I've ever made using Wyeast Roeselare blend (6 organisms).
Click to expand...
right on.

on the other hand there are complaints about how Roe can be boring. "when using Roe add dregs for complexity" is pretty standard advice.
 
sweetcell said:
absolutely agree. much better to have 5 bugs that contribute very differently vs. 50 bugs that all spit out the same thing.

i trust Al and his offerings, so that gives me some confidence in this 20 bug blend.

and if i had to bet, i would put my money on a 20-bug blend being more complex than a 6-bug blend. not guaranteed, but all else being equal it seems more likely to me.


right on.

on the other hand there are complaints about how Roe can be boring. "when using Roe add dregs for complexity" is pretty standard advice.
Click to expand...
I had a batch of roselare that didn't develop a Pellicle after months. There was no sign of active fermentation after a week or so. I'm not convinced that's the best blend in any way shape or form. Maybe I had a bad batch but I won't be buying another pack.
 
Rys06Tbss said:
I had a batch of roselare that didn't develop a Pellicle after months. There was no sign of active fermentation after a week or so. I'm not convinced that's the best blend in any way shape or form. Maybe I had a bad batch but I won't be buying another pack.
Click to expand...


I'm curious about a few things. Do you know how old the package was? Also, when you say no sign of active fermentation, do you mean visual sign or did you use a hydrometer?

No pellicle and no visual sign of fermentation are both non-factors when it comes to determining if yeast and bacteria are doing what they are supposed to. They are helpful visual clues when they are there but in no way indicative of progress if they aren't.

Personally, I've had solid, if not bland, results with Roselare but I've had better and faster results with dregs and the smaller yeast labs.
 
sweetcell said:
absolutely agree. much better to have 5 bugs that contribute very differently vs. 50 bugs that all spit out the same thing.



i trust Al and his offerings, so that gives me some confidence in this 20 bug blend.



and if i had to bet, i would put my money on a 20-bug blend being more complex than a 6-bug blend. not guaranteed, but all else being equal it seems more likely to me.
Click to expand...



Totally agree. I think a certain degree of complexity is definitely important in these types of blend. It's one of the things that make true lambics unique. I suppose my point was just that complexity is not the be all, end all. I see a lot of brewers simply look at the number of organisms, thinking if you took the same wort and fermented with 3 different blends containing 10/20/30 organisms, the resulting beer would be good/better/best, in that order. Al certainly knows his craft. I made a pretty decent lambic-style beer with the bug county last year. But, as I stated above, I've made equally complex beers with the Roeselare. I think the steadily increasing diversity of cultures on the market is what's really worth being excited about!
 
received my Bug County and Dirty Dozen today, along with the Abbaye.

BC is pretty fresh (21 Sept) but the DD is dated 29 August. kinda disappointing as i was hoping for something fresher. is Al sitting on this stuff? certainly no lack of demand, could/should have sold these sooner. Abbaye dated Aug 26, but i expected that as it has been available for a while now. MrMalty estimates 50% viability.

off to make some starters... brewing on monday or tuesday.

p.s. anyone know the cell count on Dirty Dozen? same as sacch, 200-400 B?
 
sweetcell said:
received my Bug County and Dirty Dozen today, along with the Abbaye.

BC is pretty fresh (21 Sept) but the DD is dated 29 August. kinda disappointing as i was hoping for something fresher. is Al sitting on this stuff? certainly no lack of demand, could/should have sold these sooner. Abbaye dated Aug 26, but i expected that as it has been available for a while now. MrMalty estimates 50% viability.

off to make some starters... brewing on monday or tuesday.

p.s. anyone know the cell count on Dirty Dozen? same as sacch, 200-400 B?
Click to expand...


I hope I'm not disappointed. I ordered the exact same thing and supposed to get them tomorrow.
 
I'm guessing since he is just one guy doing a tiny yeast lab his preference is to do up a bunch of batches and deliver them to the shops en masse. I think that is nice because I can order a handful at a time not one here and one there. Love2Brew seems to have stuff like ECY01 and 02 stick around for a week or two at points. Princeton sells out their batches almost immediately.

The last ECY01 and 02 I got a while back were a couple months old. The ECY01 took off like a rocket, the ECY02 I let sit another month (total 90+ days old) and that was fine too without a starter. That said, Al has posted instructions on how to revitalize his old yeast with starters without throwing off the balance too far.
 
I remember reading about it on his Facebook page maybe. It was something like making a starter with half the vial and pitching that along with the rest of the vial straight.
 
testingapril said:
Link?
Click to expand...

It's actually a pretty common sense approach that he posted on his Facebook. You make an aerobic starter with half the vial to favor yeast and an anaerobic starter with the other half to favor bacteria. Either way the proportions will undoubtedly shift some, but it's not going to be earth shattering to the profile of the beer.
 
Yeah... these other guys nailed it.

Here is a link to a link... dunno if the original facebook post is missing now.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...farm-brewing-experiences.158182/#post-2243396

"Many questions arise with starters for mixed cultures such as the Bugfarm and how to best use it. Typically, the blend may be used as a primary or a secondary fermentation culture. ECY01 contains enough cells to ferment a 5 gal batch as a primary agent. If pitched into a secondary, it is important to remember that the wort composition is paramount in the aging process (high in dextrin for example). If you feel that the brew is low in dextrins, pitch in primary or right at kreusen if using another yeast, or add more fermentable substrate.

As for starter cultures of these blends - a starter is can be accomplished if over a few months old for these mixed cultures or if inoculating a larger batch size, of course. Prep starters by using half of the bottle aerobically (with O2) and the other half without O2 (mostly for the Pediococcus benefit). The populations of the blend will not be grossly imbalanced - since you will be aging this wild, sour brew anyway. It is harvesting the sediment that really gets unbalanced or repeated generations of growth. Hopefully this bit of info helps realize the potential of these crazy brews. Final word - know your wort and keep your bugs happy and enjoy."
 
Got mine today and the DD is late august on mine as well. I cant really complain as i never thought id get them before they sold out anyway. Very excited to use these soon!
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1414694184.618577.jpg
 

Similar threads

F
Brewing right now over shot gravity by 6 points - help
Replies
23
Views
970
tracer bullet
tracer bullet
S
So What Now?
Replies
14
Views
594
BrewnWKopperKat
BrewnWKopperKat
J
Pectic Enzyme and what brand yeast to use
Replies
13
Views
570
Johnny2
J
Ki-ri-n
What's the deal with UK malt?
Replies
4
Views
379
Steveruch
Steveruch
F
Brewing with extract (flavoring) - can't get it right
Replies
7
Views
463
rmchair
rmchair
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top