Rebrewing Tart of Darkness: Repitch Roeselare?

[The_Nid_Hog]

I'm getting ready to bottle five gallons of a Tart of Darkness clone that is nicely soured and ready to go. I'm planning to brew another stout at the same time and transfer it in on top of the old yeast cake (Roeselare)/mass of worked over dried cherries so that I can start a new batch.

My question is: what yeast should I use? The existing sacc is probably spent. Should I repitch Roeselare or just go for something like a straight Belgian sacc? Is there a downside to introducing more Brett and bugs with the Roeselare?

 

[dantheman13]

I think the only benefit that you will get from pitching the Roeselare is that you will have some idea of the final beer, although it will probably be a lot more intense than your first batch of Tart of Darkness. Adding more bugs via fresh Roeselare probably won't play a large roll. On the other hand, pitching a different Sacch yeast may get you a different profile since potentially different Sacch esters could be created that would be broken down by the Brett, potentially giving you a noticeably different beer. Either way though the bugs left over in the yeast cake are stronger than they were at the first pitch... so maybe pitching a different Belgian yeast wouldn't make much difference.

In the end, either way would probably get you good results. I haven't done a lot of experimenting with different Sacch strains on the same bugs, so maybe someone else will have a different perspective.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

I would probably pitch a neutral ale strain like wlp001, the bugs are going t be at full bore so you likely won't get much sacch character, could even use a dry yeast and save a few bucks

 

[dantheman13]

I would probably pitch a neutral ale strain like wlp001, the bugs are going t be at full bore so you likely won't get much sacch character, could even use a dry yeast and save a few bucks

Good point. In fact, I usually pitch US-05 onto my old yeast cakes and get good results, although the beers aren't very funky (but VERY sour). Wouldn't even a little bit of Sacch esters from a Belgian yeast result in a funkier profile?

For me, I am sticking the the neutral ale yeast because I love the sour beer that my Solera is producing, although it is too sour and needs to be blended down when I pull from it. I don't want to risk too many changes to it. I'll be making a second Solera with no bacteria, the Brussels Brett blend from Yeast Bay, and ester-producing Saison Sacch that will hopefully produce a much funkier and less sour beer that I can use to blend with my sour in order to get the balance of flavors I am looking for.

As the OP can see, the options are endless. What is "good" and "bad" is almost speculation until you try it.

 

[The_Nid_Hog]

Thanks for your ideas, everybody. I will probably go with a fairly neutral yeast so that I can get a better sense of what's going on with everything else.