Need help - anyone ?

[ChatNick]

Hi all.
I am a beginner (lets say beginner - trying so many times) in homebrewing and I live in Serbia. Trouble is that there is no way to find any yeast or hops to bye. Multinational companies are so f..in dominant in beer industry in my country that there is no way to find any ingredients (except barley - which you can grow your own). Somehow I can find some hops (actually its hops tea), but YEAST is a big trouble for me. Wine yeast is affordable, but - that`s simply not it. BTW: Serbia is a country where you can find (on blackmarket - homemade) Wine and "rakia"-(plum-brandy) that is damn good and damn quality ( a milion dollars quality), but there is no f..in way to find any of YEAST for beer.
If there is anyone that can sent me some low-fermenting yeast in envelop please, please help me.

 

[hoppymonkey]

Buy some bottle conditioned beers and culture yeast from them. That would be the easiest thing to do.

 

[iv_hokie12]

Tis very interesting. Some hop rhizomes might be in order for you. I don't know if I will be able to send yeast, but my suggestion is to find some bottle conditioned commercial beers and harvest that yeast. Just pour the beer in glasses to drink and pour the yeast somewhere else. You can use several bottles to get a good quantity, then make a starter to grow your colony.

Good luck!

 

[iv_hokie12]

Buy some bottle conditioned beers and culture yeast from them. That would be the easiest thing to do.

You beats me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AdamPag]

If they have Health and Vitamin stores in serbia, your local spot (like our GNC) might have brewers yeast

 

[gcdowd]

If they have Health and Vitamin stores in serbia, your local spot (like our GNC) might have brewers yeast

Pretty sure that stuff will not ferment beer. I think all the yeast is dead.

 

[spenghali]

Catch some wild yeast! Order a case of s04 maybe?

 

[ChatNick]

Buy some bottle conditioned beers and culture yeast from them. That would be the easiest thing to do.

Tried it - simple not working - probably already DEAD yeast in bottles (beer).

 

[iv_hokie12]

If you want to make a lambik you could try and harvest wild yeast.

 

[edmanster]

If you want to make a sour, I've heard of using sourdough bread yeast before
Edit: I meant a sourdough starter

 

[Greenbasterd]

depending on how much it cost to send a letter from Canada i would do it for you. But i would take hoppymonkeys advice and try to get into harvesting, becasue a pack of dry yeast will only get you one batch.. BTW i've had the plum brandy. my Croatian friends parents make and drink it. good stuff!!

 

[ChatNick]

If you want to make a lambik you could try and harvest wild yeast.

Tried it too - result=crap beer

 

[ChatNick]

depending on how much it cost to send a letter from Canada i would do it for you. But i would take hoppymonkeys advice and try to get into harvesting, becasue a pack of dry yeast will only get you one batch.. BTW i've had the plum brandy. my Croatian friends parents make and drink it. good stuff!!

A milion dollars good stuff don`t you think? :rockin:
I need you someone to send me a letter in which is a few crumbs of beer yeast - .

 

[iv_hokie12]

depending on how much it cost to send a letter from Canada i would do it for you. But i would take hoppymonkeys advice and try to get into harvesting, becasue a pack of dry yeast will only get you one batch.. BTW i've had the plum brandy. my Croatian friends parents make and drink it. good stuff!!

He can do a little more than that. If he is careful with this yeast washing he could get 5 generations out of it, and you can harvest 4-5 samples per batch. So if you really wanted to be thrifty about it, you are careful, and you don't make super high gravity stuff, he could get 4^5 batches. Now grated if he really had no other options he could use this stuff forever, but it would end up tasting pretty bad after awhile.

 

[Greenbasterd]

i donno about a million but at least 900,000!!! haha

ok, i just looked it up, and an international letter is only 1.80 and i'm pretty sure a packet of yeast of thin enough to be sent letter mail..

i have no problem doing this for you. i can send you a pack of nottingham ale yeast..
hopefully with all the temp and pressure changes it see's getting to you its still alive!!

