My First Brew AKA Brewing With Nothing (With PICS!)

Hello, everyone. I am new to brewing and look forward to being helped by and eventually helping the other members of this community. I have been reading this forum quite a lot over the last few weeks and it has inspired me to brew my first batch of beer! Now, here is the problem:

I live in China.

There are no brew shops that I know of anywhere in this entire country (great business opportunity, I know) and on top of that I can not find a place to buy hops nor even brewers yeast! Luckily, from what my wife has told me, they do have barley here. What I have decided to do is as follows:

1. Harvest a wild strain of yeast locally.
2. Buy barley seed and make my own malt.
3. Find a substitute for hops or wait until spring when I can find it growing outdoors and harvest my own come fall.
4. Sit back proudly and drink that beer which has taken so much effort for me to bring into existence.

I am at step one right now. I read through various posts and guides to try and find ways of getting my hands on some acceptable yeast. The common method seems to be finding fruit, putting it into a malt bath and letting it steep until it seems to have fermented. After that, if all smells and looks well, throw it into your mash and hope for the best. Another thing I had read into was extracting a specific yeast strain from a starter and making your own yeast bank. I decided to combine the two.

What I had planned to do was find some fruit, pitch it into sterile test tubes with growing medium and then, after fermentation, smell test them to find which seemed best. From there, I would use syringes to extract samples from various parts of the substrate and inoculate Petri dishes using a streaking method. I would then sterilize my test tubes and syringes. Afterwards, I would use the syringes to extract single colonies from the Petri plates and once again inoculate the test tubes but this time with something more beer mash-like. Finally, whichever test tube looked and smelled the best would be used as a slant for making the beer when I finally found some hops.

Here is where I am at now.

I made a substrate by boiling some potatoes with sucrose and flour. While that was boiling, I popped my test tubes and rubber stops into the pressure cooker to sterilize. After they were finished, I filtered the broth through a tea pot into the test tubes and once again put them back into the pressure cooker to sterilize:



I bought rubber stops for the test tubes so that I could use a syringe to inoculate them without contamination when it comes time for making slants.



Once the test tubes with substrate were done sterilizing, I quickly popped their rubber stops into them. I hope nothing bad got in there while I was doing this.



It is in the depths of winter at the moment here in China. I was a little worried about being able to find any fruit out and about. When to go buy the equipment I was looking at the old vines that cover the city, wondering if any of them would turn out to be hops when summer came, when I noticed some shrivelled little fruits hanging from some of them. I figured, hey, any yeast that would survive winter on these little guys would probably be able to survive my novice attempts at cultivation.



Finally, when the tubes had cooled, I popped the lids once more and threw in the fruit. I had one remaining tube so I put in the stems.



Now, I guess all that is left is to wait and see what will happen. I am so excited to be making my first brew but really have no idea what I am doing. I have tried to piece it all together and come up with a plan but, hell, the truth is that I don't even know where to get the hops.

I look forward to brewing with all of you and hope that my first experiment with all this works out ok. If you have any suggestions, criticisms, advice or anything at all, please, feel more than free to reply to this post. I welcome all the help in this that I can get!

I hope it is ok if I give this thread a bump. I really am looking forward to discussing my first brew with some of you guys and the thread fell to the back of the list with only one view so far.

Wow, sounds like quite the challenge! This sounds very interesting and I wish you luck! You are combining a lot of advanced techniques to create your first beer. While it may be expensive, couldn't you order ingredients online to a least get a feel for the process for the first time? Then work your way up to the "from nothing" challenge?

One red flag I see is that you mentioned adding your wild yeast to the mash. The mash is the process of soaking you grain in hot water get fermentable sugars. You then seperate the grain from the wort, and boil the wort and add hops during the boil. After cooling the wort to fermentation temps ( typically under 70f depending on yeast) is when you add the yeast.

wow. pretty interesting. you must be very dedicated to brewing beer.

how about harvesting yeast from unfiltered beer? Here's a comprehensive list of beers that you can harvest yeast from. I'm not sure if any of these are available to you or if any of the Chinese beers can be harvested.

or, how about ordering dry yeast from the US?

