Tepache and wild yeast/bacteria

[matzou]

Hello,

Just to gather some information, I recently made a Tepache from the skin of one organic pineapple with some cane sugar, cinnamon and ginger.

Unlike my last batch which had no problem (beside the usual souring if left fermented too long), this batch half was consumed 24h after still the other halft left 24h to carbonate and later put in the fridge are all ropy (afaik typical from Pediococcus).

Last batch I did I would bet it was containing some Brett C with this typical fruity smell light funkyness.

Does anyone has further experiences playing with pineapple skin / ginger as it seems to be a winner instead of shelling for a pack of lab mixed culture if you want some mixed fermentation going on.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Very cool!
I can't get enough Brett funk in my life.

My understanding is that all manner of wild yeast and bacteria float through the air and live on all the plants outside, so any organic plant matter could be a good source of wild microbes

I have some batches of 100% wild apple cider fermenting right now, but otherwise I don't have much experience myself with bioprospecting (yet).
Lab cultures and bottle dregs have the benefit of a pretty much guaranteed good result.

It sounds like you want to ferment beer with the culture? Are you planning to use it as the primary or secondary fermentation?

 

[matzou]

Not sure yet about using it since I'am running short in space and time but I will keep it aside.
If I use it would be as primary yeast with a classic mix of pils and flaked rye/spelt and medium low IBU to inhibit Lacto and let pedio shine over time since I have never used it.

But so far in my 3 batch of tepache it seems we have a winner with the organic pineapple(and the ginger has well) yeast/brett/lacto/pedio for a cheap price and with a good beverage included.

Regarding bio prospecting I think some plants/fruits/barks are more prone to host specific culture, I came across this interesting paper regarding tepache/pineapple: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4576967/ which seems to confirm that its definitely a good host for Lacto and Pedio.