Starting my First Sample -- A Few Questions

Hello, this is my first time trying to capture wild yeast and I had a few questions...

A bit of background to procedures first:

I am using a mason jar (as suggested by the wiki) and practiced sanitation procedures (boiled the jar and everything to it). For nutrients and bactria control, I just used a mixture of sugar, water and fresh sage, since I don't have DME or hops that I can use. I also put a thin layer of cheese cloth on top to prevent things like insects from getting in.

Back to the questions:

First, after a few days I noticed what looks to be a bit of mould growing in the mix. Is this normal? From doing a bit of digging, it's been said this isn't a problem, so long as the yeast takes over the majority of the jar.

Second, fearing I might've screwed up the first sample, I did another sample yesterday and left it out overnight. This time, I both boiled and used sanitizer on everything and measured out the amount of sugar-to-water I was using, making sure that it was below 1.030 and added more sage this time.

However, the temperature outside is colder out -- lower than or close to lager temperatures. Is it still possible to capture yeast at these temperatures?

if you don't have DME or hops, what are you going to do with the yeast?

not sure about sage and its bacterial resistance, but the idea is to catch the yeast before mold develops. not to say you can't catch yeast and have mold develop, but for mine, i caught nothing but mold (and bugs) for several tries before it stuck. patience.

not sure about the temp question, but from what i've read, its not a huge factor.

jtakacs said:

if you don't have DME or hops, what are you going to do with the yeast?

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The idea is that I will have an initial "catcher jar" and let it grow until I get yeast. Then I will take the yeast from the jar and put it on an agar plate. I will keep doing this until I get just the yeast I want. Once I get it down to the yeast I want, then I will create a starter using DME and hops (or would using boiled down beer work?) let it multiply then smell to see if it has a chance of "tasting" right. If not, then I will continue to create new generations until I get something to my liking.

You also mentioned that you had to do several attempts before getting what you needed. Should I then put several jars out and wait and dump the ones that get mold?

i think there's some info in the wild yeast thread about mold... i just went with the first "visibly" clean sample that didn't have mold so my experience is limited.

celtic_man81 said:

The idea is that I will have an initial "catcher jar" and let it grow until I get yeast. Then I will take the yeast from the jar and put it on an agar plate. I will keep doing this until I get just the yeast I want. Once I get it down to the yeast I want, then I will create a starter using DME and hops (or would using boiled down beer work?)

Click to expand...

You won't get the same yeast.

And what would boiled down beer offer the yeast as far as food? The sugars have already been 'eaten'. You will only be providing a breeding ground for mold and some lesser bacteria.

You really need to be using wort to catch yeast capable of digesting maltose and potentially maltotriose, the sugars present in wort. Using table sugar will potentially net you those yeasts, but will also net you yeasts incapable of fermenting beer. Also, you should really be using hops in your catch media. Hops offer resistance to bacteria, and their presence in your media will ensure the yeast you catch will be tolerant of alpha acids. The skinny is, if you want yeast that ferments wort, use wort to catch your yeast...

Also, don't worry about the mold. It is incapable of living in an anaerobic environment so will only be able to work on the very surface. Leave the lid off until you see krausen, then see your krausen fall. Your wort will have fully fermented and you will have a cake on the bottom of your jar just like a fermenter.

Just got both your messages (browser seems to be buggy or something). I'll keep this in mind in the future. I've posted an update to this thread of what I've got so far. Things seem to be going well so far, I just need to make some starters. We'll see what happens