Another way to get some yeast is to find a locally-available bottle-conditioned beer and harvest the yeast from it.

Pour the beer into a glass, leaving about 1 or 2 cc in the bottom of the bottle. Set that aside for later enjoyment. Swirl the remaining beer in the bottom of the bottle to loosen up the yeast and then pour it into one of your tubes for cultivation.

I am sure there is a supplier of malt extract somewhere near you (it isn't only used for beer - it's used for a lot of food-related applications). Using that as a base, you can then step up the growth of your yeast until you have a viable bank.

Also, as mentioned, a packet of dry yeast from the states or Europe shouldn't be too costly to obtain. Then you can just keep harvesting and re-culturing it as needed.

Here's one video describing the process:

Bduane,

Originally, I was hoping to be able to order a kit online and have everything available to me. The problem was that I couldn't find any brewing sites that accepted Alipay, the Chinese equivalent to Paypal. Paypal is suppose to be coming to China eventually, but, I'm not holding my breath for it.

Sorry, I'm new to all these terms. So the wort is the final product before fermentation. I will keep reading as I get to each phase to try and work it all out. I have a general idea but there are so many details in each step that I still have a lot to learn.


A4J,

Yes, beer has such a long and complex history. I want to be part of that experience. And, hell, who am I kidding, I also just want to brew a great beer to drink!

I doubt if any speciality beers are readily available around here. Most of what I drink is TsingTao, they have western beer here but it is only the most commercial varieties from the most commercial brands.

Prrriiide,

That sounds like a great method but I don't think I will be able to find a bottle conditioned beer here. China has absolutely no small brew nor home brew culture. It is a shame that a society that drinks as much beer as we do here would be oblivious as to how it is made.


I think I will be able to get the yeast out ok, I hope. I just do not know what to do about the hops. My wife suggested we use Puer tea, a fermented tea that has a mellow earthy taste. I would still prefer actual hops though, if I can ever find them.

Hey, thanks for the replies. I really appreciated them.

Oh, one last thing, I can't see videos posted on popular video sharing sites nor pictures posted on popular photo hosting sites. China blocks a lot of internet traffic here.

I agree! I am looking forward to seeing what happens with this wild yeast experiment.

The topic of wild yeast is something I don't know a lot about. What made you decide to go with attempting to harvest yeast from the fruit?

Xier said:

I doubt if any speciality beers are readily available around here. Most of what I drink is TsingTao, they have western beer here but it is only the most commercial varieties from the most commercial brands.

Click to expand...

Are you sure? Isn't TsingTao from Qingdao in Shandong province? That's where they have the Qingdao International Beer Festival where they supposedly bring in beer from all over the world.

With all the things standing in your way you are quite resilient in your desire to make beer! I'm definitely interested to hear how it all goes. This is a long shot, but are there any breweries in China that you might be able to get a yeast sample from?

BrickHomestead,

I figured fruit would be the best choice as people have been making ciders and such for aeons by simply putting fruit in a container and letting the yeasts covering them go to work. The only thing I don't like about using this yeast directly is that it is a complex ecosystem and not a single strain, it could easily turn on me. That's why I added all the additional steps to isolate single cultures.

A4J, I never knew of that festival. It sounds like something that I would really like to attend. Still, even there I wouldn't expect unpasteurized beer. It seems these companies from all over the world typically consist of international breweries.

The Chinese LOVE to drink beer. The problem is that they don't savour the beer. They drink it to get drunk and sing karaoke or build guanxi.

Bwomp313,

Yes, I am determined. In China they have a lot of local baijiu breweries. The problem is that they don't exactly use yeast to brew. They use fungus cakes to inoculate rice and then distil it into hard liquor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuqu

check out this article HERE it talks about home brewing in China and mentions a few places to get ingredients.

Also have you tried different proxy servers for accessing blocked web sites?

In place of the hops, you might try spruce.

