WBC Rooting Around¶
WB-BUG-2026-019 · stage: banked · started 2018 (year known; exact dates not recorded) · Brett isolated 2022
Current state¶
The Brett was isolated in 2022 after years of trying. It is banked as WBC Rooting Around - Brett, which I call WBC Brut, and I use it often. The lacto that fought me the whole way was not kept, and whatever Saccharomyces was in the bottle was lost on the way. I may still try to recover the Saccharomyces from bottles of my early attempts at reproducing the first brew.
Source¶
The beer that started it all. Not long after discovering sour beers, and having brewed my first sour on the advice of a homebrewer I contacted online, a friend gifted me a bottle of Rooting Around, The Wild Beer Co. This was the first time I tasted what I perceive as the wild funk, and that funk is what I have been chasing for almost 10 years now. I loved it, and I thought: if I can make something like this, I am set.
Not really knowing or understanding what might be inside this beer, I made a starter from the dregs and scaled it up to what felt like a pitchable amount for 23 L of a simple all-grain wort. The fermented beer was great, very similar to the original and, in my mind, as good as beer can get. Granted, at this stage I had never tried any commercial Gueuze, let alone any of the really good ones, so my perception was probably quite skewed. I split the batch and ruined half of it through a faulty airlock, which was quite unfortunate. The remaining 10 L were drunk over a year or so, and I learnt something in the process: let the beer age. I remember drinking the last bottle, thinking the beer had got even better and wishing I had the whole batch left. It took me a while to resist the temptation to drink a batch that is still climbing to its peak.
I was not thinking of competitions at the time, so aside from sharing a bottle or two with my friend, I drank this one by myself. Looking back, I wish I had entered it, so I could now read what the judges said and compare it against the memory I hold of this beer.
My friend and I bought a case of these beers for safekeeping. In my mind I thought: well, that's where I will get my yeast from.
What else was in the bottle¶
- Saccharomyces: presumed, never confirmed. I lost whatever Saccharomyces was in it along the way, which is a shame; I'd have liked to find out about it.
- A bacterium: a hop-tolerant lacto I ended up calling Lactobacillus Painintheassus. It took over everything; see WBC Rooting Around - Lacto.
- Brettanomyces: the organism I was after, eventually isolated as WBC Rooting Around - Brett.
- Over time: every new bottle I opened was changing for the worse, getting darker and more acetic.
The hard part¶
After that first beer, I spent years trying to make it happen again, without any luck. I did some research and tried different methods, grain bills and so on, but did not manage. Every time, I'd open a new bottle and grow the dregs while noticing how the beer was changing for the worse.
Again, in my uninitiated mind, I thought there was a Brett in there responsible for all the wonders, so I decided to hack it and bought a microscope. I also contacted the brewery hoping for some advice. They were not keen on me using their yeast, or on the idea of looking at it under the microscope. Oh well.
Focusing on the Brett was tough. The lacto in this beer was hop tolerant and would just take over everything, growing within days and pooping lactic and acetic acid like its life depended on it. I could not get rid of it. I even went as far as using antibiotics; I was fixated, thinking that getting this Brett was the reason I was given a brewer's apron. I did not have the right kind of antibiotic, so I think I was just inhibiting its growth in the dosed liquid medium. The minute I plated it, it would ramp up again.
A sample that looked bacteria-free under the microscope, then became bacteria-ridden once plated · 1000x oil immersion, phase contrast · date not recorded (2018 to 2022)
Antibiotic-treated sample: what I thought was bacteria · 1000x oil immersion, phase contrast · 4 s loop · date not recorded (2018 to 2022)
Another hurdle got in the way. I was really bad at identifying bacteria (I still am), and I had not yet thought about making sure there was no protein debris floating around. I would discard a sample after finding one or two "bacteria" cells that were probably nothing more than protein.
Over time, the lacto became more and more prominent, to the point that I decided I had had enough. I had to nuke all my equipment and sterilise all my carboys.
The lacto · 1000x oil immersion, phase contrast · photo dated 2023-04-04 (from the file)
Since then, I have drunk some of The Wild Beer Co's mixed-fermentation beers, bought a few years back. To my palate, they had the same kind of acid drift that this lacto was pushing my beers towards. That is my palate only; I have not looked at those beers under the microscope.
Plating and colonies¶
Plating records from these years are not to hand; I will add plate photos once I find them in my archives.
| Colony | Round | Medium | Days | Temp (°C) | Morphology | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brettanomyces (WBC Brut) | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | not recorded | Isolated 2022; banked |
| Lacto (Lactobacillus Painintheassus) | not recorded | not recorded | within days | not recorded | not recorded | Took over plates; not kept |
| Saccharomyces | - | - | - | - | - | Lost; never isolated |
Microscopy¶
Photos from the struggle are above. Photos of the clean Brett are on its organism page.
Outcome¶
- WBC Rooting Around - Brett (WB-BUG-2026-008): isolated in 2022 and banked. I call it WBC Brut, after a beer I brew with it. It is a good performer and I use it often.
- WBC Rooting Around - Lacto (WB-BUG-2026-015): Lactobacillus Painintheassus. Not kept.
- Saccharomyces: lost.
Open questions¶
- The Saccharomyces. I still have bottles from early attempts at reproducing my first brew. It is unlikely a Saccharomyces would have survived this long, but I may try to grow one from them.
- Plate photos. To be found in my archives and added.
Log¶
2018 · Source¶
Gifted a bottle of Rooting Around, The Wild Beer Co. A starter was made from the dregs and scaled up for 23 L of a simple all-grain wort; the beer was very close to the original. Half the batch was lost to a faulty airlock, and the remaining 10 L was drunk over a year or so. My friend and I bought a case of the beer for safekeeping.
2018 to 2022 · Observed (dates not recorded)¶
Years of trying to repeat the beer from new bottles without success; each bottle was darker and more acetic than the last. Bought a microscope. Contacted the brewery for advice; they were not keen on the idea.
2018 to 2022 · Plating (dates, rounds, medium, days and temperature not recorded)¶
A hop-tolerant lacto grew within days and took over every attempt. Antibiotic treatment in liquid medium only held it back; it ramped up again as soon as it was plated. Samples were thrown away over what was probably protein debris. The Saccharomyces was lost along the way.
2022 · Colonies (date not recorded)¶
Brett finally isolated clean: WBC Rooting Around - Brett, which I call WBC Brut.
2023-04-04 · Lacto photo¶
Microscope photo of the lacto (date from the file). At some point, with the lacto ever more prominent, all equipment was nuked and the carboys sterilised (date not recorded).
2026-02 · Banked (day not recorded)¶
WBC Brut on two slants and one slurry tube.
2026-09-20 · Microscopy¶
Microscope photos of the banked Brett, added to its page.
2026-09-23 · Write-up¶
Journey written up from memory. The lacto page, WBC Rooting Around - Lacto, is filled in as not kept. Plate photos to follow.