too big of a starter for brett/sour dregs??

[dawn_kiebawls]

Hey guys and gals, I'm preparing to do a raspberry saison soon and keep toying with the idea of funkin' it up in secondary. I had a bottle of Boulevards Saison Brett and a bottle of their Lovechild sour I saved the dregs from. Unfortunately, I decided to 'wing' it before researching. Not smart since I have never done this before..

I made a 750ml starter with 44g of DME which I'm expecting to give me a 1.020 OG. I didn't test gravity for some dumb reason, but, in Palmers 'How to Brew' he has a table that says for a 1l starter to get 1.040 to use 115g of DME. I have done this in the past and hit 1.040 on the dot, so I assumed reducing DME in half, would also do the same for the OG. Sound reasoning, or am I way off from the start?

Anyway, now that I have read several threads saying a 500ml, or smaller, starter is best for the first step of a dregs starter. Have I screwed the pooch by using 750ml too soon, or am I just working myself up? I should also include that in the next day or two I will add the dregs from one more bottle of Lovechild.

Last question, I'm doing the starter in a 1l mason jar. With the wort and the dregs, it is right at the shoulder of the jar. Is that not enough headspace, or will it be alright? It has a sanitized foil 'lid' on it is sitting in a baking pan incase of overflows, so, I am not worried about cleaning up a bit if that is the only problem with not having enough headspace.

Thanks again for all the help guys!

 

[AMessenger]

I've never cultured dregs from those beers but I would think their composition and vitality would be a bigger factor than any choices you'd make with the starter. It is always an experiment to see what, if anything, the dregs will bring to the table. A starter should help the dregs out a bit but you can't guarantee you are helping the bugs more than the bottle conditioning yeast.