Going Wild

Yakima 728
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So the honey suckle smells putrid now, like spoiled, sour feet. The hedge smells like a sour candy apple would be about my best descriptor.

The roses/daisies is back on the stir plate in a hopped starter. It was smelling kind of bad, but I wasn't sure if it was the yeast or possibly something bad like a bug in there from being in an unhopped starter last time.

It's an experiment to say the least and I'll be continuing to do it. My goal is to find a good brown ale strain and a good summer saison or wit beer strain. Not going for sours at this point. I guess trying to find a good saccs
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
So the honey suckle smells putrid now, like spoiled, sour feet.
Click to expand...


I have an ex that meets this descriptor... And that's the primary reason why we're exes.

But beer I would give a second chance!

All ex joking aside, by the end of the year I'll have my yeast lab set up and I'll be able to pull the yeast out of all that crap. Keep trying and don't give up!!! You can be my test run.
 
cannman said:
I have an ex that meets this descriptor... And that's the primary reason why we're exes.

But beer I would give a second chance!

All ex joking aside, by the end of the year I'll have my yeast lab set up and I'll be able to pull the yeast out of all that crap. Keep trying and don't give up!!! You can be my test run.
Click to expand...


Hahaha! I've got two, the first is definitely rotten for sure, the second I just didn't care for lol

Nope, not giving up at all. Especially with how easy it is. Just going to keep plugging away at it
 
After finding a worm in my Reed clover starter, I continued to ferment the white clover. It formed a pellicle but didn't smell like beer. More like boiled vegetable. White clover is a dumper too. Sorry guys, I am out for now. I think I will try using dome fruit to catch some yeast for my next attempt.
 
Aristotelian said:
After finding a worm in my Reed clover starter, I continued to ferment the white clover. It formed a pellicle but didn't smell like beer. More like boiled vegetable. White clover is a dumper too. Sorry guys, I am out for now. I think I will try using dome fruit to catch some yeast for my next attempt.
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I dumped the roses/daisies because it smelled like boiled, spoiled vegetables. Going to be dumping the honey suckle because it is absolutely putrid smelling, which leaves me with the hedge sample. It dill smells somewhat sourly fruitful. Hopefully it ends up decent but we'll see.

Going to be doing more samples here as the year goes on. I'm going to get me a good local saccs strain one of these days lol
 
I put a pint jar on my window sill after reading that in 1 week you get ? bacteria?, at 2 weeks servomyces and longer you get something else. I will see what happens in about 2 weeks. I will then try a 1 gallon trial brew SMaSH. It it is good I will make a starter and build up a supply. It not I will try something else.
 
My wild hydrometer sample yeast has been working away happily at ~25C. Took a couple days to get moving but it's built up from some tiny bubbles to almost an inch of krausen in the last 4-5 days. I smelled it yesterday and compared it to the same wort pitched with US-05; the US-05 had a very familiar sweet, hoppy smell while the hydrometer yeast was sweet and a bit hoppy but also smelled very fruity and just a little bit sour. Considering the sample I pitched I suspect that the krausen is sticking around so well because there's lacto in there that's basically shoring it up with a pellicle, but time will tell.
 
I'm probably going to build up the liberty ale sample I have. Then build up the hedge sample that still smells sweet/sour green apple and try that. If it smells the same way that it does I'll do it in a wit or saison.
 
Ok, so I'm building up the liberty ale dregs while my other wild yeast finish out in their original jars.

The honey suckle will more than likely get pitched because of smells putrid, but honestly and it's kind of weird because it really doesn't smell as bad as it did a couple days ago.

The hedge still smells pretty good and can't wait to start building it up and brew me a batch with it. So far the smells seem like it'll make a great lighter color beer. Be it a wit, hefe, pale ale esque type beer.

