Compost bucket sour?

[Miraculix]

Hops originally went into beer because they were a preservative against spoilage by wild yeasts/bacteria. They may also drop the starting pH a bit (I'm not sure about that).

There are hop resistant strains of yeast and various bacteria (lacto, pedio). In this case, whatever keeps the bucket smelling nice doesn't deal with hops except occasionally, so I don't want to make life too hard on them initially.

If they can't handle hops at all, maybe it'll be good for cider. TBD!

They don't help much against wild yeast but they are pretty effective against souring ie lactobacillus. That was the main reason for them to be incorporated. Otherwise beer turns sour fairly quickly, which doesn't have to be a bad thing btw.

 

[eliastheodosis]

I have to admit that I find this experiment sufficiently fascinating that I ordered a copy of this:

https://books.google.com/books/about/Food_Spoilage_Microorganisms.html

I suspect this is going to come down to a question of if something that can drop the pH quickly enough can grow and not taste bad.

One question: why unhopped wort for the starter? I just got back from Brussels (and a tour of Cantillon). They say they use aged hops specifically for anti microbial properties without bitterness. A bit of hopping might give the yeast more of a fighting chance against any nasties.

Yeah, as far as I know the main function of hops in a mixed culture beer is to control the growth of lactic acid producing bacteria (LAB). Overall, that should roughly control the acidity of the final beer. The iso-α-acids and some other compounds in hops act against certain bacteria and slow or stop their growth. Mostly they work against gram positive bacteria I think but my knowledge stops there. As far as I know they don't do anything against wild yeasts. I think it gets even more confusing sometimes because the term "spoilage" is used with beer in cases where the beer is still safe to drink but maybe didn't turn out how you wanted. One person might say that Lactobacillus "spoiled" their beer while another person intentionally adds it for the flavor it imparts. Both beers are drinkable, so not necessarily spoiled in the way you'd think with food.

Bacteria can also be resistant or become resistant over time. So if you don't want LAB to grow out of control and make your beer extremely sour then hopping is the way to do it. I think they do it with aged hops in lambics because they're not looking for the other hop flavors and maybe not as much bitterness either.

If you want more reading then Milk the Funk might be fun for you to browse. They get pretty technical and try to cite references where possible. It's very informative. To start...

https://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Lactobacillus

Just did the Cantillon tour last year. It was very fun Hopefully you got around to some other places. Brussels is a wonderful beer city and just a great city in general!

 

[mashpaddled]

For that real terroir of waste you should add trash as a dry garbage addition before packaging.

 

[Brushwood Brewing]

Hops originally went into beer because they were a preservative against spoilage by wild yeasts/bacteria. They may also drop the starting pH a bit (I'm not sure about that).

I'm pretty sure hops raise the pH.

 

[mashdar]

I'm pretty sure hops raise the pH.

According to rando internet search results, you are correct!