I've got a starter of this going and it just won't quit. It's been active for the last 10 days easy. In fact, the yeast has been entirely unpredictable the entire time. Here is the sequence of events: - Consumed bottle of 2014 3F Oude Geuze about three/four weeks ago - Made a 500mL starter of 1.010 wort and pitched the dregs, let it go for 2 days - Saw no activity (figured I missed it) so I added another 500mL starter, this time 1.020 - Saw no activity (figured I missed it) so I crashed it for the next step - Made a 1000mL starter of 1.040 wort, decanted and pitched - Saw no activity again, figured I was unsuccessful, but let it ride out for a few days anyway - About 5 days later....right before I'm about to toss everything.....I wake up and see....KRAUSEN! - 10 days in and the krausen has not fallen, and I have about an inch and a half of solid dense foam - Smells unbelievable Admittedly, this is the first time I stepped up dregs from 3F - or any geueze for that matter - so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. But, at this point, I just want it to finish up so I can crash this bad boy and pitch it to some unsuspecting wort. Does anyone have any advice or a similar experience to this one? Please share. Thanks!
Brett has a longer growth period and lag phase. You should be able to cold crash it even if the krausen hasn't dropped. In fact it might not drop like a normal starter due to Brett's exposure to oxygen. I made a low gravity starter just the other day using 3F dregs and tilquin dregs. No visible activity, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything happening.
I have a 150 ml starter that I did that saw some really good growth from the Golden one (4 year). Haven't done anything with it yet, but it has a nice pellicle on it.
I recently pitched 3F dregs alongside roselair mix. I've read that building a starter often results in any sach overwhelming the bugs because of it's much shorter lag time and quicker growth rate. Anyone who has pitched straight dregs as well as a stepped up starter have thoughts?
I hid a microphone in a starter once and picked up this conversation*: Yeast Team Captain: “Guys, Huddle Up; we have fresh wort . . . who’s ready to go to work?” Group Response: Yeah . . . you betcha . . . time to rock . . . Team Captain: “Scouting reports shows the homebrewer posts on Beer Advocate. Who wants to mess with him a little”? Group Response: OORAH . . . SHOW ‘EM WHO’S BOSS . . . KICK SOME ASS Team Captain: “Okay guys, we’ll give’m something to post . . . just like we practiced, let’s show this brewer who’s really Number One”. Group Response: Indiscernible laughter, snickering, back-slapping, rip-roarious enthusiasm as they break the huddle. *Actual conversation is a dramatization, but content is supported by facts in evidence.
Any Sacc in the bottom of a bottle of traditional Gueuze is long gone. Everything is at least 2-5 years old, and bacteria and Brett have been feeding on the dead cells for a long time now. Bacteria will begin to multiply first, then Brett. The issue with building up dregs too much is getting a high proportion of bacteria to start with. American made sours that contain fresh brewers yeast or Champagne yeast at bottling after aginig about 8-12 months has a higher rate of Sacc to grow.
That's what I'm using. Four days and no activity, no worries though. I've had longer before I've seen activity before.
Welp, just returned from a weekend trip and this sucker is still churning. Going to take it off the stirplate and crash it now. Thanks for all of the comments so far. I'll report back with any interesting news.
