That sounds great, honey and banana! I have never smelled anything like that, that is very interesting. I am curious how it will do in the heavier wort
(I'll boil/sanitize the containers you send your yeast in and then send my guys back in them.)
Starter #1:
EDIT: After finishing off fermentation, then flocculating, then swirling a bit, I can again pick up some scents that are vaguely reminiscent of banana and a reasonably prominent honey aroma (my father now detects
honey and cinnamon, but no banana), so it's nowhere near a Weizen yeast but it could still make an interesting Wild Weizen, or Wilderweizen if you will. When cold, my parents and I can detect subtle hints of mango, passionfruit and peach. It's the nicest of the bunch by far.
Starter #2: Has a slightly medicinal, eucalyptus scent. This one happens to have the lid from a honey jar, but again, it's been dishwashed and sanitized so I sincerely hope it's not just jar/lid I'm smelling.
EDIT: After finishing off fermentation, then flocculating, then swirling a bit, it's still not really that pleasant. The bubbles on top are sort of clumping together in a weird way different from the other jars, so it may be infected. When cooled overnight, it's got some lemony scents, combined with a yeasty/doughy presence that reminds me of sourdough. Not very offensive, but not very interesting.
Starter #3: Has a scent I can't quite put my finger on. It's not really pleasant, and it might be the "band-aid" smell that I keep hearing about, but more research is needed.
EDIT: After finishing off fermentation, then flocculating, then swirling a bit, it's still not really that pleasant. Nor is it pleasant after cooling; smells like egg and dill and doesn't taste very good.
The next step will probably be to make 10L of Weizen wort, then inoculate half with the first/nice wild yeast and the other half with some WB-06 I've got in the fridge. I'll make starters for both.
Q:
anybody have suggestions for naming this yeast?
I was thinking something simple like "BH-01", BH meaning banana/honey. To be a bit more boring/organised, I could call all the successful isolations in my area LBM (Lower Blue Mountains, where I live), so LBM-01.