Wyeast 1968 Reculture

[reviled]

Hey guys

Ive got three 500 ml commercial beer bottles with about 100mls of beer in each of them and some Wyeast 1968 (have been told by the brewer that this is what they use)..

What im wondering, I was supposed to save some wort for my starter when I did a brew last night, but accidentally cubed the whole thing without thinking <_< Would it be fully nessecary to make a starter? Or could I just throw the dregs from all three bottles into the wort and hope for the best? I mean, effectively there should be a good build up of yeast from three bottles yeah? or not?

I jsut dont really want to go and pay $10 for 500g of DME, when I could get like, 2-3kg of Base malt for that price!

Help appreciated... I know if I do get this yeast working I have to keep it snug or it will crash out early?

Cheers

 

[bconnery]

You don't really want to just throw the three bottles in there.
You could make a mini-mash starter instead of DME. A little more work sure but do a small mash, boil that and then use it for starter of your bottles.
You'll need enough to build the yeast up and get it going.

I'm sure people will say they have just thrown in the dregs and it has worked fine but everything I have read or discussed suggests it isn't worth the risk...

 

[gap]

You don't really want to just throw the three bottles in there.
You could make a mini-mash starter instead of DME. A little more work sure but do a small mash, boil that and then use it for starter of your bottles.
You'll need enough to build the yeast up and get it going.

I'm sure people will say they have just thrown in the dregs and it has worked fine but everything I have read or discussed suggests it isn't worth the risk...

Totally agree,

You have no idea of the viability of the yeast in the bottles.
You are just risking the effort you put into making the wort.

Regards

Graeme

 

[Stuster]

Definitely agree. Making a starter with these dregs is essential IMO. Instead of getting some DME, how about just getting a kit. They have 1.7kg of liquid malt extract and they're usually not too pricy. I'd suggest starting with 25g of extract in 250ml and then if it fires up ok, step it up to 200g in 2L. You can just store the rest in the fridge for future starters. Sure it's messier than DME, but the price is right. :icon_cheers:

 

[drsmurto]

I jsut dont really want to go and pay $10 for 500g of DME, when I could get like, 2-3kg of Base malt for that price!


Cheers

You are being bent over with those prices.....

Never pitch anything other than viable yeast.

 

[warrenlw63]

You are being bent over with those prices.....

Never pitch anything other than viable yeast.

+1 Being a tight-arse often leads to regrets when making beer time and time again. I'd make a starter.

Warren -

 

[reviled]

Cheers for the replys guys, I thought that might be the case...

And im not trying to be a tight arse, allthough my budget is restricted, but just as Smurto said were getting bent over backwards with those prices, so I basically refuse to pay it!!!

ive got a can of liquid extract which I could use, but then id have to figure out what to do with the unopened can...

Im thinking this minimash may be a good idea? Then I could maybe do like 5-10 litres and keep some wort for future starters... Hmmm...

Say hyperthetically I did just pitch the dregs and the yeast wasnt viable? Or underpitched? What would happen? Too high lag time and risk of infection/oxidisation?

 

[Stuster]

Say hypothetically I did just pitch the dregs and the yeast wasn't viable? Or underpitched? What would happen? Too high lag time and risk of infection/oxidisation?

Well, I guess first of all you don't actually know the yeast is still viable. So then you're not pitching any yeast. Some other organism will take a hold, either a wild yeast or lactobacillus or bacteria or more likely a bit of a mix of all. Even if it is viable, you're still hugely underpitching so you'll get a long lag time which will give other things a chance to get going too. So you'll probably get a mix of the yeast you want and those other organisms which will affect the taste, and might result in over-attenuation over time. If you bottle, you could end up with bottle bombs. If you keg, just very dry, thin and bad tasting beer. :unsure: