Advice on using bottle dregs a few days late.

[Christophrawr]

Hi!!

I'll be going to a cabin with friends this weekend and bringing a few beers that I would like to use the dregs for after. I have read a lot about ways to store dregs and use dregs and am in between two scenarios. I'm curious if some of you might have been in a similar scenario and how you handled it.

First thought is pouring the dregs into one bottle and covering it with plastic wrap and elastic bands then keeping it cold until the following week when I can make a beer or starter to toss them into.

Other thought was bringing a mason jar of DME starter wort to put the dregs in. I'm not sure if this is necessary or will have any benefit to the first option which is just easier.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I wouldn't create a starter just yet, it only increases the risk of infection. Plan A sounds better to me.

 

[tll77]

I would recommend using a sterilized(or at least sanitized) mason jar, without starter wort. Bring along a small bottle of sanitizer to sanitze the mouth of the jar before you pour in the dregs, for extra assurance you can flame the mouth of the bottle prior to pouring out the dregs. I would put the dregs of different bottles into different jars, then when you are ready to make a starter from it, you can leave out any jars that look or smell off. And, if these are dregs from 'bug beers' I wouldnt bother with a starter.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I wouldn't even risk transferring it from the beer bottle. Spray or dip the top half of the bottle with sanitizer, pop the cap off with a sanitized opener, flame the rim with a cigarette lighter to sterilize, pour the beer off carefully, then recap with a fresh sanitized cap. If you lift the cap carefully you might be able to recap with the original cap. Don't forget to bring your wing capper along.

 

[specharka]

Hi!!

I'll be going to a cabin with friends this weekend and bringing a few beers that I would like to use the dregs for after. I have read a lot about ways to store dregs and use dregs and am in between two scenarios. I'm curious if some of you might have been in a similar scenario and how you handled it.

First thought is pouring the dregs into one bottle and covering it with plastic wrap and elastic bands then keeping it cold until the following week when I can make a beer or starter to toss them into.

Other thought was bringing a mason jar of DME starter wort to put the dregs in. I'm not sure if this is necessary or will have any benefit to the first option which is just easier.

I've done this a few times on ski weekends. It can be a bit challenging to negotiate, but the best option is to bring a mason jar of hopped, sterilized starter wort. Fill a sterilized half-pint mason jar halfway with starter wort and a couple of hops and leave it in your fridge/cooler during the weekend. A hot water bath is enough to sterilize, for these purposes. Once you pour the dregs in, don't tighten the band too snugly as some fermentation will occur. By the time you get home the starter will probably be ready to increase your wort volume by 250-500 mL.

I wouldn't advocate using any vessel where cross-contamination can occur, especially if it's clean beer yeast you're looking to propagate.

 

[ESBrewer]

The best way would be to carry a couple of petri dishes with wort-agar with you and inoculate some dregs on those immediately. Cover them with alu foil to keep closed & clean and put them in your bag. When you return back home you will have some individual colonies growing on the plates, you can pick a single yeast colony (avoiding all the possible contaminants) and grow it in a couple of steps in fresh wort to prepare a starter. For all this, you would need to have some glass petri dishes, agar (from some grocery/natural product store) and a pressure cooker to sterilize agar, plates and the initial wort (~5 ml) when you start preparing the starter culture at home.

 

[RPh_Guy]

An important question hasn't been asked.

Are these beers mixed fermentation sours? ... Because if they are, jumping through hoops to prevent contamination is a little comical.

If I can't pitch right away, I cover with plastic wrap and put back in the fridge.
FYI I know this process can work because I've pitched dregs from a pasteurized beer saved this way into starter wort and there was no visible growth of any kind over an extended period.

Cheers & good luck!