Google "spruce beer"

It might work for you. Even if you have to substitute a (non-poisonous) pine variety for spruce, it might be something worth looking into.

Or hell, if you PM me your name and a mailing address, I'll send you a packet of s-05 dry yeast.

Anyone want to offer up a rhizome?

Pm5k00,

I stand corrected, I had no idea there were other home-brewers here. I guess it was pretty naive to think in a place as large as China there wouldn't be at least a few.

I checked out the TaoBao page for the OktoberFest http://oktoberfest.taobao.com/?search=y. They don't have the largest selection but it's enough to get started. I am still interested in doing my own yeast isolation and malting though as I've already become enthralled with the idea. I do need a better hydrometer though, the one I have now is far too light.

Thank you for the heads up on what's happening in QingDao. Perhaps I could plan a trip there this summer and see what is happening. It sounds very fascinating!

Prrriiide,

Spruce definitely is doable here. Though, the idea of it seems quite novel. Till now I had never heard of spruce beer. I will give it a try and make a separate batch with the spruce. I might need help finding whether it is one of those poisonous varieties or not!

Like I was saying above, I really am quite captivated at the moment with the idea of harvesting my own wild yeast. Getting a hold on a rhizome would be fantastic. I don't know about harvesting wild hops nor what qualities to look for when doing so. I will buy the pellets from the site Pmk50 recommended, atleast till summer comes and I can try to find them growing.

Thank you all for all this assistance. I will keep posting updates as they come along. I noticed some white spots within the tubes this morning and will take pics when they develops a bit further. Perhaps someone can help me identify whether it is yeast or not.

Xier said:

Spruce definitely is doable here. Though, the idea of it seems quite novel. Till now I had never heard of spruce beer. I will give it a try and make a separate batch with the spruce. I might need help finding whether it is one of those poisonous varieties or not!

Click to expand...

Most parts of the pine tree are safe, but I'm not an arborist, so I don't know for sure. I have tried a couple of spruce beers. One was very good, just had kind of a piney-resiny flavor to it. The other one was like drinking pine-sol cleaner. Blech. I had to down an IPA to get that flavor out of my mouth. They're interesting beers, but you'll definitely need to experiment to see what you like and what you don't.

I don't know about harvesting wild hops nor what qualities to look for when doing so.

Click to expand...

This video might help you out with knowing what to look for. It deals with domesticated hops, but he also explains what to look for.

Here in Philadelphia we have Yards Tavern Spruce Ale that is described as an ale developed "before barley and hops were readily available". I'm not really sure how accurate Yards is attempting to be to the original Ben Franklin recipe but is worth trying.

They distribute this beer in variety pack cases and I always look forward to it. It is one of the more interested beers I've had that is also drinkable. A good counterpoint to their other historic brews.

Thanks for the spruce related links. Inspiring to use what you have available.

Prrriiide,

Well, hell, that is the whole purpose of this, experimentation! I like a good beer, that's for sure, but what I've always been is a bit of a mad scientist deep down. Somewhere along the way of growing up, having a kid, I lost it. With this little experiment it's definitely starting to kick back in though!

I couldn't watch your video, unfortunately, as China blocks Youtube. I should get a VPN but, hell, I'm in the process of naturalizing here and wouldn't want to screw it up by breaking any laws.

BrickHomestead,

That is the second thing this thread is all about, using what is readily available. I looked online in Chinese trying to find a place in Tianjin to buy barley or da-mai, as it is called here, and could not find anything except references to some barley tea for weight loss. I decided to disregard all of that and just go out and find it.

I went to the local market and talked to one of the vendors selling assorted beans and powdered.. things. Here, wheat, rye and barley are all called x-mai and the word for seed is zi, so, I asked if he had any mai-zi, expecting if he had some for it to have been wheat, or xiao-mai. Well, I couldn't believe my ears when his reply was a "Wo you damai" or "I have Barley" in a voice that let me know he wasn't expecting me to want any! The seeds looked like they were not growable (I know absolutely nothing about brewing but I believe the correct term would be hulled), so, I asked if they were raw, sheng, and he said no. I asked if he could get any and he took my number and said he'd call in three days when he had them!

