Unexpected Wild yeast ?

[blazingsun81]

I made a 5 gallon batch O.G1.058
Which afterwards I let set a day at 68oF . when I went to pinch my 1 litres starter of bohemian lager yeast
I notice fermentation has already took place ,had some odd smells coming off.
I know their isn't much you could do at this point however I tired .....

I cold crash the carboy to 0c for 3 hours which seem to have slow down fermentation, then transfer the wort to another carboy to get it off the wild yeast cake.
Than pitch my starter.

Any thoughts on this.?

 

[Double_D]

There will still be plenty of whatever wild yeast was in there to affect the beer. It was probably brett. My experience is souring bacteria at ferm temp work pretty slow.

I'd say what you're planning sounds like the only thing you can do. Let it ferment and see how it turns out. Also, what are you fermenting in, and how did you clean everything?

 

[blazingsun81]

I using a 5 gallon carboy and I've been using starsan on everything I use for Brewing

 

[blazingsun81]

I'm no expert dealing with wild yeast, just curious if I drop the temp to the point where the bohemian yeast could still do their thing would it slow down or stop "Brett" since I now have both of them in the same carboy

 

[beergolf]

There is really no way to know what it is. If you have a microscope and a degree in microbiology then maybe. But anything else is just a guess. The fact that it took off in less than 24 hours makes me think that it is not brett (but it is not out if the question) because brett usually takes a long time to start working.

You have something there and you are not going to stop it. At this point all you can do is pitch your yeast and see what happens. It may turn out OK, or it could be something that you do not like. If you can spare the fermenter, just let it ferment out and taste it.

 

[fun4stuff]

Couldn't you just heat it to 160 degrees F and hold for 15 seconds to pasteurize and kill the wild yeast. Crash cool it then pitch your yeast.

 

[blazingsun81]

Couldn't you just heat it to 160 degrees F and hold for 15 seconds to pasteurize and kill the wild yeast. Crash cool it then pitch your yeast.

Lol, not sure why that didn't cross my mind.
Now that I dropped the temp to 53o , I have normal smells coming off the carboy. I'm really interested in how this will turn out.

 

[day_trippr]

It's a science experiment at this point, with an epic battle between the cultured yeast class and the lowly rogue yeasts from gawd-only-knows-where.

Frankly, I'd have capitulated at the first signs of spontaneous fermentation, but as long as it's someone else's investment, let it ride and let us know what - um, how - it turns out...

Cheers!

 

[fun4stuff]

Lol, not sure why that didn't cross my mind.
Now that I dropped the temp to 53o , I have normal smells coming off the carboy. I'm really interested in how this will turn out.

Happened to a buddy of mine not that long ago, but he had forgotten to make a starter and ended letting wort sit at room temp while he did a multi step starter for 4-5 days. He noticed spontaneous fermentation at 4 or 5 days (although admits it probably started sooner as he hadn't looked at carboy since he filled it) and just pitched his starter and let them duke it out with the "wild yeast". Beer turned out fine actually. His theory was that it wasn't wild yeast but old yeast he had recently used that was still left in carboy.

 

[hifidelity]

Happened to a buddy of mine not that long ago, but he had forgotten to make a starter and ended letting wort sit at room temp while he did a multi step starter for 4-5 days. He noticed spontaneous fermentation at 4 or 5 days and just pitched his starter and let them duke it out with the "wild yeast". Beer turned out fine actually. His theory was that it wasn't wild yeast but old yeast he had recently used that was still left in carboy.

This is probably more likely the case than wild yeast. I'd be shocked if wild yeast under normal circumstances and sanitation were able to form a large enough colony to make a noticeable difference within only 24 hours.

 

[blazingsun81]

I hope that's the case however it's a little surprising after starsan & the hot temps I put that carboy through that anything could have survived

 

[fun4stuff]

I hope that's the case however it's a little surprising after starsan & the hot temps I put that carboy through that anything could have survived

Supposedly starsan is not that great at killing yeast (https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/493p0k/iodophor_question/dchemistry).

Then again I've heard of people walking through breweries on tours with q tip swabs to grab proprietary yeast strains because their yeast is literally all over. Maybe something floated into your carboy or wort when it was uncovered.

 

[blazingsun81]

If the beer turn out, you can bet I'll be cultivating it.