Wild Yeast Pitched, Have Questions

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boiseburb

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A friend and I cultivated some sacc from juniper berries. This is my first attempt using wild yeast. I made a small 3 L batch using amber extract and some fresh cascade hops. I also made a control 2 gal. batch using s-05 American yeast.

In the wild yeast batch I had to leave about 16 hours after I pitched it. I was gone for 2 days and was unable to watch it's progress. Comparatively, It looked like the wild yeast was active, but not as active as the s-05. I feel it's doing its job, just slower.

When I brew, I leave the beer in Primary around 20+ days and skip secondary. The question is:

How long should I let the wild yeast ferment?

Below is a picture 4.5 days from pitching
Wild4days.jpg
 
I would let it go primary as long as your control then start checking gravity stability.
 
You definitely need to check both taste and gravity. The wild culture I have has some form of fermenting yeast along with some bacteria and brett. It seems stable after a few weeks but it is a diacetyl bomb for a few months. Then brett and the bacteria kick in and starts drying the beer out and slurping up the diacetyl.
 
You definitely need to check both taste and gravity. The wild culture I have has some form of fermenting yeast along with some bacteria and brett. It seems stable after a few weeks but it is a diacetyl bomb for a few months. Then brett and the bacteria kick in and starts drying the beer out and slurping up the diacetyl.

How did you collect your wild culture, if you don't mind me asking. My culture was done on a petrie dish, then a second swipe. I accidentally left it out at room temp, instead of putting it in the fridge. When we looked through the microscope, it seemed really clean. I'm guessing the juniper berries have properties to keep the bacteria at bay. The second strike of the plum culture, taken at the same time, was toast.
 
I cultured off a peach. I just dropped the peach into the wort and let it go in a starter. I built up the culture and then added to a batch of beer. I'm not very scientific about it.

If your culture was cleaner than mine obviously is, then you will probably reach stable gravity within a few days to few weeks after pitching with no secondary fermentation.
 
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