I love China! On top of that, you guys will not believe your eyes when you see the amazing carboy I am getting! It is all glass with a glass spigot! It looks absolutely stunning. I assure you all that pictures will definitely be coming soon!

For now, check out how the capture is going:



The one on the far right has been excessively handled from the beginning. It is so hard to just leave them alone, so, I chose that particular one to take the wrath of my curiosity. I even went so far as to pop the cap and give it a slight whiff today. I knew I shouldn't have but the temptation was killing me! It smelt delightful!

The yeasts were definitely noticeable in the smell as well as some more complex esters. It is amazing how the substrate was near gel-like when I first inoculated the test tubes and has now changed into a watery consistency. I imagine that would be from the yeasts and other micro-organisms breaking down the starches into alcohols and what-not.

You can see from the thermometer that the temperature inside my cupboard is around 17 Celsius, or 62 Fahrenheit. I figure this is a good temperature for the time-being. I will move the operation outside, where it is a bit colder, when it comes term for the actual brew.

How about juniper? I've seen beer recipes with juniper added as a flavoring in addition to hops, but there was an article in BYO not that long ago about the history of brewing in Scandinavia. It talked about the use of juniper instead of hops - i.e. prior to the introduction of hops to the region.

Xier said:

Prrriiide,

Well, hell, that is the whole purpose of this, experimentation! I like a good beer, that's for sure, but what I've always been is a bit of a mad scientist deep down. Somewhere along the way of growing up, having a kid, I lost it. With this little experiment it's definitely starting to kick back in though!

I couldn't watch your video, unfortunately, as China blocks Youtube. I should get a VPN but, hell, I'm in the process of naturalizing here and wouldn't want to screw it up by breaking any laws.

Click to expand...

Here is another link, then...

http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.3/montell.html

If you google "harvesting wild hops" there is a wealth of info there.

Another thought...if you can make it to Japan, you might try to find a Sorachi Ace or a Furano rhizome there. They're the hops used in Sapporo beer. Sorachis are very lemony-citrusy.

Some other Japanese varieties (of varying availability) include:

Shinshuwase, or Shinshu-Wase
Kitamidori (Kirin brewery)
Kirin II
Toyomidori

I know from experience that it can be tough to find English language books in China, but if you can order online (or by some quirk of fate), get a copy of Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Buhner. There are loads of recipes in there using various herbs instead of hops. It's an interesting read, too.

Check out Gruit if you have a hard time finding hops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruit

This is really cool Xier, I look forward to seeing your progress

bwomp313 said:

With all the things standing in your way you are quite resilient in your desire to make beer! I'm definitely interested to hear how it all goes. This is a long shot, but are there any breweries in China that you might be able to get a yeast sample from?

Click to expand...

Nice thought. I wonder if they could source hops for him as well.

There is a little banter still continuing in the other thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/brewing-nothing-299860/

Apologies for the late reply. My wife had been in the hospital all of last week after having required surgery to remove her spleen. She is home now and recovering fantastically. Also, I have taken the wild test tube samples and inoculated the agar plates. I will upload it all once I figure out how to get around a slight problem.

Chickypad,
That seems tastey but as I've studied and dug deeper into brewing I have gotten my heart set on a dark irish stoutish beer. Ofcourse, it will have a few local aspects as well.

Prrriiide,
I, personally, am not a big fan of Japanese beer styles. I prefer a beer that has a complexity to it. Musty aromas and dark tones of color are what get me going. For my first brew I think I want to use Saaz in an Irish-like dry stout.

BruBrus,
As a matter of fact, I did manage to find that book online. I will give it a good reading here tomorrow, thank you for that.

Arch1tect,
After reading the ingredient list I think that I would have an easier time finding hops, haha!

Happypanties,
Why thank you! I am finding it all to be pretty cool myself.

Dynachrome,
Maybe, there is a store in Beijing that apparently has hops and such. I was planning to visit them when I went to renounce my citizenship last week but, unfortunately, didn't get the chance.

