Beer Forum

Alright heres the deal. I wanted to make a clone of the Indigo Imp brewery's Blonde Bombshell (Cleveland), and I got a grain bill from one of the brewers. I also found out that they do an open fermentation and probably have some lactic bacteria and such. This is a huge part of this beers flavor and I was wondering if I make a starter and try to propagate some of the yeast, am I going to propagate the yeast and whatever else in the same proportion as the original beer. MY fear is that during their open ferment their yeast had been established at some point, and then innoculated. I am afraid that It I innoculate my started with the sediment, that maybe the bacteria will start first before the yeast can kick in, and I will end up with a completely different beer. Any ideas?

If the brewery is local why not stop by and ask them to give you a pitchable amount of slurry?

I really don't have any bottle culturing experience but I am a damn good begger!

Good luck.

I agree with Bad Rock - just goto the brewery and get a slug of their yeast you can pitch directly. If they were willing to get out the grain bill, that should be able to give you some of their "waste". If you try to grow it up from the bottle, you run the risk of the bacteria growing too fast and outpacing the yeast. You might be ok for your first beer, but the proportion of yeast/bacteria will continue to shift with each generation.

Cheers to the Indigo Imp - good beer.

-Okt

Yea I was afraid of the bacteria taking over faster than the yeast. I might just go get some slurry and pitch that. thanks guys.