Is my house a cesspool of wild yeasts?

[Drinksahoy]

So I got all my stuff together on friday night. Added a campden tablet. Saturday day went to buy yeast but I was too late and the place was closed. Sundays they are closed. Today I bought the yeast and just went to pitch it but when i gave the 1gallon plastic container a shake for curiosities sake, it degassed like a mad man. Water shot up out of the bubbler and it has been bubbling since.
I went ahead and added my yeast anyway, but what the hell lol??

 

[Maylar]

It's on the fruit. I had that happen with some cider last season. You would think that with sulfite in there you'd have a few days to get things going. Nope.

 

[stella_tigre]

It's on the fruit. I had that happen with some cider last season. You would think that with sulfite in there you'd have a few days to get things going. Nope.

Same here. pH changes the efficacy of campden, so that a larger dose is needed for higher pH (we're talking above 3.5 or so here, not super high values.) You probably killed off bacteria and wimpy yeast, but the strong ones made it through. I've wondered if campden loses its strength after time, too....

Source, The New Cider Maker's Handbook by Jolicoeur

 

[bernardsmith]

But no matter- your house would never be a "cesspool" of wild yeasts. If you are that lucky it might be a treasure trove of them. There is nothing special about cultivated yeasts but there is a lot to be loved when talking about yeasts that have found a comfortable home in your home... My goodness, wineries and meaderies would give their right hands for a self sustaining colony of yeasts (assuming, of course, they are both sufficiently hardy and capable of providing the flavors and aromatics that you prefer rather than those you don't.

 

[bernardsmith]

But no matter- your house would never be a "cesspool" of wild yeasts. If you are that lucky it might be a treasure trove of them. There is nothing special about cultivated yeasts but there is a lot to be loved when talking about yeasts that have found a comfortable home in your home... My goodness! Wineries and meaderies would give their right hands for a self sustaining colony of yeasts (assuming, of course, they are both sufficiently hardy and capable of providing the flavors and aromatics that you prefer rather than those you don't.

 

[Apimyces]

It's on the fruit. I had that happen with some cider last season. You would think that with sulfite in there you'd have a few days to get things going. Nope.

I read an article that stated that the yeast being on the skin of the grapes was, largely, a myth. And that the yeast innoculants for wild fermentation were, by and large, from the winehouse.