Howto: Capture Wild Yeast

[Microphobik]

Just decided to give this a shot by taking some left over wort from a brew day (gravity was higher than recommended - about 1.045) and taking it outside to our little orchard. I put a screen over it and left it for a few hours and then actually dipped an apple and a plumb in it, both of which had that noticeable slight dust over it, presumable containing some yeast. I have it in a mason jar with the lid just loosely placed on top. I then let it sit at room temp. Within about 35 hours I started seeing noticeable bubbles. Sort of like the foam you might see around the edges of a under-carbonated beer that had been out for a while. I'm at 48 hours now and the bubbles are increasing. It doesn't look like a traditional Krausen, but rather the same as before, with more bubbles. I don't see bubbles within the body of the wort like you do when normal fermentation is in full swing.

The smell is interesting. Nothing like a normal beer, but not rotten smelling either. It's got a bit of a sour-like smell but I can't tell if I'm getting a really phenolic Belgiany thing, or if it's actually starting to sour a bit.

What does this sound like? What would you do next?

The original post says it takes about two weeks for Saccharomyces to take hold. But this has definitely happened a lot faster.

Am I making beer or vinegar? No signs of anything like that moldy film I've seen on juice that sits out. It actually looks clean. But the smell is definitely different.

Any advice for my next step?

 

[statseeker]

I would try propagating it again with more wort. Just keep doing that until you get a good amount. Any off flavors or smells will start to make themselves more apparent on the second and third propagations. All I ended up doing was adding it to a running saison fermentation and letting the flavors come that way. It was definitely different than normal 3724 beer. But better, more citrus notes. Time to experiment.

 

[Microphobik]

I would try propagating it again with more wort. Just keep doing that until you get a good amount. Any off flavors or smells will start to make themselves more apparent on the second and third propagations. All I ended up doing was adding it to a running saison fermentation and letting the flavors come that way. It was definitely different than normal 3724 beer. But better, more citrus notes. Time to experiment.

I will definitely do that. But what does it sound like I have with such a fast, but not necessarily vigorous, start. The smell is definitely odd. Not foul, just odd. Definitely phenolic, and it has an almost hot smell, if that makes any sense. There are pickle-like notes without being quite vinegary, and I don't know if I ma in fact getting vinager, or if it's just the spices (such as clove) that one finds in vinager. I've made fermented hot sauce before, and it's definitely not that moldy white surface that I would normally associate with a lactic fermentation. This is more of a bubbly look, like a carbonated beer. But at the same time, its not foamy like a normal Krausen. Just wondering what it sounds like to anyone who has done this before.

 

[statseeker]

That's the problem. It's hard to tell even in all the detail you're describing. That's why I would continue to build it until you can sample it and get a taste and smell profile in a single malt single hop beer. Yeast will be the only variable.

 

[Microphobik]

That's the problem. It's hard to tell even in all the detail you're describing. That's why I would continue to build it until you can sample it and get a taste and smell profile in a single malt single hop beer. Yeast will be the only variable.

Fair enough. I'll stay on it and see what I get. Thanks.

 

[KappinSpaulding]

After I get a few batches under my belt (I haven't brewed a single one yet myself) I want to create a post apocalyptic brew. I will forage all of the ingredients I can and wild yeast will just be icing on the cake.

 

[statseeker]

There's a post floating around about using grape nuts as the malt. Start stock piling them and you might get your post apocalyptic brew. Look up 5 dollar batch or something.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I made this beer back in 2009.

My 1st Wild Yeast Cultured Beer

I wasn't drinking it due to the leather glove taste. I saved the bottles. I opened one a month back. Its like it fixed itself. Somewhere from 2009 to now!!

Might drink one today with football. It'll be 5 years in April....

 

[Beerswimmer]

Today was a brew day, so I grabbed 4 jars of second runnings. Got them to boil, covered them in cheesecloth and put them outside. One on each side of my house next to plants. The temps are between 60F down to 52F. Hoping for something Belgian-esque!

 

[Beerswimmer]

I set my 4 jars of second runnings out at around 9pm with gauze over them and left to sit overnight. At 5:30am there was a big windstorm, so I ran out and put them in my dirty garage until about 3pm that day. I took them in and changed the gauze out for a coffee filter and put them into my warm(73f) room to see what happens. This morning I checked and 2 had blue green .old and were dumped, 2 are possibly fermenting with yeast. I dumped the 2 with mold and will leave the other 2 for a bit longer to see what happens. No bad smells from either, but they look different. One is much clearer than the other. Never mind the trub in the jars, I collected before verlauf to give the yeast something to eat if they want.

