should I cultivate wild yeast?

moger777 · 04-15-2009, 11:56 PM

Hey guys,
I was going to try making a sour brown. I was going to make a 7 gallon batch and put 5 gallons in a bucket with some WY3763 and open ferment the other 2 gallons so I can compare and contrast the wild yeast at my house with the stuff in Belgium. There was one thing I did not foresee though, all the local farmers spread manure around the fields and it smells like manure everywhere near my house. I'm afraid my 2 gallon batch may be a bit too funky. Part of me says it's only 2 gallons, might as well try it out but the other half says I'd rather have 2 more gallons of drinkable beer.
What do you guys think?

moger777 · 04-16-2009, 12:01 AM

a bit of a followup question, after I'm done brewing the brown should I throw out the bucket or can I nuke the hell out of it with bleach and such?

SnickASaurusRex · 04-16-2009, 04:51 AM

Don't through it out. Keep a wild-ish bucket and a clean-ish bucket. Or invest in some glass for the wild stuff.

Either way I would nuke it with something. I would suggest a good long soak in StarSan or Quaternary Ammonia if you got it, or just bleach with several rinses.

Kriznac · 05-04-2009, 07:36 PM

I would say go ahead with the test batch. My landlords operate a dairy and I frequently have cows, and everything that comes with them, just on the other side of the fence. I just bottled my first beer fermented with wild yeast and I am very excited about it, it has a slight sour character at first but the malt character is able to come through in the finish.

So I say go for it, if you don't you may be depriving yourself and your friends of a truly great beer.