Commercial beer for microbe starter?

[bunt1828]

Has anyone ever used commercial beer as a starter medium?

I've got a bottle of Russian River Consecration that I'd like to build up. Making a tiny quantity of starter wort isn't exactly difficult, but still takes some time and I'm lazy. For the first step, could you not just mix the dregs of the RR bottle with a can of bud light? My thinking is that the "pre-fermented wort" would preferentially feed the microbes rather than the wine yeast, and the CO2 already in solution would help keep O2 content low. Plus it's super convenient - I could drink the Consecration when the time is right rather than when I've got starter wort ready to go. After a week or two I would go ahead add something with a little more complexity.

Any reason this wouldn't work? Does bud light have enough residuals left to kick start things? Is there something else I could mix in to help?

 

[doomy86]

You would not get significant growth by using fermented beer as a starter. There are just not enough sugars left.

If timing is an issue, just keep the sediments in the bottle, recap and put it in the refrigerator.