What even is yeast? I am thinking mainly of the kind we use to make bread rise. Which I buy from the grocery store…
But, back in the day, where did people find yeast? I assume people cultivate it and grow it, much like sour dough, but someone had to find it originally, right?
And what does ir do in the wild? Especially since it is so easy to kill? (Can’t be too hot, can’t touch salt, can’t be too old…)
Note: this is purely to do with my curiosity. I have no interest in actually hunting wild yeast
In: Biology
If you want to find some, just take a sugary liquid, like, say, apple juice… and leave it uncovered outside for a few days and when you come back to check on it it’ll be fermenting because wild yeast will have certainly found its way in there and started doing it’s thing. (it’ll probably have mold in it too, because other things besides yeast will get in there and compete for those resources)
I used to do a bit of homebrewing for fun, and while I never tried it myself, [there are lots of homebrewers that will try to capture and culture their own strains of wild yeast](https://bootlegbiology.com/diy/capturing-yeast/) to try to get unique flavors. It’s not a terribly difficult thing to do, just need some patience.
Also, yeast is a single-celled fungus that basically eats sugar and farts carbon dioxide and pees out alcohol. And it’s literally everywhere all the time. There’s some on you right now. [One brewer even used the yeast from his beard to make his beer. ](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brewmaster-makes-beer-from-his-beard-yeast-64843043/)
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