Can't wait to get this further along
 
So, in following this thread, I can't believe I didn't think of sharing this link before now. Maybe it's old news, but here's the link:

http://bootlegbiology.com/backyard-yeast-wrangling-tool-kit/

They have instructions and materials to help people wrangle local yeasts. They also collect and bank yeast from all over the place. Basically, you can collect and isolate some yeast, then send it to them and it'll be documented and banked.

I haven't done it yet, but when I get around to trying, I'll probably use their stuff to do it.
 
Barley_Bob said:
That's interesting. I'd love to try this, but I can't stand saisons. I don't know what I'd use it for. Is it doable to refine it into something that can be used in an American or English style?
Click to expand...

I've caught a couple of cultures that are suitable for those styles, one is very fruity like an english strain, and the other is super clean which is why I rarely use it...


Tactical-Brewer said:
The honey suckle will more than likely get pitched because of smells putrid, but honestly and it's kind of weird because it really doesn't smell as bad as it did a couple days ago.
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If there is brett in there it can clean up putrid (butyric acid), but it will take a while. It's your call on whether you want to dump it, since you said you don't really want to mess with brett (yet) probably just dump it.
 
Day 14 Update!

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464714790.856813.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464714804.108494.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464714817.443882.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464714833.641561.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464714877.295832.jpg

Haven't smelled them in a day or two, but last time I did, the honey suckle was still kind of stinking but not as bad and the hedge was still a strong, green apple ish smell.

*Edit I couldn't resist not smelling them so I did after I wrote this update. Call me crazy but the honey suckle isn't nearly as bad as it was. Now it just smells like beer. Maybe an old beer? But not the putrid nasty smell it was previously. Kind of makes me wish I wouldn't have got overzealous with the roses daisies batch and just let it ride for a while.

The Hedge jar still smells fruity, a tad sour, but definitely fruity! Am getting really really excited for these!

It also looks like the hedge is doing another fermentation which is pretty cool.

Going to let them both sit for a month and see what they smell like. Then I'll start building them up.

Awesome experience nonetheless and will keep doing it! [emoji106]🏻
 
My hydrometer yeast smelled fruity and slightly sour a couple days ago. Yesterday I gave it a whiff and it was pure solvent. I'll let it ride a bit longer but it's probably a dumper.
 
FatDragon said:
My hydrometer yeast smelled fruity and slightly sour a couple days ago. Yesterday I gave it a whiff and it was pure solvent. I'll let it ride a bit longer but it's probably a dumper.
Click to expand...

The honey suckle has been basically on the same roller coaster. Now it's smelling somewhat palatable again.

I could have swore I read somewhere some bacteria that puts off those disgusting aromas but as the yeast get a foothold and start producing the alcohol byproduct of the yeast doing their thing kill the bacteria and the bad smells will dissipate. Could be way off base, but I could have swore I read that.
 
@mutdog when I do go to start building these up, should I decant all the floating white stuff or should I give it a good stir and then let it settle out and decant the liquid off the top?
 
So, Day 18 Update!

Both beers are smelling decent.

It's funny because both samples were made using the same low gravity, low hopped wort, but they both are different colors. I wonder if it's any indication as to types of beer they could/should be used in?

The honey suckle is light, hefe/wit cloudiness to it, whereas the hedge is a darker, almost brown ale look to it.

Thinking here in the next two weeks, I'm going to make up some one gallon batches after I step them up and give them a whirl. Pretty stoked still about this project, just hate the waiting portion of it haha!
 
Day 20 Update!

Ok, since the two remaining jars, honey suckle and hedge, have both very obviously fermented out, I decided to start building up the honey suckle sample.

I had it on the stir plate in 2 cups water, half cup dme, and lightly hopped. Sat on the stir plate for 3 days before I put it in a large sanitized mason jar. In no time it was bubbling away and looking really promising. This morning I woke up to find a krausen line approximately 3/4 of an inch up but it has mostly settled. But what's pretty slick is that you can still see little bubbles floating up along the sides telling me it's still fermenting. [emoji106]🏻

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465407415.912223.jpg

I'll let it finish out for another day or so then cold crash, while I start building up the hedge.

