Lactobacillus and DME starters

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WelshPaul

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I have a couple of recipes for sour beers planned for the next few weeks that both require the use of a lactobacillus bacteria, so I will be using Whitelabs' WLP677 strain.
Now, they aren't particularly cheap and quite often have to be ordered in specifically so I'm not keen on wasting them. Could I make up a weak DME starter with a single vial, allow it to grow for 3-4 days, pitch half of it into the first brew and then refrigerate the remainder to make the second beer a week or so later?
 
Lacto is notoriously slow working. I don't know that it would do much for you in that short time. Maybe if you pitch and hold it at around 37C for that whole time but I'm not sure. Agree with you on the cost though!
 
Good point: both beers have a planned secondary period of over 2 months. I think for the sake of safety I'll use two vials and be sure to wash and re-use each trub when they're complete.
 
I'm new to this isde of things too , will acid malt aide you here as it is sprayed with lacto-bacteria , maybe doing a starter with that malt , just a thought , no idea really .
 
I'm reading "Wild Brews" right now and they advocate fermenting with a yeast strain appropriate to the beer and then after primary, pitching lacto and just giving it time to do its thing.

I'm making a lambic now where I did just that. I pitched the lambic blend several months ago and I still don't taste anything sour. Granted, lacto is just a small part of that whole mix of bugs but it's slow!
 
Yes, a few of the recipes that I've seen have also used Lacto after the initial fermentation. Since it can break down sugars that brewing yeasts can't then there should still be enough food for it.
 
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