On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:41:11 GMT, "Bill Bell" <wbell1@bellsouth.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>"Frogleg" <frogleg@nowhere.com> wrote in message
>news:l58qhv878bcl7btd0bloltdctdsv0f3ne7@4ax.com...
>[color=green]
>> Thanks, Bill. "Racking" is siphoning the liquid off the yeast
>> sediment? And re-bottling?[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
>Correct. I drop a siphon tube into the carboy containing my beer or wine,
>and draw off all the liquid, leaving the dregs ("trub" or "must") at the
>bottom. It's then ready for rebottling. No harm in this, but, as always,
>be sure that anything that comes in contact with the liquid has been
>properly sterilized.[/color]

Well, I can see that the first problem is that this liquid (5qts
water, plus sugar, lemon, and yeast) is fermented in a big bowl or pot
and then, according to directions, strained through a sieve and
bottled. Obviously with all the yeast still burbbling about happily in
the mix.[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> I had an idea of pouring this stuff through a coffee filter and
>> re-bottling with very small amount of sugar. Why is this impossible?[/color]
>
>A coffee filter may collect the larger sediment, but I don't think the
>"mesh" is sufficiently small to filter out the tiny yeast cells. No problem
>re-priming with a bit of sugar (for the sake of sanitation, I would make a
>sugar water solution, boil it, chill it, and then add it to the re-bottled
>sima).[/color]

My thought was that the filter *would* remove a lot of the floating
yeast, while leaving enough for a civilized 2nd fermentation that
might not muck up the entire bottle. I can handle some yeast on the
bottom with either siphoning or (very) careful pouring.[color=blue]
>[color=green]
>> One Q about wine/brewing yeast vs bread -- do the brewing strains
>> produce less, um, excess yeast, or simply better flavor? I'm not
>> concerned with making a gourmet treat ...Just fizzy lemonade with
>> a (short) history.[/color]
>
>I don't know which kind of yeast is the more prolific (wine/brewing vs.
>bread), but just from the standpoint of making a tasty drink, I would choose
>non-bread yeast. Also, bread yeast (I've been told) has been developed to
>create CO2 (to make the bread rise), whereas beer and wine yeast have been
>cultivated for flavor and for the production of alcohol as well as CO2.
>
>One more thing: Some kinds of brewer's yeast are more flocculent than
>others. This means that they tend, to a greater or lesser degree, to clump
>together, and settle to the bottom of the fermentation vessel. You may want
>to choose a yeast that is very flocculent, so it will settle out more
>quickly. (Wyeast and White Labs are two well-known yeast labs, whose web
>sites are well deserving of a visit for more information on this topic.)[/color]

Thanks for the tip. Now I'm wondering how I can recycle this yeast
for breadmaking. I haven't made bread in a while, and was startled to
see the price of a little 3-envelope strip in the grocery store.
Almost cheaper to buy bread! Seems like it'd be pretty easy to make a
bread starter with what's in the bottom of the bottles. Is there an
FAQ for the group that includes info in saving yeast? Or a thread I
might pursue with Google groups? I can see it now: 'Frogleg's Famous
Sima Sourdough.' But it the yeast can be dried/jarred/saved somehow,
that would be good, too. No point in buying what you can grow
yourself. :-)