Mods,
I have proceeded with the next step of all this but am not able to upload the photographs because I am going through a web-proxy. China has inexplicably decided that this site is ban-worthy and I now have no clear way to upload pictures in a reliable manner. I could use an external site but if they were to be deleted from there this thread would lose its archive value. Plus, it just seems untidy.

Xier,
I am sorry to hear about your wife, I hope she has a speedy recovery.
I understand a little about what you are going through in China. I have a good friend that spent years to be able to Marry a women from China. We have spoken much about life in china; it is so different than anything we can imagine.
I love your drive to “scratch brew” and would love to follow you and hear more in the hopes of doing it sometime soon myself. I am surprised this will be / is, a banned site as so many Chinese drink beer, I could see if it where coffee. Lol…
I hope you keep a journal or blog you can share with us.
Be well and
Happy Brewing.

I have managed to get around the upload problem, at-least for now, and can share my progress.

Two weeks had went by since I first seeded my test tube media with the small wild grapes that abound Tianjin. I realized it was time to move onto the next step; streaking my agar plates.

Originally, it was planned to use agar bought from the science supply store where I had found the test tubes and Petri dishes but, having suffered several financial setbacks this month, I went with a cheaper solution. In-fact, this whole stage will be done using a more rigged set-up.

The agar that I did buy was from a small shop within the bazaar where i had sourced my barley.



As you can see, it is already emptied. I was in such a rush to move forward with it all that I forgot to take photographs till later on.

In order to keep everything sterile, I created a small glove-box using an old diaper box of my son's and some plastic wrap from the kitchen.



You may notice that there are no gloves. At first, I wanted to use dish-washing gloves sealed airtight with tape. Later, I realized it would be far easier to just leave the small hand holes open, using medical gloves and sterilizing them in-between maneuvers. The condensate at the top is from the excessive spraying of bleach surface cleaner into the box.

Next, I mixed the agar with small amounts of Cefixime, barley, sugar and coffee. Cefixime is an antibiotic that has very limited to no use against yeasts, making it ideal for inhibiting the growth of undesirable bacteria and such. The instant coffee was used for the same reason. Sugar was added as the primary foodstuff and barley to complement it. This was all ground in my terribly ineffective blender.



After this, I used an electric wok to ready the agar solution and my teapot to strain it of barley crumbs and other mess.

The final solution was poured into petri dishes which were then pressure cooked for a short time to further sterilize bacteria that had snuck in during the pour.



To do the actual inoculation, I fancied a loop from a chopstick and sowing needle.



For sterilization, I wanted originally to use an alcohol lamp but later resigned to just using an alcohol dip and spray. I was in such a rush to move forward with everything that instead of going the distance to the super market I instead opted to buy baijiu, a strong Chinese liquor. It is fifty-three percent alcohol by volume and, as such, quite capable of keeping certain pests at bay.



Finally, when it was all ready, I rushed the agar plates from the pressure cooker and quickly put them into the sterilized glove box. I then sterilized everything I was working with one last time, using a baijiu mist.

My method was to:

Wipe down a test tube and place into into the left hand hole.
Mist the disinfectant spray over the tube while opening the stop.
Slant the tube against the corner of my glove-box while resanitizing my gloves.
Take the inoculation loop out of alcohol bath and place both of my hands into the glove-box.
Open the agar plate with my left hand while holding the loop with my right.
Take the tube from the corner with my left hand and dip the loop into the culture.
Stir the tube culture slightly and then streak the plates while avoiding excess vibrations that could shake loose contaminants from my hand.
Place the tube once again into the corner and replace the lid over the agar plate.
Remove the culture tube from the glove-box and spray corner generously with alcohol solution.
Wipe inoculation loop with sanitary wipe and place back into alcohol bath.
Repeat the same process with the remaining culture tubes.

Here is what I ended up with:


It is getting late. I will check back tomorrow.

Till then

Xier,
How much yeast do you think you will get? Will it be for one brew or will some of it keep growing to use for others batches too? Thanks for keeping us up dated it’s awesome what you have achieved.

