Can these dregs be saved/used?

[TasunkaWitko]

I have heard that dregs from Schneider Weisse can be saved and used for brewing, but does anyone know if the same holds true for this?

If so, will the dregs from one bottle be enough for a 1-gallon batch?

Right now, the dregs are in the bottle covered, and in the refrigerator. If I want to "save" them and/or grow them a bit, what is a good way to go about it? My "equipment" for doing so is limited to mason jars, some wheat malt extract, table sugar and some carbonation tablets composed of maltodextrin and corn sugar.

Assuming that this can be done, and help/guidance is appreciated.

Ron

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

You're not going to be able to use the dregs from one bottle to start fermentation. You'll need to make a starter and build that up first. I usually start with the dregs from 2 - 3 freshly opened bottles. Start with a small amount of wort, about 300 ML.

Start with 500 ML of water. Bring to a boil. (You'll end up with about 300 ML after boiling.)
Add 30 Grams of DME.
Boil for 15 minutes.
Place in your sanitized mason jar.
Add the dregs from your bottles.

After about 2 days you should see the yeast start to collect on the bottom.

You'll then need to build that up by adding another batch of wort following the step above. I usually add about 700 ML (1 Liter of water + 70 Grams of DME. = about 700 ML after boiling.) Do the same thing again 2 days after that.

After an additional 2 days (6 days total) you'll have enough to pitch in to a batch for fermentation. You'll want to add an extra day to cold crash that so you can decant some of the liquid first.

Make sure everything is sanitized at all times.

Take a look at this page from Bell's Brewing for more details. https://www.bellsbeer.com/news/how-culture-bell-s-house-yeast-bottle-bell-s-beer It really helped me when I tried this for the first time.

There is also an old thread here about doing this with Schneider Weisse https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/culturing-schneider-weiss-yeast-from-a-bottle.77670/

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Thanks for the reply, BAtR - much appreciated!

The variety I have is Edelweiss, not the original, but I assume that they use the same bottling procedure.

One question (if I even do this): I only have LME, not DME. I assume that would work as well?

Thanks again -

Ron