 

[ChatNick]

i donno about a million but at least 900,000!!! haha

ok, i just looked it up, and an international letter is only 1.80 and i'm pretty sure a packet of yeast of thin enough to be sent letter mail..

i have no problem doing this for you. i can send you a pack of nottingham ale yeast..
hopefully with all the temp and pressure changes it see's getting to you its still alive!!

That would be so great - my adress is: Serbia, town- Sremska Mitrovica, post number of town: 22000 , street: Fruskogorskog odreda 43.
I promise that every second drinked beer will be in your name.
Also I invite you to "Guca" festival where you can feel a spirit of FREDOOM!

 

[JeffoC6]

Beer. Bringing the world closer, 1 package of Nottingham at a time.

 

[ACbrewer]

He can do a little more than that. If he is careful with this yeast washing he could get 5 generations out of it, and you can harvest 4-5 samples per batch. So if you really wanted to be thrifty about it, you are careful, and you don't make super high gravity stuff, he could get 4^5 batches. Now grated if he really had no other options he could use this stuff forever, but it would end up tasting pretty bad after awhile.

Not trying to pick a fight - just an observation - yeast is over 30Million years old... Bud or Coors or others(insert old European brewery name here) have been using the same yeast for probably 20+ years but as homebrewers we always are going on how 'you can use it 4 or 5 times if you are careful' That just doesn't make sense. >shrugg<

 

[ChatNick]

Not trying to pick a fight - just an observation - yeast is over 30Million years old... Bud or Coors or others(insert old European brewery name here) have been using the same yeast for probably 20+ years but as homebrewers we always are going on how 'you can use it 4 or 5 times if you are careful' That just doesn't make sense. >shrugg<

That's right. The story about yeast production and reproduction is not a mystery for me - I have a university knowledge about it. Problem in using "wild" yeast is that you have to be "lucky" to get a "good" yeast. In my case, I have no luck. The easiest way is to reproduct "good" yeast. That's why I need help.

 

[tsellmeyer]

Not to rain on your parade, but I believe the postal service irradiates mail to kill any microbes inserted into envelopes meant to harm the recipient.

 

[ChatNick]

Not to rain on your parade, but I believe the postal service irradiates mail to kill any microbes inserted into envelopes meant to harm the recipient.

Even dehidrated?

 

[Greenbasterd]

hmm well its worth a try its in a tin type foil that might block something. i've received bacteria cultures for other things like making cheese and stuff like that. and it came from USA which is technically international. ill send it.

 

[ChatNick]

Anyway,
I had never begged in my life so I will not now. I put my address on the forum, and who had open heart to help me I will be grateful to him for life. Any attempt to send any yeast will mean a lot to me because I have no way to come to any good yeast.

 

[krazydave]

I'd be interested to see some photos of your brewday using the yeast! It just sounds like you have a lot of challenges to tackle in order to brew. So I must say, my hats off to you!

 

[Greenbasterd]

hardly begging.. there is a lack of homebrew in your town and this is seriously concerning. who knows maybe you will be the one gets everyone into it. the whole town will be happy of that one packet of yeast starting a whole beer culture. then maybe perhaps you guys can build a statue of me holding a packet of nottingham high in the air and a caption.

Greenbasterd, parts unknown, the beer bringer!

haha just kidding.. no big deal, hopefully you can manage to harvest some after your brew for many more to come!!

 

[tsellmeyer]

You actually might want to try the local fruit in your area. They are generally covered with wild yeast and will provide an interesting local flavor. Really this is how it all started anyway. Now identified genetically that lager yeast are a hybrid wild yeast from south America crossed with a European ale strain. Most wine makers use the yeast colonized on the grapes. So if all else fails, I'd take a few pounds of fresh fruit you can find, mash it with skins and add to the wort you made. You might just be the start of of the newest white labs Serbian yeast strain.

 

[janivar123]

Might be an expensive option but http://www.brouwland.com/ and ebay should be able to help you

For cheaper shipping it might be better to find a store in Poland, but i dont know if it exist or how to find

 

[iv_hokie12]

You actually might want to try the local fruit in your area. They are generally covered with wild yeast and will provide an interesting local flavor. Really this is how it all started anyway. Now identified genetically that lager yeast are a hybrid wild yeast from south America crossed with a European ale strain. Most wine makers use the yeast colonized on the grapes. So if all else fails, I'd take a few pounds of fresh fruit you can find, mash it with skins and add to the wort you made. You might just be the start of of the newest white labs Serbian yeast strain.

