Pulque/Octli brew

Hi everyone at Homebrew talk, I'm new to this chat forum and I am eager to learn as much as possible I have read in part of aforum posted here about an aztec drink called pulque. The recipe came out a sometime ago in a issue of BYO, and curiosity got the best of me since I remember trying this drink a long time ago and I liked it very much. The recipe calls for: 8lbs of Agave syrup, and Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast for a 5 gallon batch, but I narrowed it down for a 2 gallon. However because I only had a Wyeast Belgium Abbey II strain I used that instead hoping of achieveing a partially sour brew like the traditional pulque. It's been 2 days in the incubator @ 69F, and I have not seen a Krausen... My question is, is a krausen necessary to demonstrate healthy yeast activity, or can a fermentation still take place in its absence? I have no airlock since it's a small fermentor that I got from Mr. Beer, so what would all of you suggest?

There will not be any krausen from the agave.

I have never used an ale yeast to make pulque, only wine yeasts, and there has never been a strong sign of fermentation. All I notice is a small fizzle of bubbles on the surface edges (and I have an airlock that goes tic tic). The fermentation is not aggressive and it takes about two months before my gravity drops from 1.078 to 1.010

If I were you I would be patient and check the gravity after a few weeks. I use wine yeast and let mine sit for months and months.

I've seen wine yeast on a local hombrew shop, I will try that next time as well by the way have you ever tried to brew pulque with a lambic blend? I believe it has 2 strains of yeast, a lactic acid producing bacterium and something else that is supposed to kinda give it an authentic taste... Would like to know how that turned out if you've tried it :rockin:

JordanC said:

There will not be any krausen from the agave.

I have never used an ale yeast to make pulque, only wine yeasts, and there has never been a strong sign of fermentation. All I notice is a small fizzle of bubbles on the surface edges (and I have an airlock that goes tic tic). The fermentation is not aggressive and it takes about two months before my gravity drops from 1.078 to 1.010

If I were you I would be patient and check the gravity after a few weeks. I use wine yeast and let mine sit for months and months.

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One more thing Did you rack to a secondary fermentor? If so, at what week did you do so? Or did you leave the pulque in the yeast for those 2 months Thanks, I appreciate the help!!

I left it in primary for about 5 weeks. Then kegged. I preferred it lightly carbed. It was good with a few drops of lime juice too.

So how's it coming along? I'm considering doing exactly this.

Does it turn out white like traditional pulque? According to wiki, pulque is fermented by bacteria, not yeast.

Still sweet, but it's still fermenting as I see CO2 still present, gonna give it 2-3 more weeks and then I'll take a gravity reading; tastes like sweet fermented pear (just to give u an idea :cross:

Nokitchen said:

So how's it coming along? I'm considering doing exactly this.

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Apparently not this one, the agave nectar I bought was amber color, so it turned out with a pale-amber color (SRM in between 1 and 2, it's around that ballpark) the original pulque is made from the sap of the maguey plant, which has a milky white color to it and yes it is open fermented I live across the border and I found a place where they sell the actual aguamiel of the maguey plant, im gonna try that next instead of the store syrup and I'm going to replace the ale yeast with a Wyeast Lambic blend instead to stay on a closer traditional style :rockin: cheers!!

AndrewD said:

Does it turn out white like traditional pulque? According to wiki, pulque is fermented by bacteria, not yeast.

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Mine was milky white. I used Madhava light nectar.

julioohara said:

Apparently not this one, the agave nectar I bought was amber color, so it turned out with a pale-amber color (SRM in between 1 and 2, it's around that ballpark) the original pulque is made from the sap of the maguey plant, which has a milky white color to it and yes it is open fermented I live across the border and I found a place where they sell the actual aguamiel of the maguey plant, im gonna try that next instead of the store syrup and I'm going to replace the ale yeast with a Wyeast Lambic blend instead to stay on a closer traditional style :rockin: cheers!!

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I wonder if you could cultivate an authentic culture from a commercial pulque.