My son describes it as smelling almost like a pineapple. I don't think it smells bad at all really. Just fermenting beer.

Not to mention, and I didn't even think about it, but I've read articles of fermenting beer smelling like rotten eggs and sulphur. Makes me wonder what my roses and daisies would have finished out like had I let it.

The colors still throw me for a loop as the honey suckle finishes out lighter in color while the hedge finished out looking exactly the same color as a a brown ale.

They came out of the same starter wort but had fermented out different colors. Not even sure how that's possible.

Anyways, stay tuned!

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465407672.442423.jpg
 
So, it's getting pretty crazy how "Fruity" these are both starting to smell. Both uniquely different, but both somewhat fruity. The honey suckle is still the more neutral of the two, but you can definitely catch some pineapple or something similar on the nose.

The hedge, I can't quite describe it's "fruitiness" but it's definitely there. Definitely a sweet... heck if I know, but fruity-esque nose to it.

Cannot wait to keep building these up and try out my test batch!!! :rockin:
 
So just kind of a weird update,

The honey suckle had a pretty good fermentation after I poured it off the stir plate and into a large mason jar. It's pretty compact now on the bottom of the jar, and the actual liquid is just starting to show signs of clearing at room temp.

The hedge was on the stir plate for like two days, it showed a little krausen but nothing major and I poured it into another large mason jar. It's only been an hour, but it's not showing signs of anything other than the top portion of the liquid is already starting to separate where you can see clear vs the cloudiness below it.

Not sure if I typed that where you can understand what I'm saying, but I wish I would have been able to take a gravity reading on the starter wort but I assume it's close to the 1.040 mark since that's what I read the 2 cup water, half cup dme will get you. I will probably step them both up again so once I do, I will get gravity readings from this step up?

Who knows but this has definitely been a fun experiment.

Anyone think I should hop this next step up? It will be the third step up. I would like to think that by now, the alcohol produced would have killed off any of the bad gunk and both have a pleasant "beer" fruitiness smell to them ish anyways lol.

Edit* pictures to help understand what I was saying

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465588813.044606.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465588832.420134.jpg
 
Almost a week in and I'm still seeing bubbles rising up in the gallon carboy. Not much for airlock activity though. Pretty wild looking though. This unfortunately was fermented pretty warm, in the upper 70's because, as dumb as it sounds, I didn't even think of tempt control :smack: but who knows what will happen with it.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1466385125.698549.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1466385142.091236.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1466385154.757296.jpg
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
Almost a week in and I'm still seeing bubbles rising up in the gallon carboy. Not much for airlock activity though. Pretty wild looking though. This unfortunately was fermented pretty warm, in the upper 70's because, as dumb as it sounds, I didn't even think of tempt control :smack: but who knows what will happen with it.

View attachment 359212View attachment 359213View attachment 359214
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Idk if you would be interested in starting more tests, but I read an article the latest zymurgy about tree bark having lots of native saccromyces on it. I know you said you are going more for a native strain and no bacteria. This may be an interesting way to go about it.
 
brewshki said:
Idk if you would be interested in starting more tests, but I read an article the latest zymurgy about tree bark having lots of native saccromyces on it. I know you said you are going more for a native strain and no bacteria. This may be an interesting way to go about it.
Click to expand...


Hmm, I may have to give that a go. I'm always looking to do something for when I can't brew but be brewing related!
 
9 days into fermentation and a pretty significant amount of bubbles and activity going on inside the little one gallon sample of Irish red and my wild yeast off the hedge.

The 5 gallon batch fermented with my Liberty ale strain is and has been done fermenting and has started to to clear out considerably.

Shouldn't a smaller amount of beer ferment faster than a larger amount?

Ready to see this done and taste it!
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
9 days into fermentation and a pretty significant amount of bubbles and activity going on inside the little one gallon sample of Irish red and my wild yeast off the hedge.

The 5 gallon batch fermented with my Liberty ale strain is and has been done fermenting and has started to to clear out considerably.