CourtHouseBrewing,
Thank you for your sympathies over my wife. Since her splenectomy, I have been stressed daily. Fearing the possibility of an infection or other complication has really taken its toll on me. She had a fever two days ago and I am still making her take temperature readings bi-hourly.

In regard to the yeast harvesting, I really am not sure as to the number of different genotypes to expect. Perhaps there will be multiple varieties on each plate. Then again, there might be single genotypes that are found on multiple plates.

My next step is to use ten syringes and my glove box to extract two distinct colonies of yeast looking culture from each agar plate. I will then use those colonies to inoculate sterilized beer bottles possessing a malt, coffee and roasted barley mash. Once fermentation is finished, I will sample the barley wine of each and choose the keeper strains. These will then be re-cultivated from the dregs of the bottle by using the agar streaking method again.

The intent is to isolate one or two keeper varieties. What I intend is to spread my final brew into six two and a half gallon carboys. The mash will be from a single source, so as to keep it a constant variable across the brew. The only non-constant variables will be the yeast colonies.

When the brew is finished, I will sample the product of each carboy and choose which strains are desirable. I will then re-agar and continue to use these yeast strains in the same manner for future brews. Ultimately, I would like to use selective pressure to create a new unique yeast strain that is suitable for the the style of beer that I am working on.

Now that I mention it, I guess what I really want is to create a whole new beer style for Tianjin through using locally sourced ingredients such as barley, yeast and if possible, perhaps, wild hop.

Neat project. I've never tried it but you might be able to use wormwood instead of hops.

I thought of using wormwood or other herbs but they could offset the colour of the head that I am going for. I have a pretty unique stout recipe that I am attempting. Maybe some of you could help me analyse it and see if there are any glaring problems:

10% Roasted Barley
8% Flaked Barley
8% Oatmeal
8% Germinated and Roasted Peanuts
15% Black Rice
51% Pale Malt

Tianjin is famous in China for its culinary use of peanuts. I was afraid that too many unfermentable compounds would be introduced by the peanuts so I researched till I found rice. It is highly fermentable and is commonly used to lower the final gravity on many commercial beers. I had the idea of using black rice as it contains anthocyanins which create a purple color that is water soluble. The idea is to have a black beer with a purple head and smooth taste with a possible slight hint of peanut.

Saaz would be preferable for hopping as I am not much of a hop-head and prefer mellow earthy flavours.

Of-course, I have absolutely no real idea of what I am doing outside of what I have read online and pieced together. Any ideas on where this recipe could go wrong are more than welcomed for consideration!

Don't forget to pour some agar slants for medium-term preservation of the yeast you decide to keep. This is a really cool project, thanks for posting.

Very interesting stuff, makes me appreciate the bounty of sources we have for brewing in the US. Hope it all works out, your beer sounds crazy but hopefully tasty, too.

After letting sit in the agar for a week I took the plates out and examined them, the black specks that abound are not infections but just pieces of ground barley that were part of the agar solution.



Petri A appeared to be completely colonized by yeast. I was tty surprised by this!



Petri B is almost the exact opposite. It only had two spots of yeast on the entire try. One was growing along with the black fungus so I took a sample from the isolated colony.



Petri C is heavily contaminated but has a clear section of only yeast. I took my sample from this part of the agar of-course.



Petri D only had a single microbial colony visible in the entire tray. Luckily, it was yeast-looking.



Petri E had a mix of black fungus and yeasts. I took a sample from an isolated yeast colony.

To extract the colonies I decided that the most sterile solution would be to use syringes; one plate, one syringe.



Because of my being a complete noob, I was not anticipating the heavy viscosity of the agar. It turns out that sucking yeast colonies off of agar while staring through Saran wrap is not as easy as I had thought.

Eventually, I had the idea to suck a bit of the sterilized starter liquid out from the test tube and shoot a bit on top of the yeast colony. I then sucked it back into the syringe and injected it into the starter tube. This worked pretty well but was hard to contain and prevent contamination from neighbouring colonies.

