Help With Lambic Starter

[flanneltrees804]

I'm brewing up some starter wort tonight with wheat DME, light DME and Fuggles that have been sitting out for a week or so. My thought, since I don't have a stir plate, was to make up a 1 gallon batch and over the next few days pitch dregs from Cantillon, Boon, RR and Jolly Pumpkin as I drink them. Once I feel I have enough bugs alive and well I will brew up a 10 gallon AG batch of Lambic and split the 1 gallon starter between two carboys. Is this going to work well or is this the start of a zombie apocalypse?

 

[Lennie]

It could work, kind of a crap shoot though. It'd probably be better to ferment with a regular yeast and add the dregs to the beer as its fermenting, or afterwards.

 

[flanneltrees804]

It could work, kind of a crap shoot though. It'd probably be better to ferment with a regular yeast and add the dregs to the beer as its fermenting, or afterwards.

What is the thinking behind this? Is it to keep wild yeast and other undesirables at bay? My thinking was that this would give the bugs some really fertile wort to help get them started instead of pitching them in wort that already has a lot of yeast in it. It's not too late to change my plan, I just want to know what your thinking is behind this.

I was thinking that pitching dregs from 3-4 bottles over the course of a few days would not be enough but then I got to thinking about standard Lambic production and spontaneous fermentation and how few yeast would be able to get into the wort in 24 hours and how 3-4 bottles of dregs must be more than that. Thoughts?

 

[spearko520]

there is a very long thread on here by almighty in the lambic forum that deals with the 1 g batch starter for dregs. I have had success with it, so have many others. I just don't have the link to it.

 

[Chefencore]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/easy-way-make-sour-beers-1-gal-wort-dregs-189748/