sonofred
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- Jul 3, 2016
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Thought I would share my wild yeast harvest experience. So have always been intrigued by wild fermentation and specifically coolships. After finding a big sale on restaurant supplies, I aquired a 5 gallon food service pan to give it a shot. Given that my brewing area isn't really anywhere near the equivalent of a typical brewhouse, I didn't want to try coolshipping indoors, so I decided to try cooling some wort outside in the new vessel.
And I think I have achieved a successful wild yeast capture! After my usual mash procedure for an IPA, I added another dose of about 3 gallons of hot water into the leftover grain and collected about 2-2.5 gallons of low gravity wort. I then boiled it briefly and added several low acid hop pellets. The hot wort was added into the sanitized pan, covered with cheese cloth then placed outside overnight to cool.
The next morning I poured everything into a 3 gallon carboy and waited. After about 24 hours there was activity, and within 48 hours I had a fully krausened fermentation going on! The krausen was a little darker than I'm used to, but otherwise it appeared to be a fairly normal ferment. I let it go about 10 days then transfered about half a gallon into a flip-top growler to age just for fun and I washed and collected the yeast in a mason jar.
The fermented wort tastes good! A little funky with slightly sour finish. Tastes very much like a farmhouse/saison. Next steps I guess will be to build up the culture into a proper starter then brew a pilot batch of something. I want to have another go at yeast capture after first frost to compare the cultures.
Any thoughts/suggestions for a recipe?
And I think I have achieved a successful wild yeast capture! After my usual mash procedure for an IPA, I added another dose of about 3 gallons of hot water into the leftover grain and collected about 2-2.5 gallons of low gravity wort. I then boiled it briefly and added several low acid hop pellets. The hot wort was added into the sanitized pan, covered with cheese cloth then placed outside overnight to cool.
The next morning I poured everything into a 3 gallon carboy and waited. After about 24 hours there was activity, and within 48 hours I had a fully krausened fermentation going on! The krausen was a little darker than I'm used to, but otherwise it appeared to be a fairly normal ferment. I let it go about 10 days then transfered about half a gallon into a flip-top growler to age just for fun and I washed and collected the yeast in a mason jar.
The fermented wort tastes good! A little funky with slightly sour finish. Tastes very much like a farmhouse/saison. Next steps I guess will be to build up the culture into a proper starter then brew a pilot batch of something. I want to have another go at yeast capture after first frost to compare the cultures.
Any thoughts/suggestions for a recipe?