Finishing up, they were taken from the glove box and the starters were placed under the radiator.

Tonight is the second night and this finally appeared:





A tiny pink krausen has formed on one of the vials and another vial is showing signs of starting up.

Next week, I will use five syringes to suck a sample from each vial before opening. I will then open the vials and smell/taste test the product. The winner or winners will then move on to the next round;

Re-streaking onto agar and moving on to a real starter.

Wow, this is very interesting. Perhaps the mods could consider moving this to the yeast forum... This seems to go way beyond beginner and you may get some more help/insight from the guys that know yeast the best...

Thats alot of work for the love of beer, my friend. Hope it works out for you! I will be revising my hop garden this spring- pm your address to me and I can try to ship a couple rhizomes to you. I can even send a couple different varietys. I would be interested to find out how they would develop in china! Brew on!

What you're attempting is fascinating & I look forward to reading about your progress and ultimate success. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago about the growth of micro-breweries in China that people following this thread may enjoy. Hopefully, you can follow this link: http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/02/21/beijing-brews-up-craft-beers/

If not, I'll send you the text as a pm.

Also, my wife had her spleen removed 30 years ago. If you're interested, I can pm you with more info about what we've learned in regards to life post-splenectomy.

Good lick with your Mad Scientist Homebrew!!

You don't really have to pick up the whole colony. Just touch a flame-sterilized loop (or the syringe tip) to it and swirl it around in your culture tube.

Nice job isolating colonies! Do you have access to a microscope?

How much beer do you plan to make for your first batch? If you're willing to go through all that work to make it happen, I'd be happy to send you a couple ounces of hops. You can PM me your address and what kind of hops you'd like, and I'll donate them to your cause (assuming my LHBS has them). I have Hallertau and Spalter on hand, but I'll gladly pick up whatever kind you want (2-4 ounces anyway).

BTW, my son will be doing research at the Universities in Tianjin and in Beijing this summer. Unfortunately since its his first trip, he'd probably be a little nervous about bringing brewing ingredients with him.

ValleyBrew,
Yeah, it has me reading more about brewing science daily. There are so many new ideas that keep coming to my mind. The hardest part is restraining myself. As I am a beginner, I feel this sub-forum is appropriate. Maybe my results, if iteresting, will inspire some other mad scientists lurking around out there to get into brewing.

Tinman1,
That sounds great! Perhaps, I could send some of yeast that I ultimately collect back to you in return if you are interested. Also, I am trying to get hold of Monascus purpureus. Basically, anything that I could send back to you in return, just tell me and it is yours. That includes any trivial Chinese stuff you might be interested in acquiring.

Arcadiaacres,
The link wanted me to subscribe before being able to read anything. I would be interested in reading what it had to say though. I would also really like to hear about how things have been since your wife's splenectomy.

On Friday, we will go to the hospital for a check-up. We don't even know if they gave her the standard vaccinations yet.

ScoRas,
Next time, I will try to do it that way. The reason I thought it needed to be drawn into the needle was because I was injecting it through the rubber stop. I was afraid that the rubber would drag the yeast off while it was being inoculated.

Once things get settled, there will definitely be a decent fluorescent compound microscope sitting around here some-place. For now, there are too many bills and such popping up.

JohnTheBrewist,
I plan to brew fifteen gallons, spreading it out in two-and-a-half gallon carboys. There is a place in Beijing which has Saaz pellets so I should be fine for now. I haven't been able to find Fuggle though.

What will your son be researching? If he needs help finding some places to socialize, I can give him my number and introduce him to the local expat scene. There are a lot of bars and cafes around here that are popular amongst foreigners.

Xier,
You are an inspiration to me and I’m sure for many. I would love to collect wild yeast and see what it does for the beer in a side by side comparison. The fact that your resolve is so strong to overcome so many obstacles and still keep going is a tribute to you. I do hope your wife is doing better and your financial worries leave you like the leaves on a fall tree. Please keep the updates coming I so look forward to your comments and pictures. Be well.