Jar #1

Jar #2

Both

 

[Microphobik]

That's awesome Beerswimmer. Let us know how things turn out and if you get something you can brew with. Tried this myself a while back but results were pretty funky.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Just checked today, only one jar left. The others grew green/blue mold and were tossed. No idea what's going on with this one. It has little spots of mold, but it's not taking over.......yet? It has tiny little bubbles at the surface, and smells like brown overripe bananas. Not really "bad". I'll keep this and see what's going to happen. More jars will go out this weekend.

potato pic:

 

[McRoth]

I'm trying this tonight! I love in the country near Cleveland, OH. Made a 2 cup starter with 1/3 cup DME instead of 1/2 so it's a little lower gravity and boiled some hops in it to try to prevent some infection. Airated it withO2. Leaving it out until morning. Can't wait to see what happens.
One question, would it help to put it on a stir plate after I bring it in?

 

[McRoth]

Still no activity other than a little mold I just removed with a sterilized spoon. There does seem to be a thin skin on the top too. I covered it with aluminum foil when I brought it in. Smells interesting, not exactly bad.

 

[McRoth]

Is this a pellicle?

 

[McRoth]

Anyone? It smells interesting, definitely not bad. Not too sure what to do next take an sg reading, or just let it go longer?

 

[dantheman13]

Did the gravity drop?

 

[runs4beer]

Is this a pellicle?

That's a pellicle.

 

[McRoth]

Just checked the gravity, 1.034. I didn't take an initial, but it should have been just a little higher than that so it hasn't changed much. Suppose I'll let it go a little longer and see what happens.

 

[McRoth]

That's a pellicle.

Thanks! Thought so, but I wasn't sure.

 

[dantheman13]

Just checked the gravity, 1.034. I didn't take an initial, but it should have been just a little higher than that so it hasn't changed much. Suppose I'll let it go a little longer and see what happens.

How about a pH change? Without a pH change, I would be a little worried about what's in there!

 

[McRoth]

How about a pH change? Without a pH change, I would be a little worried about what's in there!

No idea on that one, I don't have anything here to check it now.

 

[jack_a_roe]

tried this out for the second time. 4 days outside and this is day 2 or 3 inside...








Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[jack_a_roe]

any ideas? one smells pretty foul and funky, the other not so much.

 

[dantheman13]

Well, it doesn't look like mold at all to me. That's one good sign.

Here's what I got trying to catch yeast from a wild loquat (this would be mold):

 

[dramirezpa]

http://imgur.com/EwAsKCv

thoughts?

-left fresh-picked strawberries out a little too long
-found them bubbling from spontaneous fermentation
-added a little water and let them do their thing
-result actually tasted pretty good with no nasty off-flavors, and no mold after weeks sitting out.
-on advice of friend who is head brewer of a successful micro, decided to try cultivating
-made wort with strawberries, berry juice, sugar, hops
-put in growler and pitched with original spont. fermented strawberries
-photo is after a couple days, no bubbling in airlock or liquid noted

Was hoping for something a little more vigorous...but this doesn't look "bad"- per se - think this is the original yeast I was after or some other infection?

 

[dantheman13]

http://imgur.com/EwAsKCv
Was hoping for something a little more vigorous...but this doesn't look "bad"- per se - think this is the original yeast I was after or some other infection?

It looks similar to the Brett fermentations I get in my sour solera when I top it up with fresh wort.

 

[bluedubbed]

Has anyone had luck isolating wild yeast strains from honey? We started 2 bees colonies this summer and I was curious to see what might be the raw honey we harvested.

I took 1 tbsp of raw honey and mixed it into a basic wort with a few old hops added in just because I had them. Fermentation started in 2 days and never got to aggressive. I let it sit for a few weeks and did a taste test.

It tasted fairly sour (mostly lactic acid?) with apple overtones. Not too complex, but good. I'm assuming that most (if not all) of the flavor came from yeast. I'm going to plate some of the the final product and see what's in there.

Anyone else ever try this? Results?
Thanks.

 

[Microphobik]

Has anyone had luck isolating wild yeast strains from honey? We started 2 bees colonies this summer and I was curious to see what might be the raw honey we harvested.

I took 1 tbsp of raw honey and mixed it into a basic wort with a few old hops added in just because I had them. Fermentation started in 2 days and never got to aggressive. I let it sit for a few weeks and did a taste test.

It tasted fairly sour (mostly lactic acid?) with apple overtones. Not too complex, but good. I'm assuming that most (if not all) of the flavor came from yeast. I'm going to plate some of the the final product and see what's in there.

