Has anyone tried innoculation instead of malting or enzymes.

[paramedic68whiskey]

So I was reading on the parent site about tossing some bacteria into your mash instead of using enzymes. Has anyone tried this and how was your yield compared to enzymes? Is there a good link to some recipes using this method or do you have a good recipe? And would throwing in some probiotics or yogurt juice work? I use them for feremnted salsa and hot sauce, so I cant see as why it wouldnt work on a mash ferment. Thanks all for your input.

[Durace11]

I have a beer fermenting with all lacto bacteria(almost) but it's going to be beer and not be distilled. Unfortunately, in this case, the lacto bacteria culture contains 10% yeast strain in the vial so it's not exactly 100% bacteria but it's close. Not sure how it would ferment a wash but I can say bacteria is a lot slower than yeast so you are looking at a long ferment unless you can keep it at 100°F-105°F to keep the bacteria going strong. Also, most bacteria that I know of ferment out some weird flavors & aromas. Brett can get horsey, barnyard and wet blanket smells. You kind of have to know what you want to get out of it before you go into it so you know what kind of bacteria to use. If you are going for a wild bacteria ferment the sky's the limit on what you end up with.

[Dnderhead]

I did not know bacteria produced alcohol,,I do know some molds do...like those used for sake..these produce enzymes and in conjunction with yeast?produce alcohol.most bacteria produce toxens.

[paramedic68whiskey]

Yup, those of us who make kimchi, hot sauces, sourkrouts, salsas use bacteria Lactobacillus, and Bacillus to preserve them. The basic concept is that the good bacteria will prevent bad bacteria from forming and stop spoilage. I actually use yogurt to inncoulate my finished products so they will ferment. There are a lot of good bacterias which are the ones we see in probiotics and our feremented foods. As stated above some brewers use these too and I am trying to figure out can this pertain to distilling too. Yeah Durace...I agree with the smells. I feremtn a lot of foods and the smells can be pretty overpowering.

[Beer Baron]

As a homebrewer who makes a lot of sour beers, I'd like to correct some of the info here. Most bacteria's do not create alcohol, they create acids (usually lactic acid from lactobacyllus). It's what gives yogurt and sour kraut it's sour bite, and gives Berliner Weiss styles of beer their tangy tartness. The acidity and large populations of 'good' bacteria can act as a preservative. Other bacteria, like acetobacter can react with oxyen and convert alcohol into acetic acid, otherwise known as vinegar. This is why your mash can turn to vinegar if left for too long when oxygen is present in the fermenter.

Also, brettanomyces (brett) is a yeast, not a bacteria. It will eat sugars and convert them to alcohol. It usually creates a more funky, barnyard tasting beer than a normal sacch beer yeast, but there are different strains of brett that will produce a whole range of different flavors and aromas.

Sour beers, which are becoming a lot more popular in the US but originated in Belgium, usually have a combination of brett and bacteria (lactobacyllus and pediococcus). This gives them complex funky and sour flavors and aromas. They are aged for a year or more to give the brett and bacteria time to develop all the flavors desired in a sour beer.

[Dnderhead]

there are a few that produce alcohol,but rather limited to what they do..

[frozenthunderbolt]

You would be thinking of Koji - Asperligus nigerus (sp?) it breaks down starches into sugars and is often used simultaneously with yeast to convert and ferment at the same time.
It is what is employed to make true saki

[paramedic68whiskey]

You would be thinking of Koji - Asperligus nigerus (sp?) it breaks down starches into sugars and is often used simultaneously with yeast to convert and ferment at the same time.
It is what is employed to make true saki

Nah, I know about that I believe it is a fungi. They have these new bacterias that do it too, but looks like it is mainstream and the ones that are...I wouldn't be throwing them into something I would consume.

Thanks all.