Harvesting yeast from cider bottle dregs

[Sessionz]

Hi All,

I am hoping for some feedback to see if this is possible.

I bought some bottle conditioned cider from a local spot called mountain west hard cider. It was fermented with local indigenous yeast. The flavors were incredible.


The first bottle had a bit of sediment at the bottom. I have a second bottle I wanted to harvest this yeast from, but wasn’t sure if it would work.

I have harvested beer dregs in the past and used dry malt extract my starter base.

Should I use apple juice for my starter or use DME for this experiment?

 

[RPh_Guy]

For cider/wine cultures you just need simple sugar.

I make 1.030-1.040 starters using dextrose, non-DAP yeast nutrient, and filtered tap water. You could use spring water too.

Cheers

 

[Sessionz]

For cider/wine cultures you just need simple sugar.

I make 1.030-1.040 starters using dextrose, non-DAP yeast nutrient, and filtered tap water. You could use spring water too.

Cheers

Thank you for the advice!

 

[madscientist451]

The flavors were incredible.

Couldn't find anything about what apples they use, but I'm skeptical the yeast alone provides the incredible flavor.
My experiments indicate that the main contributor to decent apple cider flavor is the choice of apples.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to grow up their yeast, but you should be aware that the wild yeast used was probably a mixture of local yeasts and the yeast you grow from dregs will probably be different than what was initially used to ferment the cider.
If you can get Simply Apple juice in your local store, you can use that to to start your dregs and do a test ferment.