Anyone else ever try this? Results?
Thanks.

I haven't tried it but I follow the thinking. It would stand to reason that the honey might suppress bacteria, at least enough to favor the yeast. Let us know what you figure out.

 

[bluedubbed]

I did the experiment and plated yeast from the final fermented product. I got a good diversity of yeast based on bromocresol green and cycloheximide platings. I picked a few of the cyc+ colonies and grew them in some wort. Most didn't have much flavor/alcohol profile at all, but 2 were nice and sour and tasted like the initial honey inoculation. These were plated and grown in a 10% malt extract media with or without agar.

There were some bacteria in the final product, but not many and I don't think they contributed much to the initial flavor.

I think this is a good way to isolate wild yeast strains.

This was an interesting experiment for me. Here's why. I've been try to collect wild yeast for the past 1.5+ years. I've isolated and sampled 30-40 different isolates (from different locations and times of the year) and all but 2 have given good attenuation. Unfortunately these 2 produced some nasty medicinal off flavors that never really went away even after a year or so of aging. I think my selection methods were wrong. I was using YPD or WLN +chloramphenicol and BCG as my initial plates. I'd then screen on cyc plates. I wonder if using a simple sugar (dextrose) in the YPD or WLN was giving me the wrong yeast - yeast that can't or have a hard time with more complex carbs. I was honestly surprised that out of 30-40 isolates that only 2 gave good attenuation. Maybe this is a real number.

I wonder if I use malt extract plates to isolate wild colonies if I will enrich for yeast that will be able to metabolize more complex carbs? This seemed to help for screening the honey. I'm going to give it a try and see what comes out.

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[jaapie]

I did the experiment and plated yeast from the final fermented product. I got a good diversity of yeast based on bromocresol green and cycloheximide platings. I picked a few of the cyc+ colonies and grew them in some wort. Most didn't have much flavor/alcohol profile at all, but 2 were nice and sour and tasted like the initial honey inoculation. These were plated and grown in a 10% malt extract media with or without agar.

There were some bacteria in the final product, but not many and I don't think they contributed much to the initial flavor.

I think this is a good way to isolate wild yeast strains.

This was an interesting experiment for me. Here's why. I've been try to collect wild yeast for the past 1.5+ years. I've isolated and sampled 30-40 different isolates (from different locations and times of the year) and all but 2 have given good attenuation. Unfortunately these 2 produced some nasty medicinal off flavors that never really went away even after a year or so of aging. I think my selection methods were wrong. I was using YPD or WLN +chloramphenicol and BCG as my initial plates. I'd then screen on cyc plates. I wonder if using a simple sugar (dextrose) in the YPD or WLN was giving me the wrong yeast - yeast that can't or have a hard time with more complex carbs. I was honestly surprised that out of 30-40 isolates that only 2 gave good attenuation. Maybe this is a real number.

I wonder if I use malt extract plates to isolate wild colonies if I will enrich for yeast that will be able to metabolize more complex carbs? This seemed to help for screening the honey. I'm going to give it a try and see what comes out.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I understand that brett is less inhibited by cycloheximide than Saccharomyces but I dont understand why you would use it for a screening. And, the saying in the world of screening is

"you get what you screen for".

Do you just want to get yeasts that are not sensitive to cycloheximide? So you are not interested in wild Sacch strains? I am confused here. Also, chloramphenicol is a harsh compound. I would (if you want to inhibit bacteria) go for something like ampicillin (fish-cillin, amazon) that is less of a burden. Although organisms can overcome it, it does not mean they like being in the environment with these compounds they need to either neutralize or degrade.

If your media contain simple sugars, you are going to get strains that are able to ferment these simple sugars. I would suggest using maltose, and maltodextrins (DME) as your media for screening because you want those organisms to thrive and ferment in that specific medium. Personally, I grow small amounts of wild yeasts, and do a quick smell test, if they smell bad I discard them. My successful isolations have been in the 1 out of 10 range roughly, but its totally dependent on my initial media.


There are many roads that lead to rome.

-Jasper

 

[bluedubbed]

Thanks for the post and info.

Yes, I was mostly interested in wild Brett strains initially, but also wanted an easy way to distinguish between Brett and Sacc since my initial collection plates just had antibiotic. No particular reason why I use chlor other than that's what I saw in the literature. I've also found that BCG isn't really all that useful.
1 out of 10 is much better than I'm getting. I'll see what happens when I use maltose or DME for my plates.
Thanks again.

 

[Dmmflys]

This sounds cool. :fro:



I have read about making yeast from fruits.

