Doog_Si_Reeb

Recipes 

I recently moved into a new (to me) house that has a couple grape vines in the backyard. The grapes are pretty good, but naturally the homebrewer in me saw the white stuff on the skins and thought, that's yeast... I wonder what I can do with it.

I am thinking about making a small starter with some DME and dropping a few of the grapes into the starter to see if I can get the yeast to grow and create a wild yeast bank.

I know there are also bacteria on the grapes so if the starter smells like $*** I'll just toss it out.

Has anyone done this with grapes before? If I'm successful in getting some wild yeast without a bacterial infection, what should I brew with it? I imagine the default is a belgian or farmhouse style.

I think it would be kind of fun to try the local yeast on a small batch and see what kind of flavor results.

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Uff Da Picobrewery

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Secondary:
Kegged: Jarl Pils (Noble Pils Clone), Erik the Red Ale, Yuletide CarØl, West Coast Red, Saison Dans L'Abime (Black Saison), Belgian Blonde
Bottled: Yule Gruit, Unhallowed BGSA (10-10-10), Nymphetamine Barleywine (999)

Freezeblade

Recipes 

I have not done it with grapes, but I have done it with peaches and apples. never have I tried to use this yeast on Beer though, only on cider and mead. However the default is a lambic or farmhouse style, as you will probably get a few bugs in with your yeast, which COULD (read: probably will) sour your beer at least a little bit. Your idea on the starter is basically what I do to start up the wild yeast the first time, except because I don't use it in beer, I use apple juice so it probably looses that enzyme to ferment Malt-based sugars, so the DME will work great for what you're doing. make a grape lambic! that'd be awesome and keep us posted.

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Primary:Russian River Redemption clone, Kelly's Melomel, Graham's English Cider 22-23
Clearing:Apple Wine
Aging:Public House Dry Stout, Procrastination Porter, Mr. Brown Ale, Westvleteren 12 Clone, Mead, Duvel Clone, Graham's English Cider 6-21, Belgian Draak Strong Ale, Fig Melomel, Acerglyn, Restorative Tonic Metheglyn

Driftless

Recipes 

Would you mind describing, precisely, how you harvested wild yeast from these for mead? What were the results? What was their %alcohol tolerance (if you know...)

I am starting up a few test-strains of mead in primitive conditions, and am looking for yeast sources... and hoping for an idiot-proof step by step

Cheers!

fratermus

Recipes 

I think the procedure is to streak a plate, and then harvest/culture those growths that appear to be yeast colonies. That way you can isolate away from the bacteria. I am going to try this with some swabs from pomegranates on a tree in my yard.

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Adequate Mousetrap brewhouse

Batch history | yeast slants | Suspending yeast

Freezeblade

Recipes 

My process was pretty simple, I prepared a sanitized 12oz stub bottle and put some starter solution in there (for me it was just apple juice, for you it should probably be DME and water made to 1.040). I skinned the apple/peach when wearing rubber gloves, in a clean kitchen (to make sure there's no extra bugs from hands/environment), and placed the skin into the bottle, covering it with aluminum foil and let it sit out for a few days, untill it was good and foamy. I then poured the liquid off of the skin into some more starter solution in a bigger bottle to step it up, then just added it right to the must once that was good and started. YMMV.

Edit: Oh, you're doing a mead, your starter would probably be honey and water with an SG of 1.040

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Primary:Russian River Redemption clone, Kelly's Melomel, Graham's English Cider 22-23
Clearing:Apple Wine
Aging:Public House Dry Stout, Procrastination Porter, Mr. Brown Ale, Westvleteren 12 Clone, Mead, Duvel Clone, Graham's English Cider 6-21, Belgian Draak Strong Ale, Fig Melomel, Acerglyn, Restorative Tonic Metheglyn

Willie3

Recipes 

Just throw the fruit into a starter and ramp up as you go.

Juniper berries were used in this capacity long long time ago.

- WW

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Willie3

NJ HOPZ - North Jersey Homebrewers Organization of Praciticing Zymurgisits

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drummstikk

Recipes 

Just wondering how this went. I am planning to domesticate some wild yeasts of my own, and I'm wondering which natural sources will be best. Let me know, thanks!