I had the pleasure at least twice. Just judged on the pellicle and the barnyard taste, of course. I don't think that it is that rare tbh.
Harvested "wild" yeast resulted into... normal beer
- Thread starter xben
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RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
I think the chance of capturing Brett greatly depends on your technique and the sources you use to harvest.
I've heard anecdotes of people finding it very frequently (confirmed via isolation and identification). Personally, one of my batches of 2018 unpasteurized cider definitely had Brett character (the first year I used unpasteurized juice).
I believe MTF says it's rare because the microbiologist(s) sharing their experience use a rapid propagation technique to get single isolates (aerobic, couple days for each step) and its not suitable for isolating Brett. Somewhere on the wiki or FB group they explain this further.
Even if you don't have Brett specifically in your mixed culture, there's still danger of over-carbonation from any number of other yeast species that are slower but more highly attenuating than the fast primary strain(s). I would be very cautious.
Anecdotally, I've even had wild cider over-attenuate several months later... despite pitching yeast, using an aggressive nutrient schedule (TOSNA), an utter lack of dextrins obviously, and letting it ferment to an apparently stable low FG over a few weeks.
I've heard anecdotes of people finding it very frequently (confirmed via isolation and identification). Personally, one of my batches of 2018 unpasteurized cider definitely had Brett character (the first year I used unpasteurized juice).
I believe MTF says it's rare because the microbiologist(s) sharing their experience use a rapid propagation technique to get single isolates (aerobic, couple days for each step) and its not suitable for isolating Brett. Somewhere on the wiki or FB group they explain this further.
Even if you don't have Brett specifically in your mixed culture, there's still danger of over-carbonation from any number of other yeast species that are slower but more highly attenuating than the fast primary strain(s). I would be very cautious.
Anecdotally, I've even had wild cider over-attenuate several months later... despite pitching yeast, using an aggressive nutrient schedule (TOSNA), an utter lack of dextrins obviously, and letting it ferment to an apparently stable low FG over a few weeks.
