Howto: Capture Wild Yeast - Page 66

tCan · 02-05-2012, 02:44 AM

I agree with jaapie.

Glossolalia · 02-05-2012, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drummstikk

Keep in mind that it took brewers generations to produce the boringness of Chico ale yeast. You could have caught a clean-fermenting wild strain. But the chances that a neutral-character domesticated yeast from your brewery slipped in are high. Did you do any controls in which you repeat everything except inoculation to determine how likely contamination is?

In my case, that's probably not likely as I just moved into a new place, and my "neutral yeast" were harvested before I brewed my first beer here at this place. I guess it's technically possible that the previous owner of this place brewed beer or baked bread. It's also technically possible that it came from my equipment, but it would have had to survive the 60+ days on the boat from the US. There are, however, several bakeries in my neighborhood.

I also used a negative control, where I closed the jar prior to putting it outside and kept it side by side with the fermenting wort until it finished. Nothing grew up in the negative control. But, in this case, that only tells me that the fermenting yeast came from outside the house.

Accidic · 02-06-2012, 01:09 AM

The cells look vastly different to me but your equipment is probably far better than mine. An example that comes to mind is the appendage looking growth (or a hunchback type growth) many if not most I've caught around here have. I've not yet seen that on the packaged yeasts I've used but that is limited to most of the common dry, 2 WL, and 4-5 wyeast that I've dropped under the scope. As I understand it, they were used for flowering or reproduction or some such and have been bred out of the common sc's. Nevertheless, I've only scoped them in this locale.

That said, I only put them under the scope to get an idea if my samples are contaminated. I'm trying to chase down a wild strain (and I say wild only cause it came from the skins of muscadines/'ongs) my grandfather used to produce his wines with. Per his process they should have finished around 22% abv and were highly tolerant to high initial sugar content. I had one bottle to work from (28yo) and I got only one yeast growth and it was terrible whatever it was. So far tho the skin experiment has been unfruitful.... I did pick up some kind of candida (pretty sure anyway) that makes decent bread tho so it's not a total loss.

Homebrewtastic · 02-07-2012, 03:58 PM

So about a month ago I set some weak DME solution out on my porch with cheesecloth over night. Brought it in, then about a week and a half later I had visible fermentation. I then decided to try stepping it up in a little bit of late runnings from a batch I made about two weeks ago. I added nutrient shook well etc.... Nothing happened. For two weeks NADA no visible signs of fermentation nothing. I ignored it for a few days intending to toss it. Today when I go to do just that

Yeast rafts stuck to the sides of the growler and a decent cake on the bottom. Obviously I'm thrilled that it finally took off. But has anyone else experienced such a long lag time using wild yeast? We're talking two weeks here. Thought it was odd.

Accidic · 02-07-2012, 04:55 PM

I always got lots of mold doing just the liquid until I ground up some old spent grain along with the late runnings and boiled them together. Not really sure why but that reduced the mold. In the spring/summer time I got quicker results and in the fall I got really slow results. I've not had much luck in the wintertime though. I've since switched to plates instead (and before plates I worked with jars with no problems) and never looked back.

Pith · 02-08-2012, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accidic

I always got lots of mold doing just the liquid until I ground up some old spent grain along with the late runnings and boiled them together. Not really sure why but that reduced the mold. In the spring/summer time I got quicker results and in the fall I got really slow results. I've not had much luck in the wintertime though. I've since switched to plates instead (and before plates I worked with jars with no problems) and never looked back.

Hmm... perhaps the tannins and silicas you extract from boiling grain somehow inhibit moulds. Not really sure.

Also, I've always wondered whether there are are actually indeed wild winter yeasts that like cold temperatures, which might be good for lagering...? Did you try to capture then yeast then move your wort inside where it's warmer?

Accidic · 02-08-2012, 11:52 AM

I've not made a solid effort in the winter tbh. I've done several that I moved from outside on the table to our house attached storage which generally fluctuates between 50-65 degrees in the winter but only one inside (which due to the speed of mold growth is why I was given no choice but to put it out there

). Still tho, I've admittedly not pursued it hard. I get this contaminant that looks kind of starfish like under a scope and oya way more painful in the winter. Not sure what it is but I do know if you don't streak it out it produces a terribly horrible tasting result akin to chewing up a tylenol.

**jaapie** · 02-14-2012, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accidic

The cells look vastly different to me but your equipment is probably far better than mine. An example that comes to mind is the appendage looking growth (or a hunchback type growth) many if not most I've caught around here have. I've not yet seen that on the packaged yeasts I've used but that is limited to most of the common dry, 2 WL, and 4-5 wyeast that I've dropped under the scope. As I understand it, they were used for flowering or reproduction or some such and have been bred out of the common sc's. Nevertheless, I've only scoped them in this locale.

That said, I only put them under the scope to get an idea if my samples are contaminated. I'm trying to chase down a wild strain (and I say wild only cause it came from the skins of muscadines/'ongs) my grandfather used to produce his wines with. Per his process they should have finished around 22% abv and were highly tolerant to high initial sugar content. I had one bottle to work from (28yo) and I got only one yeast growth and it was terrible whatever it was. So far tho the skin experiment has been unfruitful.... I did pick up some kind of candida (pretty sure anyway) that makes decent bread tho so it's not a total loss.

If you have a digital camera you can take pictures by holding the camera in front of the ocular. I used to do that, and it gives suprising good results, if you have a little of a steady hand. Ill dig up some pics, and will post it on my profile or something, so we can compare.

Pith · 02-15-2012, 11:25 AM

POST IT HERE.

please.

Accidic · 02-15-2012, 03:09 PM

Alright. But it'll probably be a few months before I have a good source to sample from. I've gotten them from muscadines, dewberries, and asian pears. I've not had a lot of luck down here in the wintertime. The only strain I'm working with atm I'm told is a Candida by a college professor friend of mine. It seems to do well for bread (I've got a batch rising as we speak) and the taste is good albeit the bacteria it's sharing the culture with isn't strong enough for my tastes. That said, remind me if I forget please. Also, I've had some luck with the yeasts off of my hickory nuts that seemed promising (Very fat and blobby) at first but the results were very leatherish. I may give it another shot this year just to see if I had other contamination since my streaking was a bit questionable on it.