# Yeast in Feral Sly Fox bottles



## AJS2154 (26/3/16)

All,

I saw a post on the forum about Feral Sly Fox being on special at Dan Murphys. I thought I would mozie on down for a sample.

When I was rinsing the very quickly emptied bottles out I noticed there was, I think, yeast in the bottle. From this I assume they bottle condition this beer. They keep their methods pretty vague; no problem from me there, but I was wondering if anybody has the scoop on this yeast. If it isn't the yeast the beer was fermented on it probably isn't really worth culturing, but if it is I would have a go.

Any information will be appreciated. Regards, Anthony


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## manticle (26/3/16)

Sorry I can't help but whoever wrote the marketing tripe on the feral website needs an editor or a dictionary or both.

According to them it will be one yeast stain or another. Could be a belgium yeast, a kind that where bought in to the country from Belgian.

I do like most beers I've tried from them so glad they're (their?) better at brewing beer than writing about it.


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## AJS2154 (26/3/16)

Thanks manticle, yes, they totally confused me. The more "crafty" the brewery is, the more hyperbole and marketing speak they have, which is ironic, because the movement says it rejects that approach. But then again, look at Brew Dog....but I am OT. 

Also OT. My young bloke came in when I was getting a beer, saw the packaging and said "sick".....went off for the weekend with a 4 pack. The creative writing hits the market.....and I lose a 4 pack.

I will save some dregs and culture it up. What's the worst thing that can happen? The sun will continue to rise, and politocians will continue to lie.

See you, Anthony


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## manticle (26/3/16)

Most craft brewing joints seem to be supportive of homebrewing so an email to the brewery won't hurt either.


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## doon (26/3/16)

For 10 bucks for 4 this beer was a cracker. Way better then i remembered it. I did notice the sediment but it didnt seem to pour into glass even though I wasn't careful


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## mfeighan (26/3/16)

im pretty sure its us05 in sly fox as its a ramped down version of the hop hog


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## AJS2154 (26/3/16)

Ok. Thanks for the responses guys. I will take up the suggestion and will ask the brewery. Wouldnt be surprised if it is US05, but only one way to find out. Will report back with what they say. 
Anthony


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## AJS2154 (10/4/16)

A quick update on the mystery of the yeast.

As per your suggestion, manticle, I sent an email to the Feral folk. A polite note saying I had thoroughly enjoyed the sly fox product, and noticed there was some yeast sediment in the bottle, would you mind telling me if that was the yeast used to ferment the product, or is it different for bottle conditioning. I didn't expect them to divulge their trade secrets, but a polite email back would be considered appropriate. Maybe they just ignore their consumers. No response.

Anyway life moves on. My son and I made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of science and we settled in to drink some beers and collect the yeast sediment. Put it on a stirer plate and spun it for 48 hours. Visible fermentation well underway. I put it in my fermenting fridge with a brew that was underway, settled the sediment. This morning I decanted off 2 samples, and had a taste of the beer......very strong wheat yeast aroma and flavour. Maybe a Belgian Witbier??

Its been a fun experiment. I will make a light wheat style / summer beer and see what happens. Any recipe suggestions will be gratefully accepted.

Anyway, thought some of you might be interested. See you, Anthony


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## rude (13/4/16)

Ive just come off N/S & have had a couple so excuse my deduction if wrong

You would think if bottling they would want a yeast that flocs hard so when you pour it
no sediment gets to you're glass

Have read they use lager yeasts a bit for bottle conditioning

Quite rude from Feral not to reply spose they think they are above us homies or too busy :blink:

I'll give them a couple of weeks AJ ferment time & if no reply SNOBS

I loved the hop hog when it came out, the wit was a bit tart for my liking

Report back please AJ & yes use the yeast for an American Wheat


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## ctagz (11/5/16)

Any response back? Also how did the stepped up version of the beer you made end up?


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## AJS2154 (11/5/16)

No response mate......seems they put all their efforts into spin creation, and nothing into their customers who make descrete and polite enquiries. No harm done, the fridges are full of other ridiculously expensive offerings each time I shop at Dan Murphys. I only ever bought the beer because it was almost half the normal price. 

I made a summer beer with pilsner, flaked wheat and a little vienna. 25 grams citra in the boil and 20 grams dry hopped. The yeast is nice, very much like a wheat beer yeast. 

Beer is very drinkable. We are working on the keg now.


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## ctagz (11/5/16)

Yeah I didn't rate the sly fox when I first had it. Then the sale bought a heap of fresh supply and really enjoyed it. Still the discounted price equated to $60 carton. 

It had inspired me to nail a summer ale recipe, when I get a stir plate I'll try recondition the yeast. Sounds like a fun project.


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## Frothy1 (11/5/16)

I had a few at the Swan Valley brewery in WA earlier this year, and they were 100 times better than the discounted Dan Murphy ones I bought months later.

I ended up giving a 4 pack to my neighbor as I was just disappointed compared to what I remember fresh from the brewery.

When I was at the brewery the bar staff seemed as if they knew some info but were very hesitant on sharing anything regarding ingredients.


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## danestead (12/5/16)

I am also pretty sure feral beers use dried yeast. Don't get too excited over the yeast in the bottle, they only coarsely filter their beers so it's probably just some yeast that got through.

Sly Fox is very tasty fresh but a bit bland once it gets a bit older or isn't handled well. I find the same with hop hog actually.


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## crowmanz (12/5/16)

danestead said:


> or isn't handled well. I find the same with hop hog actually.


The same with every beer at dan murphys.


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## GalBrew (12/5/16)

crowmanz said:


> The same with every beer at dan murphys.


Can't really expect a beer like Sly Fox to stay in good condition for too long when it's kept at room temp at Uncle Dan's. I love the spiel on Feral bottles about treating it like milk and then seeing a massive display pile of Sly Fox on the floor, or its usual spot on the shelf along with Hop Hog and Karma Citra.


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## Frothy1 (6/6/16)

Stopped in at the brewery again today and grabbed a sly fox.

Its a very clean tasting beer and had me thinking it might be larger yeast.


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## danestead (6/6/16)

Frothy1 said:


> Stopped in at the brewery again today and grabbed a sly fox.
> 
> Its a very clean tasting beer and had me thinking it might be larger yeast.


There's no chance at all it is a lager yeast. If they were brewing Sly Fox with a lager yeast, they'd have a lager on their menu as well. I'm 99% sure they are not setup for lager brewing.


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## Frothy1 (6/6/16)

Yeah. I kind of expected that response after i posted.
Still... it tastes super clean like a lager.


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## danestead (6/6/16)

Frothy1 said:


> Yeah. I kind of expected that response after i posted.
> Still... it tastes super clean like a lager.


Probably just a US05 style yeast as I'm also pretty sure they use dry yeast most/all of the time. Temperature and pitch rate probably help them to ferment really clean.

I really like the Sly Fox when it's fresh and hoppy. Others still like to bag it out on occasion. I think its a great beer to have a bunch of on a hot day - pretty much what a Summer Ale is meant to be haha


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## Velu (6/6/16)

Two dry yeasts and 1 liquid yeast for the bassandean brewery according to the brews news podcast. I'm guessing the liquid yeast is for feral white. Fresh sly fox is awesome in my opinion


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