Soaked some decomposing oak leaves for 36 hours in preboiled water with some yeast flakes. Stirred, put 1-2 ml into test tubes with 5 ml of malt beer (“Karamalz”, I just picked a random brand), filled up with equal amounts of 5 % vinegar and whisky (didn’t have any vodka at hand). Put a thin layer of neutral vegetable oil on top.
Should keep out the vast majority of bad microbes and provide a mostly oxygen free environment for yeast.
IIRC, I’ve also read on suigeneris brewing that oak leaf litter has a 50 - 80 % chance of catching bretanomyce, which I’d be thrilled to find.
I’m sure it’s going to work great. Wild yeasts are everywhere.
I recommend that book because it’s all about brewing with things you forage using simple brewing methods. So you won’t find a recipe for a traditional “beer” but lots of things like lemon and mugwort “beer”. I got it this winter and can’t wait to try it out
Sounds nice! Why not keep us in the loop and post updates here :)
For sure. It’s not a traditional brewing at all using brown sugar with herbs instead of malt. I’m happy to share some results