Cultivating Haandbryggeriet Hesjel Yeast

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Has anyone had any luck culturing up some yeast from the bottle of Haandbryggeriet's Hesjel Harvest Ale? The website says that it is a wild house yeast and I am thinking their yeast would be pretty important to getting a similar flavour profile. Can I use the same flasks as I do for my normal yeast starters, or do I risk contamination?

 

[MitchDudarko]

Good question. I currently have some yeast from their Dobbel Dose IIPA on the stirplate. Not looking promising though...

 

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Good question. I currently have some yeast from their Dobbel Dose IIPA on the stirplate. Not looking promising though...

Maybe the lower gravity of the Harvest Ale will help. Maybe I will see when the International Beer Shop has their next delivery of their Beers and try and get a real fresh one. If you have any luck let me know. I'll let you know if I have any luck.

 

[Wolfy]

Can I use the same flasks as I do for my normal yeast starters, or do I risk contamination?

Since they calling it a 'farm house ale' using 'special wild house yeast' I'd not mix it in with any flasks or other gear I use to make 'normal' starters ... unless of course you are happy with all your beers tasting like sweaty old horse blankets.
I've got no problems with 'wild yeast' but I'd guess there is also bacteria and other stuff mixed in with the culture.

 

[Bizier]

I'd not mix it in with any flasks or other gear I use to make 'normal' starters .

Seriously? I figure it would be a relatively known evil. I boil my starter wort each time for perhaps 20 minutes before chilling and pitching, including the stirbar. Surely no yeast strain could tolerate anything like that.

 

[felten]

ince they calling it a 'farm house ale' using 'special wild house yeast' I'd not mix it in with any flasks or other gear I use to make 'normal' starters

I dunno about that, you can sterlise your flask in the oven afterward. I'm definitely hoping this is the case anyway, as I built up a brett starter in my flask recently :lol:

The plastic gear would be a problem though, it's recommended to use separate fermenters and transfer hoses and so on for your wild beers.

Seriously? I figure it would be a relatively known evil. I boil my starter wort each time for perhaps 20 minutes before chilling and pitching, including the stirbar. Surely no yeast strain could tolerate anything like that.

If there's beer resistant bacteria in there, It only takes a few cells to infect something, they can reproduce 20x faster than yeast can. People have had problems in the past, hence the recommendation to use separate plastic gear as scratches could possibly harbour bacteria.