Harvesting wild yeast for pasteurized cider

[Salinander]

Looking for input. I just got three, three gallon carboys filled with fresh pressed cider from Windy Hills Orchard in SC. I was planning to let one carboy ferment naturally with the wild yeast from the apples and planned to use SafCider AB-1 Yeast for the other two. But, I learned when getting the cider that it had been thermally pasteurized so now I want to find a way to harvest wild yeast. I am considering three options:

1. I have apples from the orchard and am considering taking the skins of a few and putting them in the carboy. This assumes the apples have not been washed or cleaned. I have emailed the orchard and am waiting for confirmation.
2. Leaving the cider in an open container for a day(?) to harvest what is in my area (Summerville, SC, in November).
3. Harvest from dried fruit of some sort.

Help would be greatly appreciated.
Jim

 

[Kees]

I would press a few orchard apples and add the juice.

 

[Salinander]

I would press a few orchard apples and add the juice.

Thanks. After doing more research I ended up buying 4 organic apples and put the peels from those and one from the orchard in one of the three batches. Hopefully that will be productive.

 

[z-bob]

Can you find a crabapple tree in a boulevard or something? Ornamental with hard little inedible fruit is fine. Pick some of those that have a white dusty film on them; that's yeast. (at least I think it is )

 

[Salinander]

Thanks Z-Bob. Unfortunately, where I live (Charleston, SC) there are very few fruit trees. I have not seen any so have resorted to buying organic apples, peeling them, and putting the peels in the carboy. Hopefully that works. I’ll know in a few days.

 

[z-bob]

Thanks Z-Bob. Unfortunately, where I live (Charleston, SC) there are very few fruit trees. I have not seen any so have resorted to buying organic apples, peeling them, and putting the peels in the carboy. Hopefully that works. I’ll know in a few days.

Good luck to you. (what about wild grapes? that would be an even better source)

 

[Falstaff]

I made a wild starter for beer with some grain. I made a starter and filled a mason jar with grain, and poured the starter over. After three days I could see activity, or maybe even sooner, I saw activity. I then filtered out the grain, which left half a glass of the fermented starter. I then refilled it with more starter. I'd take 4oz every day out, and refill with fresh starter for two weeks, but one probably would have been fine. Just wasn't ready to brew yet. I'd drink the 4oz every time to make sure I liked the flavor.

For the beer I made a session beer at 1.04og that went down to only 1.02. No hops. I used mugwort instead because I wanted the lacto to take off as well. Incredible beer. I'm sure this method would work with cider too. You could even use peels instead of grain. The benefit of this method is that you get to build up the cell count and you get to taste the blend you have created before commiting yourself to potentially brewing something that tastes like vomit or aceto.

 

[NoLemonNoMelon]

Get some raw honey. Add water and stir vigorously a couple times a day. Keep a paper towel or cheesecloth on top of the jar. Should see bubbles after a couple of days.

 

[Miraculix]

Thanks Z-Bob. Unfortunately, where I live (Charleston, SC) there are very few fruit trees. I have not seen any so have resorted to buying organic apples, peeling them, and putting the peels in the carboy. Hopefully that works. I’ll know in a few days.

I did that in the past and it yielded good results. It would have been better if you would have made a starter with it first, meaning throwing the skin in only a portion of the juice so that the yeast can multiply before having the whole amount of juice on the dinner table, but this should also work. Let us know how it went!

Edit: @Falstaff was quicker!

 

[Kees]

https://bootlegbiology.com/diy/capturing-yeast/Here's something on different ways of capturing wild yeasts.

 

[Salinander]

Reporting success! I used organic apple peels to introduce a wild yeast into the cider. I bought 4 apples and used one from the orchard that pressed the cider. No visible activity for the first three days then on the fourth day visible bubbles in the surface. One day later it is quite active.