Howto: Capture Wild Yeast

[ericd]

Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

 

[KingBrianI]

:fro:

 

[KingBrianI]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbsBJmx-m2s]YouTube - Aerosmith - Dude (looks like a lady)[/ame]

 

[ericd]

Well just like me to just look at the top half.

 

[KingBrianI]

If I were you, I wouldn't bring home any women I met while drinking!

 

[Jaymo]

Based on his current track record, I'd say it's a safe bet it won't be women he's bringing home.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Oh farck.

I was expecting somebody to get suckered in this. Didn't think it'd be you. I guess your love for the wild beer thing made you avoid D kind of by default.

When I took a shot of this yesterday I was thinking, damn, this looks looks barf or hobo-stew.

The good thing is the gas coming out of the airlock doesn't doesn't smell like either. A bit fruity with a little sour.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I think phase-2 of my ferment is done. Whats next? Leave be for a few weeks or rack off to a 2nday? (My gut says wait another week to two weeks.)

I posted this same question here since its relevant. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/rack-not-rack-question-110160/#post1238932

 

[Schlenkerla]

Hey - I'm starting to get this wafting smell of puke around the fermentor weirdly enough the gas being pushed out doesn't smell bad.....

Totally confused

 

[ericd]

Well first thing I'd do is taste the beer, if it tastes OK, it's OK.

The vomity type smells you are getting make me think you didn't leave your sampling jar out long enough to capture enough of the proper Sacch. yeast. Remember the first things to the party in a Lambic/Wild fermentation are enteric bacteria (the kind that live in your intestines, such as E. Coli, thus the vomit smell) and a wild yeast genus called Kloekera which isn't of much use.

I would wait for the gravity to finish dropping then rack it to another fermenter.

 

[Schlenkerla]

BTW - I kept my AGAR jar and it has several colonies of mold cranking away. Its worth noting that since I took a noc-loop out I've had it open alot of times just to observe the growth.

FYI - You might recall I saved a sample in a test tube. I might make a starter for bottling when it comes down to that time to do so.

 

[Pivzavod]

dude, she's got balls!

No...She got a Wild Yeast Infection...

 

[9/9]

Just wanted to say that, thanks to this thread, I have started to experiment with catching some wild yeast here. I am starting simple, just leaving out a sample of the wort from today's brew near an open window and see if I can get any active fermentation. If successful, I will move to a more structured process...:

mug:

 

[ericd]

Cool! Just make sure to leave it out as long as you can until the lacto starts getting strong to make sure you've got predominately Sacch. (brewing yeast) in it. See my timeframe at the beginning of the thread.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Mold completely took over my first attempt. I will make up some plates with agar and try again. Living in Texas it will be hard to get anything BUT mold, but I'll keep trying.

 

[9/9]

I can already see my big problem right now is going to be pollen. Right now it just coats everything. Hopefully it won't mess things up too much.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've been stickin' my LED flashlight up against my fermentor and it looks like it starting to flocculate. I realize that some wild yeast don't clear well but it looks as if mine has started. I'm gonna let it sit on the dreggs and see what happens. It'll either start to clear, re-activate into another ferment, or stay as it is right now.

When its close to 4/22 I'll be yanking out my theif for a taste. Looks like the yeast is pulling a Rip Van Winkle!

 

[9/9]

Well, my first attempt at capturing wild yeast is just growing mold.

I will have to get another attempt going. Is there anything that can be done to keep mold away while still letting yeast get going?

 

[Schlenkerla]

Well, my first attempt at capturing wild yeast is just growing mold.

I will have to get another attempt going. Is there anything that can be done to keep mold away while still letting yeast get going?

Try making a sterile slant and hop it up. I also read 50'F is the best temp to caputure the yeast

 

[9/9]

Try making a sterile slant and hop it up. I also read 50'F is the best temp to caputure the yeast

Thanks, I will try both of those early next week.

 

[killsurfcity]

so i've given this a couple shots. first one, i might have had something, but it didn't look like much was happening so i ditched it. second was kind of odd. it didn't seem to do much after i brought it inside, and them one day i came home and there was a white residue stream down the side of the jar and a kind of white filmy stuff on the top. third is still outside, and was showing the white filmy stuff as well last i checked.

so my question is, does this mean i have something? how do i know if it is the right thing? any kind of test i can do?

