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fermenting Fermented Hot Sauce Using Beer Cultures?

M

mbow1227

I've seen a few people online use "cultures" from sour beers in the fermentation process. I'm curious how this is done as I'm interested in trying myself. Are they taking the sediment at the bottom of a sour beer to help kickstart the fermentation process? From what I understand, the sediment is just yeast and protein. Are they using the beer itself? What are the ratios that I should be looking to use? 
 
Just to note, they are calling them "naturally fermented" and are not adding any vinegars if that helps explain anything. 
 
Thanks in advance for the assistance. 
 
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That sounds interesting.  I haven't done it myself, but the point of using a sour beer would be accessing dregs/sediment from a lactobacillus (bacteria) fermentation, what's commonly used in sour beers to make them sour, rather than just yeast (saccharomyces) commonly used in non-sour beers. I would expect you'd pour the beer into a glass except for the last 1/3 inch or so, swirl the dregs, then pour them in. 
 
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Last winter I made 2 small test batch with store bought orange habs and bell peppers to which I added a Lactobacillus blend from my homebrewing stash. I let it ferment for about 5-6 month and it worked like a charm. I currently have a couple of ferments going with hot peppers from this year harvest (and Lacto) and they seem to be going pretty well up to now. 
 
I would not use any yeast as you dont wanna produce alcool but acidity. Same thing for the bugs (Brettanomyces) usually found in Brett or funky beers, which to some point can work like yeast but in a more unpredictable way...  And yes, the sediments that settles in the bottom of a beer (dregs) contain dormant yeast cells.
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Nice looking ferment Bou!
 
As I mentioned, I haven't done this so I'm just considering.  Other common DIY lacto starter inoculates contain yeast, e.g., sourdough and kefir.  The peppers themselves are covered in yeast as well as bacteria - heck, I've isolated and slanted wild local yeast from orchards and even my garden where I grow peppers and then stepped it up and used it to brew ciders.  Plus, adding salt to a lacto ferment serves a purpose of retarding yeast development. 
 
While I like the idea of pure lacto from the homebrew store as an ideal inoculant, would the included yeast in dregs be problematic?  I suspect even the sugar content of the peppers would be more favorable to lacto fermentation than to yeast fermentation - though a yeast like brett might deal with lower brix more effectively than saccharomyces. 
 
Just kinda thinking out loud here, but I'm feeling a bit tempted to experiment.  Especially as I'd end up with a beer to drink ;)
 
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CaneDog said:
Nice looking ferment Bou!
 
As I mentioned, I haven't done this so I'm just considering.  Other common DIY lacto starter inoculates contain yeast, e.g., sourdough and kefir.  The peppers themselves are covered in yeast as well as bacteria - heck, I've isolated and slanted wild local yeast from orchards and even my garden where I grow peppers and then stepped it up and used it to brew ciders.  Plus, adding salt to a lacto ferment serves a purpose of retarding yeast development. 
 
While I like the idea of pure lacto from the homebrew store as an ideal inoculant, would the included yeast in dregs be problematic?  I suspect even the sugar content of the peppers would be more favorable to lacto fermentation than to yeast fermentation - though a yeast like brett might deal with lower brix more effectively than saccharomyces. 
 
Just kinda thinking out loud here, but I'm feeling a bit tempted to experiment.  Especially as I'd end up with a beer to drink ;)
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Thanks CD!
 
I don't know much about sourdough & kefir but if the starter contains a good proportion of "agressive" strains like L. plantarum I guess it should be just fine...  
 
The use of dregs from a sour beer should not be problematic but one has to make sure that the method used by the brewery was NOT sour worting (also called quick souring, fast souring, kettle souring, etc.). Sour worthing beers should be avoid because the lactos are killed during the boil prior to be fermented like most beers; with yeast.  
 
Also, Try to keep your ferment within the optimal temp range of the particular strain(s) of Lactobacillus (or other) you use so they can multiply rather quickly, thus reducing the risque of "spoilage" by the yeasts or nasties. Here's a good ressource about Lacto: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Lactobacillus
 
One last thing, it can be really difficult to get rid of Brettanomyces, especially on plastic equipment as they can hide in barely visible statchs and then contaminate your next ferment. Rigourous sanitation and extreme care must be taken when playing with Bretts! 
 
Nice for the homebrewed cider btw ! 
 
mbow1227 said:
Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I'm going to make 2 small test batches (one with some beer dregs and 1 without) and I'll let everyone know how it goes. 
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Good luck and keep us informed of your results!
 
Cheers guys!
 
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