For Cider: This is where you boil a quart of water, cool, soak 1/2 lb raisins for a bit 5-7 days. Soak warm 70-75. Pour-off or pitch only the liquid as starter. Good for 10 gallons

Did you end up doing this? How did it work out? I'm considering this. I just picked a bunch of crabapples from a local tree, no pesticides. Any recommendations would be helpful.

 

[Patykayks]

What is dme? This will be my first time making a starter.

 

[Cubslover]

Dry malt Extract

 

[mnick12]

Has anyone used acidifed medium to isolate yeasts?

About 2 months ago I dropped two kernels of germinating barley into 10ml of a sterilzed vial of 1.020 DME solution. I vented it every couple of days, but for the first month there was essentialy no gas production. Fast foward another few weeks and suddenly there was huge increase in gas production. I decided to see if there were any yeasts in it, but I did not have any standard differential media.

So on a whim I decided to try acidifying the regular DME agar to try and select acid tolerant organisms. So I made some DME agar and acidified it to a pH of 4.0 with lactic acid. I streaked a drop of the barley liquid and only saw one type of creamy white colony. Under the scope it is clearly a budding yeast, slightly smaller in diameter than wy1007 and more oval than circular.

I have 150ml of hopped potatoe sucrose broth on the stir plate growing up this yeast. It smells really pleasent malty and sweet.

Hopefully this yeast will be good canidate for regular fermentation.

 

[Boyle07]

Hey folks, first timer here....

I actually used this thread to capture some yeast off of the skin of a wild plum in my yard last fall (~23 weeks ago). I did the 1# DME to 1 gallon of water, and used some 2 yr old Mt.Hood hops from my local brew shop (real cheesy).

This is how it looks almost 6 months later. It has a wonderful clarity and surprisingly good taste. A couple months back it was pretty heavy with bubblegum/clove/banana and had a very poor mouth-feel; like water. Now it has mellowed out ALOT and has a nice maltiness to it with a small hint of tang and clove in the background. I think I can even pick up some of the cheesy old hops which is pretty pleasing. You can see one of the original plums still in there.

Yeast was from Grass Valley, CA (Foothills, ~2500 ft) Mid September 2014.

Starter was sugar water with ~5 unwashed wild plums. Sat indoors with cloth cover for 2 weeks prior to inoculation of the wort.

Was stored in glass fermenter with airlock basement at ~68°F.

Thinking about conditioning this one in bottle soon. I'm going to attempt to reuse the yeast cake.


Cheers!

 

[misled_drummer]

About a month ago I decided to delve into the world of spontaneous fermentation by following the Mad Fermentationist's method.

I brewed a brown ale and used three pints of second runnings for wort for ambient fermentation. I set the mason jars under my pomegranate tree, and then moved them under my orange tree to cool overnight. The next day I combined the pints and let them sit for three weeks, removing any mold colonies that developed (not many).

At about 3 weeks I stepped up the starter by doubling its volume. The smell was funky, lemony with some sulfur.

This past Saturday morning I brewed a 10 gallon lambic recipe and pitched the wild yeast into half of the batch. Later that night, the fermentation had skyrocketed and I needed to insert a blow off tube. A few days later, the thing is still bubbling away.

Hopefully it turns out good!

 

[Chadwick]

About a month ago I decided to delve into the world of spontaneous fermentation by following the Mad Fermentationist's method.

I brewed a brown ale and used three pints of second runnings for wort for ambient fermentation. I set the mason jars under my pomegranate tree, and then moved them under my orange tree to cool overnight. The next day I combined the pints and let them sit for three weeks, removing any mold colonies that developed (not many).

At about 3 weeks I stepped up the starter by doubling its volume. The smell was funky, lemony with some sulfur.

This past Saturday morning I brewed a 10 gallon lambic recipe and pitched the wild yeast into half of the batch. Later that night, the fermentation had skyrocketed and I needed to insert a blow off tube. A few days later, the thing is still bubbling away.

Hopefully it turns out good!

Nice Pics!

 

[misled_drummer]

Nice Pics!

Thank you!

I must confess, this is the first time I've seen the fermentation of my beers so I was a little freaked out at all the activity. I've been using buckets for the last 3 years and only recently got these plastic carboys. What an awesome sight!

The beer is currently fermenting at ambient temperature. I hope to harvest and store some of the yeast and ferment future beers at different temperatures to see what kind of flavor profiles I get.

Edit: I also noticed that the wild yeast portion of this batch is darker, while the other half (which I pitched brett and lacto into) is much lighter. Interesting.