natural yeast?

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D

natural yeast?

Post by D »

Is there any way to make fruit brews without packaged yeast?
The Chemist
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Post by The Chemist »

Sure, just let it ferment naturally. Yeasts are ubiquitous. The reason you might not actually want to do this is that you never know what flavor, yield you'll get with wild yeast. Many people use bakers yeast, but try to find a good wine yeast--on-line if you don't have a brewshop nearby.
Purposeful motion, for one so insane...
D

thanks, but how about...

Post by D »

say I was on an island, and wanted to make some distilled fruit drinks, how would I then go about doing this, with nothing but what grows natural/wild? any links to other resources would also help...
The Chemist
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Post by The Chemist »

Just mash up the fruit, add water, leave it open one day, then cover with an airlock (easier to improvise on the island than a still--I tell you what!).

It will ferment into something! Whether it would be any good, who knows. With wild critters you takes what you gets.
Purposeful motion, for one so insane...
KatoFong
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Post by KatoFong »

But stuck on the island, he/she would have plenty of time to cultivate the yeast into something better.
Josesillo
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Post by Josesillo »

i have been told that adding a couple of raisins will make your mash ferment espontaneously because of natural yeasts in them, if you try it let us know, about flavors
- - - - - - -

--Fishing and Distilling... What else is there to do???.--
excaliber
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Post by excaliber »

I read somewhere that some raisins are cured with SO2, which will kill of yeasts (and other wee beasties). Might want to check the package to see.

Then again, that could be utter bull. I'm not sure. Anyone wiser know?
D

Wicked Cool

Post by D »

Thanks for all the input, I have been experimenting with natural methods, and was wondering how long to leave, what to add etc...appreciate the help
Brett
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Post by Brett »

id say you leave it untill it stops bubbling through the airlock, However if u want to check that its fermented to full potential when it stops bubbling try feeding it a spoon of sugar, if it bubbles theres more to go and u can slowly feed it till it stops (i do a teaspoon every 2 days for 1 gallon).
allo

oh yeah...

Post by allo »

can anyone tell me some ratio's for different fruits?
Pieterpost
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Post by Pieterpost »

because the wash is saturated with CO2 I would not add granulated sugar straight to it. The wash might strongly foam when doing this ! It's better to dissolve the sugar first and then add it !
Brett
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Post by Brett »

Pieterpost is right the wash will foam up :) but iv never had any problem with it foaming over, thats why u dont dump a load in straight away but instead feed it a little sugar slowly n over time.

As a general rule with my country wines ill use 3 - 5 lbs of fruit (if i remember right someone posted a better flavour is achieved if u use twice the amount of fruits when u will still it) to 3 lbs of sugar per gallon, but this is when im also using a shop bought yeast.

If you look on the wiki theres some recipes there (for example the 2 lower brandy ones) where you put the fruit in a barrel and cover with water (no sugar added). http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Brandy_recipes

Also take a look a "Taters fruit recipe" gives you the general idea for it and towards the bottom theres a great link for a site to see the sugar content of the various fruits.http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Tater%27s_Fruit_Recipe
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