Cultivating wild yeast from local honey - Page 2

Pith · 01-05-2012, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by statseeker

I agree with the exorcist.

Laughed out louad at this. Will consider putting on my signature, esp. in honour of you being a big help to me a while back.

I have something else to add, though, and this is just a brainstorm. I feel that the yeast culture that gets strong in your starter will be dependant on the kinds of sugars and nutrients in your starter, so if you make a honey starter (ie 1 part honey:10 parts water) with the yeast dormant in the honey, the yeasts that grow the quickest and dominate will be the ones that like to ferment honey (ie sucrose, fructose, sucrose). Likewise, if you had a wort starter of the same gravity, the wild yeast that dominate it the quickest will be the ones that like to ferment beer (ie maltose sugars).

Therefore, I would imagine that if you wanted to make wild mead, I would use a honey starter, either with the yeast from the honey, or from the yeast in the air coming into a pasteurised starter. If you wanted to make a wild beer, you'd be better off finding a yeast that likes to dominate and ferment wort.

I just feel as though that this method may lead to less disappointment. There might be a great tasting wild yeast that you get from a honey starter that could struggle with maltose, or vice versa: you may culture a yeast from a wort that scratches its dear little head when presented with sucrose. However, this of course may be a good thing if you want a sweet-finishing drink where the yeast only ferments the sugars it grew up with as a baby starter.

Just a few thoughts that occurred to me that might be of use to anyone else.

**BBKing** · 02-04-2012, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pith

Laughed out louad at this. Will consider putting on my signature, esp. in honour of you being a big help to me a while back.

I have something else to add, though, and this is just a brainstorm. I feel that the yeast culture that gets strong in your starter will be dependant on the kinds of sugars and nutrients in your starter, so if you make a honey starter (ie 1 part honey:10 parts water) with the yeast dormant in the honey, the yeasts that grow the quickest and dominate will be the ones that like to ferment honey (ie sucrose, fructose, sucrose). Likewise, if you had a wort starter of the same gravity, the wild yeast that dominate it the quickest will be the ones that like to ferment beer (ie maltose sugars).

Therefore, I would imagine that if you wanted to make wild mead, I would use a honey starter, either with the yeast from the honey, or from the yeast in the air coming into a pasteurised starter. If you wanted to make a wild beer, you'd be better off finding a yeast that likes to dominate and ferment wort.

I just feel as though that this method may lead to less disappointment. There might be a great tasting wild yeast that you get from a honey starter that could struggle with maltose, or vice versa: you may culture a yeast from a wort that scratches its dear little head when presented with sucrose. However, this of course may be a good thing if you want a sweet-finishing drink where the yeast only ferments the sugars it grew up with as a baby starter.

Just a few thoughts that occurred to me that might be of use to anyone else.

This actually helped quite a bit. Thank you.

I have an apple tree in the backyard that I'm thinking about using to ferment a small wild yeast batch this summer. We shall see what happens. Lots of research to be done.

BTW, to the OP, any results yet?

corwin3083 · 02-06-2012, 01:00 PM

I tried this over the weekend with some unfiltered, unpasteurized Amish honey. Just two teaspoons in a 2-cup starter.

Within 12 hours there was what I would normally assume was yeast flocced to the bottom of the jug, but no krausen, and no noticeable CO2 production. Then about 36+ hours in, late last night, I finally started to get just the tiniest bit of foam on top of the starter.

I can't wait to get home from work today to see what it's doing now... :-D

Pith · 02-07-2012, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corwin3083

I tried this over the weekend with some unfiltered, unpasteurized Amish honey. Just two teaspoons in a 2-cup starter.

Within 12 hours there was what I would normally assume was yeast flocced to the bottom of the jug, but no krausen, and no noticeable CO2 production. Then about 36+ hours in, late last night, I finally started to get just the tiniest bit of foam on top of the starter.

I can't wait to get home from work today to see what it's doing now... :-D

10mL honey in 500mL water isn't very much at all. That's probably why the activity was so small. You could go ahead and give it 2-3 more tablespoons of honey, I reckon.

You won't know whether you've got something nice until you've aged it for a while and done exactly the same process with a mead yeast you like (sanitize your must before you pitch your mead yeast). Once you're happy with the size and strength of them, put both to age for a while, then try them side by side and let us know!

I'm sure you knew all this already, but better safe than sorry. I'd hate for you to chuck it because it was young and sharp.

corwin3083 · 02-07-2012, 01:45 PM

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ULUePpf566E/TzE30HhUXCI/AAAAAAAAAz8/YROtS8mwlqo/s640/2012-02-06_12-45-37_170.jpg

I had faith in my yeasts, and they delivered in spades when I woke up this morning.

Pith · 02-08-2012, 06:44 AM

Cool! Now that they've woken up and started reproducing, I'd add more honey and water, shake the crap out of it, and let 'er rip.

JRdaSconnie · 02-09-2012, 07:12 PM

Anyone produce something drinkable out of this yet? I'm interested in integrating some sort of local funk/flavor into some brews. I'd like to construct a coolship, but this might be another good way to get some local flora & fauna into my beer. I brewed a cream ale last summer with local honey added at the end of the boil and after reading this thread I'm thinking of trying this recipe with a wild fermented twist. Embrace the funk.

corwin3083 · 02-09-2012, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRdaSconnie

Anyone produce something drinkable out of this yet?

I'm gonna grab supplies for a gallon of blonde ale this weekend, and we'll see what this yeast produces. Will post when I have more results, but so far I swear the starter smells like honey.

Pith · 02-25-2012, 01:25 AM

Updates, guys?