I managed to acquire several bottles of Jolly Pumpkin (big fan) of which I am hoping to harvest the dregs and add to a little wort to sustain them until I’m ready to toss into some wort. Does anyone know if the yeast and/or bugs located within the bottles are all the same or different for each bottle? Do sour beers like Jolly Pumpkin typically contain live cultures of lactobacillus or Pedio?
you could check with the brewery and see if they will divulge what specific organisms they use, if they know. The best way to go is to get some starter wort prepared (1.030 max gravity here). Get some rubbing alcohol or other 70% or higher alcohol and a flame source.
open the bottle, wipe down the mouth and lip of the bottle with alcohol and flame it off, pour gently all but the last inch or so into your serving glass. then flame the lip again, add about 50 ml of wort and an airlock. let that work for a couple days then add that to 500ml of 1.030-1.040 wort and let that work. that is ready to pitch into a secondary or to be stepped up for a primary pitch.
it won’t be the same as the jolly pumpkin bugs anymore but it will be similar.
so this has me thinking Jonathan- doing the same on my favorite hefeweizen, can you expect to get good results?
sure could. less room for error with a pure culture like that but it’s how the old(er) guys did it back in the day before good liquid yeast.
well, another project on the list 
FWIW many German hefeweizens are filtered or centrifuged and bottled with lager yeast for a more powdery appearance. Unlikely to be the case if you are drinking a hefe from the states.
crap-that dampens that idea
Good info here. I prefer to use low gravity wort (1.020) for my initial step in the bottle to gently wake up the dregs. I also like to let the initial step go for a week, this way there’s plenty of time for the yeast to get going in the low-gravity wort.
I’ve used JP dregs a few times and I love their contribution. Very distinct flavor profile (‘tastes like JP’) and very active. I’ve gotten great (and relatively quick) results from simply pitching the dregs into a keg or carboy.
I don’t think you don’t need to prop up the dregs, unless you’re pressed for time or want to keep a culture going. In general, fresher bottles of lower gravity beers (Bam, Blanca, etc) are best for propagation/culturing.
The bugs are the same throughout their lineup. They use Belgian ale yeast for primary (WLP550?) in open fermentors, then rack to barrels that contain their local microflora.
I agree. Their bugs are very aggressive. I have a Pale Sour with cherries that I used WY 1056 and multiple JP dregs. I made it in July and it is already very tart and sour.
+1 to not needing a starter for those dregs. They are very aggressive with their brett funk leading the way. 1-2 bottles of their dregs will quickly sour a beer in just a few months tops.
I have used them so often when I first started brewing sour beers that I can pick out their profile in a lineup. They also tend to overpower other microbes in a blend as well. God bless the JP!
The brewers in Ann Arbor say that JP uses WLP-550 as the primary strain.
Thanks, Jeff. Man I love their Ann Arbor brewpub. I stop by anytime I’m remotely close.
There is also a tasting room at the Dexter production facility. Called Null. They have moved to a large building in an industrial park. The JP and North Peak beers are brewed there, the guys I know say there is positive air pressure on the clean North Peak side to keep the funk from the JP side out.
How long can the dregs remain in the bottle in this state? I’m thinking about harvesting dregs but if I don’t have a batch of beer ready for them to go into.
thx
I would go ahead and step it up once more from the bottle to a 1 liter starter, when that’s done you could let it stand for a few weeks I would think. I would imagine you would want to keep it in the 60’s rather than the fridge.