 

[Schlenkerla]

so i've given this a couple shots. first one, i might have had something, but it didn't look like much was happening so i ditched it. second was kind of odd. it didn't seem to do much after i brought it inside, and them one day i came home and there was a white residue stream down the side of the jar and a kind of white filmy stuff on the top. third is still outside, and was showing the white filmy stuff as well last i checked.

So my question is, does this mean i have something?

How do i know if it is the right thing?

Any kind of test i can do?

Does it look like mine at all? My captured culture

Try to post a picture so we can see what you have captured.

How does it smell?

BTW - Is the sample on a slant? If so, I would make a small starter, lets say about 25ml. Scrap-off some of the white yeasty looking film and add it to your tiny starter and let it sit for a week, also shake it twice a day. After a week bump it up to 150mls then 1000ml.

I looked for sediment and smelled the starters. I noticed a fruity/sour smell on mine. They smelled just like the culture jar.

When I stepped up the starters I poured off 95% of the started and tasted that last little bit. For mine it never tasted gross. Just sweet and fruity.

As far as having anything, my main determinants were visual growth and smell. Then eventually taste.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I pulled a 2oz sample from my fermentor.... (Drum Roll Please.)

It was actually pretty darn good for warm wheat beer.

The color was very light. Pretty much like New Belgium's Mothership Wit. I should have taken a picture, but it was 2:30AM.

Anyhow, the taste was pretty clean not really sour from what I could tell. It had a very slight sweet taste since it was low hopped. It had a fruity and a very notable floral aroma. This really surprised me. The floral smell was like that of a Chardonnay.

I didn't take a gravity reading, but I'm 98% sure its done. The beer is starting to clear and the airlock has no activity. Fluid in the bubbles are level.

I spent a good bit of time the other night trying to clean two of my carboys that I wanted to use as secondaries. Both had yeast-scum in the necks and they are PET, so they are soaking again in a fresh bleach solution. I gave up trying to get them clean. I figured it can sit on the cake a little longer.

Very shortly I'll get a FG and report back.

I'm wondering if I'll get a 3rd fermentation. A few buddies of mine think this will be a infected beer in 3-4 months. I'm thinking infected with what??? Its already got a clean bug!!!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Does anybody here have this book?

 

[Saccharomyces]

Second attempt to capture yeast... FAIL.

I'm really good at culturing mold, but not anything else. I guess I will have to wait for winter to try this again.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Second attempt to capture yeast... FAIL.

I'm really good at culturing mold, but not anything else. I guess I will have to wait for winter to try this again.

Try it in your refrigerator!!

 

[Saccharomyces]

Try it in your refrigerator!!

That would bring a whole new meaning to "house yeast".

 

[Schlenkerla]

That would bring a whole new meaning to "house yeast".

Are you using a slant type jar to catch the yeast? If so, shorten the open time.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Are you using a slant type jar to catch the yeast? If so, shorten the open time.

Jar with a half inch of hopped 1.038 wort and agar agar. I left it outside overnight when the winds were calm and it was about 60*F.

I'll try preparing a bunch of plates and exposing them 1 hour, two hours, etc. when it is dry. It's too warm and humid right now to try again.

I ordered the Wild Brews book, should be an interesting read.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'm gonna buy the trio of Brew Like a Monk, Wild Brews, and Farmhouse Ales.

 

[ben the brewman]

i have the book and its a great book. lots of awesome info in there too. i have been trying to grow some wild yeast too but im only getting mold right now.

 

[simps984]

I'm very interested to try this. Love me some wild beers. I'll have to track down some agar stuff and save a few jars. I'll be brewing in a few weeks, so I'll just save some of that wort for this project, I wanted to break down the process again:

1) sanitize jars (duh), add wort and yeast nutrient.
2) cover with cheesecloth and leave outside/by open window for 2 weeks
3) when this stuff starts to foam, transfer some of it to a larger starter.
3) Use it to start a beer!

