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added section "Re-pitching the Microbes from Spontaneous Fermentation'
==Alternative Applications of Spontaneous Fermentation==
Much of the above discussion has focused on spontaneous fermentation as applied to lambic and lambic-inspired brewing. Some brewers are applying spontaneous fermentation to yield beers quite different from lambic-oriented brewers. A notable example of this is [[De Garde]], whose entire lineup of beers are cooled in a coolship and don't see pitched yeast <ref name="Beer Temple interview with De Garde">[https://vimeo.com/127084279 The Beer Temple Interviews #264 with Trevor Rogers of De Garde]</ref> (excepting perhaps a bit of pitched yeast in some beers for bottling conditioning). De Garde produces a range of spontaneous beers including beers similar to Berliner weisse by warm incubation after spontaneous inocculation inoculation <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/814831538545062/ MTF facebook conversation with a screenshot of brief De Garde process, March 2014]</ref>. By manipulation of parameters such as grist, hopping levels and incubation/fermentation temperatures, a diverse range of beers of spontaneous fermentation can be produced outside of lambic-inspired beers.
Jester King has put grapefruit zest in the coolship and run hot wort through ~1 lb/bbl of Sorachi Ace before the coolship<ref name='Jester King on the Sour Hour pt. 1'>[http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/the-sour-hour-episode-14/ The Sour Hour #14: with Jester King, pt. 1]</ref> (~57 minutes in).
===Re-pitching the Microbes from Spontaneous Fermentation===
Brewers can also harvest the slurry of a spontaneous fermentation or a portion of the beer itself to inoculate future batches of beer. Although there are potentially hundreds of microbes initially in a spontaneous fermentation, after a few months there will only be a few groups which are able to survive the harsh conditions of sour beer. These include potentially ''Saccharomyces'', ''Brettanomyces'', lactic acid bacteria, and perhaps ''Pichia''. Therefore, an aged slurry from spontaneous fermentation can be treated the same as re-using a [[Mixed_Fermentation#Reusing_a_Sour_Yeast_Cake|mixed fermentation]] yeast cake. A [[Solera]] approach should also be a successful approach.
It isn't clear on if using a slurry from a spontaneous fermentation to inoculate a new batch of wort/beer would constitute the new batch being called a "spontaneously fermented beer". From a process perspective, given the adopted definition of "spontaneous fermentation" as described in this wiki article, re-using slurries from a spontaneous fermentation is fundamentally a different process. Since it is a fundamentally different process, it appears to be logical that the resulting new beer would not be a "spontaneously fermented" beer. See also [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1082179065143640/ this discussion with James Howat on MTF] as an example of how brewers are approaching this terminology.
==Spontaneous Fermentation versus Mixed Fermentation==