Brewing Pombe With Schizosaccharomyces

[jphowman]

Sgoinon
My brother went travelling through West Africa a while ago and came back talking about this millet beer called Pombe that he tasted and thought was awesome.
He even helped brew a batch.
The description of the process was thus:
Boil the crap out of millet flour, cool it down and allow it to ferment. Technical I know... :unsure:

There was no mashing step, so I assumed he had missed out on some vital part of the process. But after one of the yeast talks at the recient ANHC things clicked.
Apparently it is brewed with schizosaccharomyces which is a wild yeast which is able to produce the enzymes to break down the starch.

Now I'm curious. Has anyone heard of a supplier of schizosaccharomyces? None of the major yeast companies seem to carry it, probably because it gives an off flavour if fully fermented. (pombe is supposed to be drunk while still fermenting apparently)

Franks and Beens B)


edit: speeling

 

[praxis178]

Sgoinon
My brother went travelling through West Africa a while ago and came back talking about this millet beer called Pombe that he tasted and thought was awesome.
He even helped brew a batch.
The description of the process was thus:
Boil the crap out of millet flour, cool it down and allow it to ferment. Technical I know... :unsure:

There was no mashing step, so I assumed he had missed out on some vital part of the process. But after one of the yeast talks at the recient ANHC things clicked.
Apparently it is brewed with schizosaccharomyces which is a wild yeast which is able to produce the enzymes to break down the starch.

Now I'm curious. Has anyone heard of a supplier of schizosaccharomyces? None of the major yeast companies seem to carry it, probably because it gives an off flavour if fully fermented. (pombe is supposed to be drunk while still fermenting apparently)

Franks and Beens B)


edit: speeling

Pity he didn't think to dip his hanky in the brew, let dry and go home with said hanky in a baggy..... That's the easy way to get a "yeast sample" home when overseas. <_<

You might try some of the wine affiliated unies, eg. Adelaide Uni Roseworthy or Waite campuses, or Wagga Wagga Uni's School of Wine as they might have some in their yeast culture archives.....