Is it ok to harvest yeast from this flower?

[Bisco_Ben]

So I've been excessively interested in harvesting wild yeast lately and had a less than successful attempt with leaving open jars of wort outside. This time around I made a starter broth of 1liter with 80 grams of dme and 5 hop pellets of galena hops. I then went out and picked the flower pictured below and snipped it off and dropped it in the wort. Then I got to thinking that maybe this flower is inedible and could get me sick? I couldnt find much info on harvesting yeast from flowers so any insight/suggestions on what to do from here would be very much appreciated!! View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468194073.784869.jpg

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

If it is a "day lily" apparently they are not only edible, but tasty... Here's a link... http://honest-food.net/2010/06/29/dining-on-daylilies/

 

[2trout]

Defiantly NOT a Daylilly. That is an Asiatic Lilly. Cant say as to the brewability of an Asiatic Lilly. Not faulting your process, but why harvest yeast from a flower?

 

[ruger988]

The eat-ability of the flower is irrelevant. You're after the yeast ON the flower, you're not consuming the flower itself.

 

[Littletimmy]

Well, what is pictured is definitely not a Daylily (Hemerocallis), I breed and grow thousands of them. Most likely some sort of hybrid Asiatic/Oriental, based on the elongated trumpets in the background of the picture. These types of lilies are very common. Are "lilies" toxic? Some such as Gloriosa, Zigadenus, Zantedeschia and Crinium all have various levels of toxicity as do some of the classic Lilium species. Would I add the flower to my wort to derive a wild yeast? When in doubt, leave it out...JMO

 

[sweetcell]

i would think that you'll be fine. if toxic, i suspect you're going to need more than one flower's worth of toxins, especially when diluted into 5 gallons of beer.

you could also pull out the flower before it has time to break down. the yeasts on the flower will have jumped shipped and entered the wort pretty quickly. no need to let the flower soak for more than a day or two.

This time around I made a starter broth of 1liter with 80 grams of dme and 5 hop pellets of galena hops.

are you including the hops for a specific reason? are you trying to limit bacteria and only capture brett and sacch?

 

[Bisco_Ben]

Thanks for the replies everyone. So i removed the flower after 24 hours and it seems as though i have a healthy looking fermentation going on. The wort smells pretty bad but thats probably from the flower. I plan to check gravity and step up the yeast with another liter of wort and will judge the taste/smell of the newly fermented wort to see if what i have is worth keeping. Will update on my progress...