I have a sour raspberry that I used the wyeast3763 Roeselare Blend on, and I’ve got about 6 bottles left. Before I finish them off I’d like to harvest the yeast at the bottom of the bottles. I’ve heard that its not ideal to harvest this particular blend of wyeast (maybe all sours for all I know…). I’m not too sure if this is true or not, so I thought I’d ask before I dive in. Any input would be appreciated.
You will end up with different ratio of brewers yeast, Brett, and bacteria. The end product will be different.
This. I have heard that the roselare blend gets more sour in subsequent pitches, but haven’t tested this (yet!)
How long has the beer been aged? The longer the time, I think the more it favors the bacteria over the yeasts. You might add another Sacch yeast when you repitch.
There’s nothing particularly repeatable about brewing sours, I kind of like that.
True, but different doesn’t necessarily mean worse, so that’s no reason not to try it.
As far as harvesting sours go, I’d argue that those are actually the types of beers where the dregs are harvested the most by homebrewers. I haven’t used Roselaire yet, but I’ve harvested bugs from quite a few commercial sours. If you like brewing sours, then harvesting dregs is an important skill to learn.
Kyle has a great post on his blog on how to wake up your bottle dregs.
It’s been in the bottles for about 6+ months. I don’t have a clue how long I had it in the secondary… but it was a ‘long’ time. Thanks for the advice.
You’re right it will absolutely be different. This is something i really didn’t think about, I just assumed I’m getting the exact same yeast I put into it. Could be for the best though… as mentioned.
Also, thanks for the link that looks fantastic. What do you suggest for gravity of starter wort? Is it lower for dregs, 1.020? He says add 1/2" but I don’t see the Gravity.
I do 1.020 for my first starter wort to wake up the dregs. Then I go up to a normal starter strength (1.035ish) for subsequent steps.
So, in theory, you shouldn’t make a starter with this yeast then? I repitched from a friend’s slurry and gave him my slurry and our sours were great. Different, yes, but since the yeast kicks in first, the lacto and pedio follow and the Brett takes what is left, it still worked out well with an extended aging period.
That’s one school of thought, and I’ve made a few good Flanders Reds by just dumping in 2 packs.
You’ve gotta watch the dates on Roselare - it doesn’t turn over in the LHBS like 1056. If its older, supplement with more packs or some additional sacch cells (starter, slurry, partial pack of dry yeast).
Cell count/health is important in all fermentations, including sours. Higher alcohols and phenols produced from poor fermentation conditions (no temp control, low cell count) won’t ‘age out’.
I believe you can make a starter with Roselare with no ill-effects. Sacch will outcompete brett and bacteria in a aerobic, low gravity, all-malt wort, but all the bugs will carry over.
If you’re still worried about it, you could make a starter of 3522 or 1214 and pitch it along with the Roselare pack in primary. This is nice if you want a little more character from your sacch. strain.
Got someone else drinkin’ the (sour) Koolaid!