using a bottle of hoegaaden to make a starter ?

[slurp]

:hmm: Would it be possible to reclaim a yeast from simply buying a bottle of hoegaaden tipping the entire contents into demijohn with some spraymalt and growing it on from there.I ask only because the yeast is held in suspension?

 

[leondz]

I'm pessimistic, it's most likely been pasteurised (killing the yeast), but I can think of one way of finding out :grin:

 

[leondz]

I take that back

As the beer is unpasteurised it retains the fresh brewery taste and aroma which are often lost due to pasteurisation.

from the end of http://www.expresshospitality.com/20090315/trackers01.shtml

You might like to water it down a bit first, to reduce the alcohol levels, though

 

[mysterio]

And check if it's the primary strain they use for bottling. In the case of Hoegaarden, I don't think it is.

The yeast is available commercially from Wyeast and White Labs

 

[EskiBrew]

And check if it's the primary strain they use for bottling. In the case of Hoegaarden, I don't think it is.

Having recently made a Hefe using a Wyeast smack pack (3068), I'm interested in this too.

Hoegaaden is meant to be cloudy - it would seem strange if they filtered it to remove the yeast just to then add a yeast to make it cloudy and give it condition. I can't see what they would gain by doing so and since they are likelyto want to keep the price down, it seem unlikely... :hmm:

Perhaps someone knows for definite??

 

[tubby_shaw]

There is one major difference between a Belgian wit and German Heffe weisse.
The cloudiness in the Wit comes from the unmalted wheat, where as the cloudyness in a heffe is completely from from the yeast.
If I were to re culture from Hoegaarden I would leave it to settle overnight, drink all but the last 10ml of the bottle and use that to inoculate my malt extract solution :)

 

[ano]

Hoegaaden is meant to be cloudy - it would seem strange if they filtered it to remove the yeast just to then add a yeast to make it cloudy and give it condition. I can't see what they would gain by doing so and since they are likelyto want to keep the price down, it seem unlikely... :hmm:

I thought that exact process was true to many belgian styles, so-called gyle worting (or krausening for Germans).

 

[dandan]

On my bottles of Hoegaarden that I brought back from France last year it says: Non Filtrée, Naturellent Trouble (unfiltered, Naturally cloudy)

 

[mysterio]

I'm not sure I agree with Tubby Shaw, the cloudiness in wheat beers, Belgian or German tends to come from the use of wheat. Yeast sediment in the bottle will add to this impression.

I believe it's quite common for German wheat beers to be centrifuged to remove the yeast, and a bottling strain (usually a lager strain) added at bottling time.

Why? I think lager strains tend to be much more stable and less prone to autolysis than the wheat beer strains. Hefeweizen yeast is notoriously unstable. Another reason, believe it or not, is sometimes to preserve a proprietary strain to prevent rivals getting their hands on it.

I genuinely do not know if Hoegaarden use this process. It's just a risk to be aware of if your beer doesn't turn out as expected. Theres an easy way to test - simply make a starter with the yeast in the bottle. Wit ale yeast has a very distinct taste; the starter should taste 'hoegaardenish'. If it tastes buttery, or sulpherous, then it may be a lager strain.