Has anyone tried using the dregs from an El Cedro and pitched them into a saison recipe?
I took the dregs and placed them in a yeast starter with a stir plate and the yeast and brett multiplied with no issues. I currently have the results of this in my frig and plan to create another starter with them before pitching.
There is a good bit of sediment at the bottom of the jar so I am hopeful this will be more than enough to create another starter and get the fermentation started and complete. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Since this is a combo of yeast and brett, my second question is should I pitch with this alone or should I start off with a separately purchased saison or Belgium yeast and then pitch the dregs from the El Cedro after fermentation has started?
Any advise would be appreciated.
** No I have never brewed a saison.
** No I have never tried using dregs in this fashion.
Thanks in advance.
I haven’t had the El Cedro (or any Jester King beers) but I would recommend brewing and fermenting a clean saison, rack to secondary and then pitching your dregs. The brett will consume the byproducts of the primary fermentation but won’t have a lot of sugar to eat. You will want to give it 6 months or so for it to do its work before bottling.
You do not need to build up the starter any more as a little brett is all you need. I all likelyhood you starter contains a mix of brett and sacc yeast and a starter heavily favors the faster growing sacc yeast.
Last advice, always smell and/or taste your starter to make sure it is what you want. I made a starter of some Crooked Stave dregs a few weeks ago and smelled it last night. Pure vinegar. I’m really glad I didn’t pitch it into something.
Thanks so much for the help and advice. Will do just as you suggested.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
BTW, there is no need to use a saison yeast. You can certainly use any belgian style strain or even a neutral Cal ale yeast.