I'm thinking I'll go for a biere de garde, in the same fashion as Jolly Pumpkin's Oro de Calabaza. I'll do some research on their grain bill and see what I can produce.

 

[ericd]

Yes! That's right, and a thick thick wort (for the beer, not the culture) for all the bugs to eat thru!

 

[Schlenkerla]

OK - My batch is done fermenting. The FG 1.006 To me, that is done. I have it in a secondary to drop out little more yeast and age slightly.

SG was 1.052 so its about 6% ABV

The recipe: Fleurs du Printemps - modèle Des Moines

(Flowers of spring - style of the Monks ) How ironic Des Moines means monks....

Taste (racking to 2ndary): Dry Fruitiness, I don't detect much of a sour taste. Very slight sweetness is there. Once carbonated I think the sweetness will drop out a bit. Its 14.8 IBUs. Its right in the neighborhood for a wheat.

Aroma: Has a floral type aroma. I used saaz only for bittering so the floral smell is from the yeast character.

​

I am pretty pleased so far. :rockin:

 

[KingBrianI]

very cool. i'm away this weekend but when i get back to the house tomorrow, I think I'll pull a sample from mine and see where we're at. the thing that worries me is that if there are other "bugs" in there that will keep metabolizing sugars for a few months, then I'll have bottle bombs if I go ahead and bottle. last time i looked at the fermenter, it had dropped very clear. better than some commercial yeasts i've tried...cough..thames valley!

 

[Schlenkerla]

very cool. i'm away this weekend but when i get back to the house tomorrow, I think I'll pull a sample from mine and see where we're at. the thing that worries me is that if there are other "bugs" in there that will keep metabolizing sugars for a few months, then I'll have bottle bombs if I go ahead and bottle. last time i looked at the fermenter, it had dropped very clear. better than some commercial yeasts i've tried...cough..thames valley!

I have the same concern. That's one of the other reasons I'm leaving it in the 2ndary for now. At 1.006 there isn't much left to eat sugar-wise and 6% is up there in ABV to be somewhat protective.

 

[ericd]

Yeah be careful of bottlebombs! It happened to me, you seem to get more CO2 production with wild yeast.

 

[killsurfcity]

Try to post a picture so we can see what you have captured.

How does it smell?

As far as having anything, my main determinants were visual growth and smell. Then eventually taste.

so here's exactly what i did. i made a starter from light dme but did not pitch yeast. i poured the wort into a coke can that i removed the top from. i covered that with cheesecloth and made a tin foil hood for it that let air pass freely through, but would keep rain out. i then left this in my backyard for approximately 2 weeks during weather ranging from about 37F to about 63F. after the two weeks, i made another starter, poured the contents of the can into it and covered the top with tinfoil.

at first it did nothing, sitting in my 68F kitchen. So i moved it down to my 58F basement and within a few days I had some thick gunk around the edges. no mold at all, but a nasty looking white substance.

then it did nothing for a while after that fell. since, i have closed the jar and it has sat for a couple months now, and gotten much darker in color. the side by side photo is of it next to a new starter, obviously the difference is dramatic.

i had not smelled it until today for fear of contamination, but i did a quick whiff just now, and it smells fruity, sweet, and slightly tart.

so i guess i may have something. should i test with another starter? risk ruining a beer with it? if i use it, should it be as my primary yeast, or should i pitch it in a secondary?

thanks!

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'd try your yeast in a small batch. Try something that is 4-6% abv and hopped about 16 IBUs or less. Bittering only like 60 min.

I did mine in a wheat at 15 IBUs.

The reason I say that is you can isolate aroma and flavor created by the yeast.

Use it in the primary by itself.

 

[Danek]

The recipe: Fleurs de ressort - modèle de Des Moines

(Flowers of spring - model of Monks ) How ironic Des Moines means monks....

This thread is awesome. I'm really pleased that the wild beer looks like it's turning out so well. I hope you don't mind a really douchy and irrelevant comment though - "ressort" means spring as in a coil of metal - "flowers of Spring" would be "Fleurs du Printemps" (though only a real pedant would give a crap anyway ). Regardless of name, it's a really inspiring brew. Thanks for taking the time to share techniques.