Extra runnings, try a wild brew?

[pcampo]

I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH WILD BREWING AT ALL. However, I thought I'd give it a shot on brew day when I had too much wort to fit in my boiler. I used too much sparge water for my Ordinary Bitter that didnt fit in my boil kettle.

so I drained off some into a 1 gallon jug (unsanitized), tossed in some unmashed pale malt, added the dregs of a Pliny clone I was drinking, and left it unsealed in my garage. It started fermenting within 24hrs.

I dont know what the outcome will be. Maybe some of you wild brew experts out there can chime in and give your opinion?

One other concern I have is botulism. Should I be worried about this since there is no boil or sour mash done?

 

[dantheman13]

If it started fermenting within 24 hours, botulism isn't a concern.

If I am reading your post correctly, then it sounds like you are doing an open fermentation? If so, I don't think anyone can predict how that will come out!

 

[pcampo]

Thats right, i am trying to do open fermentation. Even though the opening of the jug is narrow, I hope it would still allow some wild yeast/bacteria to enter.

Should I seal the jug after fermentation?

 

[BGBC]

It sounds like you basically have a big starter going (no hops, no boil), that is likely still dominated by sacch yeast at this point (from the dregs you added). It will likely pick up some lacto from the grain plus whatever else from the air and in the jug already, but the sacch is probably going to dominate, at least early on.

Monitor the gravity and flavor/aroma and if you like where it is headed, I'd recommend using the resulting cake as a starter for something else.

If you don't like the way it turns out, don't get discouraged on wild/sour beers. Learn from your experiment, do more research, and keep brewing.

 

[pcampo]

Thanks BGBC, I appreciate it!

 

[BGBC]

Should I seal the jug after fermentation?

I would. Once fermentation dies down and the yeast/bugs aren't spitting out CO2 anymore, leaving it open will increase the risks of oxidation.

For long term storage you typically want to minimize headspace and prevent exposure to oxygen. Brett and other bugs can take months to create their characteristic flavors and you don't want to leave your beer exposed during that time.

 

[pcampo]

So its been 48 hrs and its still fermenting. Here are some pictures. The krausen looks strange to me, maybe it just me ,but can this be a little brett in here ? Is this the brett pellicle forming?

 

[ChugachBrewing]

No known pathogens survive more than 3% alcohol, so you're good there.

Other than that, i agree with bgbc

 

[Urkelbot]

I made a starter from homemade sauerkraut juice on last runnings. The results have been good so far nice sour beers.

I did a gram stain of the starter which contained yeast what looked some strain of lacto along with various other gram positive and negative bacilli and cocci.