I seriously want to try this now, and didn't even know that about fruit. Thanks for sharing. Worst case is a bad batch. Any idea on what a typical lag time would be with that?

Edit: My mash I take it you mean crush and add to the fermenter rather than to mash it with the grain.

 

[Rudeboy]

More Beer and Austin Homebrew ship Internationally via USPS.

hopandgrape.co.uk ships pan-Europe.

And for hops aren't you a couple hundred kms from Slovinia. You could be knee deep in Styrian Goldings for pennies a pound.

Let me know if this helps. I too can ship you some dry yeast, I think it's going to be more a malt issue if you can't source some reasonably locally.

Rudeboy

 

[ChatNick]

hardly begging.. there is a lack of homebrew in your town and this is seriously concerning. who knows maybe you will be the one gets everyone into it. the whole town will be happy of that one packet of yeast starting a whole beer culture. then maybe perhaps you guys can build a statue of me holding a packet of nottingham high in the air and a caption.

Greenbasterd, parts unknown, the beer bringer!

haha just kidding.. no big deal, hopefully you can manage to harvest some after your brew for many more to come!!

Thanks man.
Homebrew in my country is really not developed. There are few homebrewers (like me) who is killing theirself to find some quality stuff. We are mostly doing with our own made malt, wild hops, and wild yeasts. But taste is crap
If it goes well, you'll be somethink like St.Patrik in my country - the one that brings us good beer

 

[ChatNick]

I think it's going to be more a malt issue if you can't source some reasonably locally.

Malt is not an issue as I can make my own malt. Barley here has high quality, and I have even try to dry germ smoking them on beech wood few times. Taste (with this malt) should be great, but it feels like baking yeast either if I use baking, wild, or wine yeast (all the same- only shades off baking yeast).

 

[ChatNick]

You actually might want to try the local fruit in your area. They are generally covered with wild yeast and will provide an interesting local flavor. Really this is how it all started anyway. Now identified genetically that lager yeast are a hybrid wild yeast from south America crossed with a European ale strain. Most wine makers use the yeast colonized on the grapes. So if all else fails, I'd take a few pounds of fresh fruit you can find, mash it with skins and add to the wort you made. You might just be the start of of the newest white labs Serbian yeast strain.

Tried it all. You have to be very, very lucky to get the "good" wild yeast. Once you get it - you can use it "forever". Yeast is naturaly in crust of grapes and plum (but as I said - for beer you have to be very, very lucky). I am making my own wine and plum-brandy and it's even better with wild yeast than with commercial wine yeast, but for beer - it's all not doing the work.

 

[ChatNick]

I seriously want to try this now, and didn't even know that about fruit. Thanks for sharing. Worst case is a bad batch. Any idea on what a typical lag time would be with that?

Edit: My mash I take it you mean crush and add to the fermenter rather than to mash it with the grain.

Put only crust of grapes in the fermenter (yeast is in the crust). Be sure that wild yeast is unpredictable and usually stops fermentation before it's time to stop, so aerate your worth very good (before adding grapes) and expect that fermentation shall stop after 2-3 days.
Do this with a lots of "small" fermenters - hope that one of them shall work. - I had no luck.
Wild yeast is a group of many diferent yeasts in which one dominates over time and suppress the others, and usually that's not the one you gonna need.
Even if you manage to end your fermentation succesfully, you might not like the taste of your result.
I don't guarantee you anything, because wild yeast is different combination of groups of yeasts from region to region - so you might have luck.
In region which I live in - wild yeast is damn good for a lot of alcohol drinks, except beer

 

[fillmore]

Hello
I am in belgrade and having trouble to find a primary fermenter (25 or 30L plastic bucket) made of suitable food grade hpde or pp. all of the plastika stores are selling ldpe (for kisela kupus). Any adivice chatnick? I brought with me some yeasts and hops from the outside but doing a primary fermentation in a carboy is messy and I am not satisfied with it.
Hvala,
fillmore