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Commercial Beer Dregs Inoculation

No change in size, 21:00, 19 May 2018
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Many commercial sour beers are bottle conditioned with fresh wine or Champagne yeast. If this yeast is still viable, it is possible that it could contribute to the fermentation profile under the right conditions, however in most cases Champagne/wine yeast from bottle dregs usually won't have a significant impact. For example [[Saccharomyces#Killer_Wine_Yeast|killer wine strains]] can kill ale or lager yeast, and potentially lead to autolysis off-flavors, although reports of autolysis in aged sour beer are next to none, and many believe that autolysis is not a concern in beers containing living ''Brettanomyces'' since ''Brettanomyces'' can consume the compounds that are released during autolysis <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1779575335404006/?comment_id=1782868198408053&reply_comment_id=1783095121718694&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D DeWayne Schaaf on autolysis flavors. Milk The Funk Facebook group. 08/07/2017.]</ref>.
Champagne/wine yeast could produce flavor compounds such as esters and thiols if it is introduced into wort during primary fermentation. When dregs containing viable Champagne/wine yeast are added to a starter, then that yeast will often grow into a healthier population, which could then have a large flavor impact from the Champagne/wine yeast if the starter is pitched into primary. If flavor contributions from bottling yeast are a concern (esters, thiols, etc.), then cooling the beer and leaving the sediment behind before building a starter may help to alleviate the problem, however, at least some the wine/champagne Champagne yeast will probably still be in suspension in the beer. Dregs or a starter from dregs containing champagneChampagne/wine yeast could be added after primary fermentation, which would eliminate any potential for the Champagne/wine yeast having a significant impact on the flavor as far as producing esters from fermentation. Additionally, the long term survival of many wine strains of ''Saccharomyces'' yeast is usually limited in a low pH sour beer, so if the bottled beer has aged for 6+ months then the chances of viable champagne Champagne yeast being in the bottle are low <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1268830686478476/?comment_id=1269605776400967&reply_comment_id=1270016239693254&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D Conversation with Richard Preiss on MTF. 03/28/2016.]</ref>.
Many brewers have had success using bottle dregs that were conditioned with killer strains of champagne Champagne or wine yeast, and many consider it to be not a big concern due to the reasons previously mentioned. If the brewer wants to guarantee that only ''Brettanomyces'' and/or bacteria are cultured, then they must use isolation techniques to do so <ref>[http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-97602008000200007 Occurrence of killer yeast strains in industrial and clinical yeast isolates. MARCELO E BAEZA*, MARIO A SANHUEZA and VÍCTOR H CIFUENTES. 2008.]</ref>, or verify with the producer of the beer being used to see if Champagne or wine yeast was used for conditioning.
See the [[Packaging#Re-yeasting|Packaging and Re-yeasting]] page for more details on killer wine yeast strains.

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