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**Jsmith82** · 10-01-2011, 01:35 AM

Basically I skinned an organic granny smith and put the shavings in a jar of apple juice with some yeast nutrient a couple days ago.. I was expecting action in a couple weeks maybe, nope; it's going freaking nuts now!

Heres my issue, fuzzy white patches have formed on the liquid where the shavings are now floating, looks like the start of mold.. Should I sanitize some tongs, pull the apple out, dump most of the juice, then take what sediment is now on bottom and pitch it into a fresh jar of juice or am I screwed already?

Fun stuff, yeast is crazy!

benbradford · 10-01-2011, 06:26 AM

I don't know a thing about wild yeast harvesting, but you have peaked my curiosity enought that I am now following this thread, and reading further... good luck!

**Jsmith82** · 10-01-2011, 05:30 PM

Since this an experiment anyhow, out of worry I went ahead and sanitized a fork and scooped out all of the shavings, dumped 3/4 the jar, then took the remaining 1/4 a cup and swirled it for about a minute to get the sediment and grounded yeast up and floating. I pitched that into a new sanitized jar with a cup of apple juice in it and some yeast nutrient.

Instead of attaching a co2 lock this time I just put foil over the top, I'm treating this like a typical starter now, if it grows successfully then I'll pitch it into a gallon, if that doesn't turn out fowl, I'll harvest off that and go for 5 gallons..

Pictures coming soon...

benbradford · 10-01-2011, 08:15 PM

BTW, in my experience, as far as yeast and infection, I have never seen any signs other than co2 and krausen happen in the beginning, and any lacto infection I have had, has taken at least 2 weeks...

**Jsmith82** · 10-01-2011, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benbradford

BTW, in my experience, as far as yeast and infection, I have never seen any signs other than co2 and krausen happen in the beginning, and any lacto infection I have had, has taken at least 2 weeks...

Good to know, it was tough to tell if the patches were fuzzy or just bubbles. Had no bad scent when I pulled the switch this morning, smelled very very sweet, pleasant.

**Jsmith82** · 10-08-2011, 07:09 PM

After the transfer, I let it go a couple days then dumped the juice, added about 1/4 a cup new juice then tossed the sample in the fridge - it smelled good, no signs of infection.

Last night I pulled the jar, swirled it to get everything back into suspension, then pitched it into a gallon of apple juice, og 1.050. This morning I had to take off the airlock and apply a blow off tube! It BLASTED off! Seems very healthy and is vigorously fermenting.. Looking good.

**shafferpilot** · 10-08-2011, 07:17 PM

best of luck. An option for separating mold from yeast is to plate. It is described in great detail here:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/howto-capture-wild-yeast-101886/

By isolating yeast strains, your finished product will be more stable and predictable.

**Jsmith82** · 11-26-2011, 08:08 PM

Bottled that gallon today, it made it down to 1.002. Tasted fantastic, like an uncarbed Scrumpy Jack. Saved the yeast again, next up 5 gallons....

ditchbanker · 11-27-2011, 01:15 AM

That is very cool. I'd really like to try some natural yeast experiments. My 1 gallon carboys are all full, so I may need to get another in spring when the weather warms up enough to collect some of the local strain.