Shouldn't a smaller amount of beer ferment faster than a larger amount?

Ready to see this done and taste it!
Click to expand...

Well, pitch rate comes to question first and for most. And different strains will perform differently. Also, it is likely that you have multiple strains in the hedge sample. It's also possible that you are seeing a second fermentation from a Brett or lacto strain that is now chewing through the unfermentables
 
Jwin said:
Well, pitch rate comes to question first and for most. And different strains will perform differently. Also, it is likely that you have multiple strains in the hedge sample. It's also possible that you are seeing a second fermentation from a Brett or lacto strain that is now chewing through the unfermentables
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was thinking maybe that, but the only thing that gives me pause about the Brett or lacto is that it completely fermented out the first time, and then the second time when I built it up. First time I let it sit for about 3 weeks, then the step up set somewhere over a week but had finished out within a couple days. This thing hasn't stopped showing signs of fermentation yet.

I guess I probably definitely over pitched it for a 1 gallon recipe. I didn't measure ml or anything but I know I had enough to more than likely do a 5 gallon batch with what I pitched. I know that's a lot but I had an extra gallon and was dying to put that yeast into something. Hopefully I didn't totally ruin it.
 
Well, I was worried about underpitching. If you over pitched, then you should be done
The cool thing about 1g batches is you can drop a well cleaned and sanitized hydrometer through the neck.
Sure you aren't just seeing off gassing at this point?
 
Jwin said:
Well, I was worried about underpitching. If you over pitched, then you should be done
The cool thing about 1g batches is you can drop a well cleaned and sanitized hydrometer through the neck.
Sure you aren't just seeing off gassing at this point?
Click to expand...

I guess I could be. Honestly, I don't have any idea lol.

I'm just going to keep letting it set, same with my 5 gallon batch of red till I'm ready to bottle. Probably another 2-3 weeks, as long as it's done bubbling of course and hydro readings are the same after a few days.
 
What I usually do with my first run of a new wild yeast is save off a gallon from a five gallon batch and just let it go for 6+ months to see if anything interesting happens to it long term. Since you only made a gallon you could maybe just fill a 22 and stick an airlock on it? Or just wait until you do a 5 gallon batch with the yeast.
 
mutedog said:
What I usually do with my first run of a new wild yeast is save off a gallon from a five gallon batch and just let it go for 6+ months to see if anything interesting happens to it long term. Since you only made a gallon you could maybe just fill a 22 and stick an airlock on it? Or just wait until you do a 5 gallon batch with the yeast.
Click to expand...

I definitely might throw some in a 22 and see what happens. That could be pretty cool!

So, once this finishes up though, should it be relatively safe to bottle without fear of bottle bombs?
 
Tactical-Brewer said:
I definitely might throw some in a 22 and see what happens. That could be pretty cool!

So, once this finishes up though, should it be relatively safe to bottle without fear of bottle bombs?
Click to expand...

I would probably treat it like any other possibly infected batch
Once it carbs, toss them all in the fridge
It's just a gallon, so not like trying to chill 2 cases.
 
Jwin said:
I would probably treat it like any other possibly infected batch
Once it carbs, toss them all in the fridge
It's just a gallon, so not like trying to chill 2 cases.
Click to expand...

Cool cool. I'll do that then. I'm going to do the 22oz with the air stopper and just see what happens with it. Should be pretty cool I guess.
 
Jwin said:
I would probably treat it like any other possibly infected batch
Once it carbs, toss them all in the fridge
It's just a gallon, so not like trying to chill 2 cases.
Click to expand...

yep, do this. I usually keg mine so I don't have to worry about it.
 
Will do mutedog and Jwin. [emoji106]🏻

It's still chugging along with the bubbles and throwing particles around. Albeit on a smaller scale but it still is.

Crazy.
 
Little gallon is still showing signs of fermentation... After 12 days... Wonder if it's ever going to settle down and stop bubbling lol
 

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