Reusing dregs AND the bottle

[Kobie]

Hey guys,

I couldn't see if anybody had asked this before:

Has anybody here tried pouring wort directly into an emptied large lambic bottle? I.e., drink the lambic, leave the dregs, top up with your own wort and leave it in a cupboard for a year.

I imagine the results would be pretty unpredictable, but it it could make for some interesting experiments.

Has anyone tried it? Would you also add priming sugar, or is that just asking for trouble?

 

[jnacey]

What is your end goal?

Are you trying to build up a cell count to pitch into wort or are you just trying to make one bottle of lambic?

 

[mbbransc]

I think his goal is to drink it. From the same bottle.

 

[sweetcell]

interesting idea. i would throw in a little sacch to get things going, since there likely not going to be any in the sour and the cell counts of the other critters is pretty low.

on the off chance you didn't know this, a drilled #2 stopper (plus air lock) fits perfectly in a standard 26mm bottle neck. if your sour came in a 29mm bottle, you need to use a #3.

 

[Kobie]

Yes, I'm just thinking of brewing a single large (750ml/0.2 gal) bottle as a lazy mans way of making the occasional sour. (though I've been reading the 'Harvesting Bottle Dregs' thread and like the idea of collecting dregs in a jar to have them handy when needed)

Sweetcell - you talk about putting a stopper/airlock into it. I haven't brewed a sour before, so it's all new to me - I'd assumed I could just cap the bottle. How long would you suggest keeping the airlock on before capping?

 

[sweetcell]

Sweetcell - you talk about putting a stopper/airlock into it. I haven't brewed a sour before, so it's all new to me - I'd assumed I could just cap the bottle. How long would you suggest keeping the airlock on before capping?

the wort fermenting in the bottle will produce CO2 - just like fermenting a regular beer will. would you ferment a clean beer in a sealed/capped vessel?

you need a way to let the gas escape. without pressure release the beer will a) not ferment properly; b) cause over carbonation; c) cause the bottle to explode (although this should be unlikely since more sours come in thick glass bottles that can handle high pressure).

how long? i would keep it on the whole time, until you're ready to prime and bottle.

another consideration is that you don't want to fill the bottle all the way up with wort, in the same way that you don't ferment a 5 gallons of work in a 5 gallon carboy. leave some space for krausen. you can top up later after primary fermentation.

 

[Kobie]

Interesting. And if I bottled into a nice strong Geuze bottle after primary fermentation (the ones that are like champagne bottles) do you think the airlock would be necessary? I.e. would the brett and other good nasties produce more gas than a regular cap could handle?

 

[Calder]

Interesting. And if I bottled into a nice strong Geuze bottle after primary fermentation (the ones that are like champagne bottles) do you think the airlock would be necessary? I.e. would the brett and other good nasties produce more gas than a regular cap could handle?

Get an airlock.

This is actually a good way to create a starter for a batch of sour beer. Leave it for a few months, and then just pitch it into a larger batch.

 

[sweetcell]

And if I bottled into a nice strong Geuze bottle after primary fermentation (the ones that are like champagne bottles) do you think the airlock would be necessary? I.e. would the brett and other good nasties produce more gas than a regular cap could handle?

the cap should be able to handle the pressure, assuming you put it on correctly (with enough force, went on straight/even, etc.)

i'm confused by your question... what process are you considering?

brett and bugs will continue to slowly ferment the beer to dryness, over several months. during that time they will continue to release CO2. if you cap the bottle after, say, 1 month, and the bugs inside chew off more than 6 points (give or take), you're going to end up with an over-carbonated beer (gusher) or a bomb.

solution: take readings so you know when the beer is done fermenting, or wait enough time (6 months or more) to be certain that most of the sugars have been fermented. if you take the latter route, prime low; drink quickly once ready; or keep refrigerated once ready.

 

[Kobie]

Thanks guys. From everything you say it might simply be easier to go ahead and do a sour properly - though I do like Calder's suggestion of brewing a starter this way.

I was really just thinking that it'd be interesting to top up a bottle or two on top of the dregs of a sour beer whenever I brewed a regular batch of beer to see if anything interesting emerged. May still be worth doing though - I'll see if I can get myself some small airlocks (or reserve some space in a bomb proof cupboard).

Cheers!

 

[Thedutchtouch]

i wonder if you could do something like inverting a shot glass over the top of the bottle, perhaps with a rubber disc to better seal. in theory this would allow CO2 to burp out, but would limit O2 going in. sort of like a budget spunding valve.