[Sca-cooks] Collecting Yeast from Birch Trees

[johnna holloway]

I seem to remember that this question came up before. The early birch 
wine recipes
(used Cindy's book to start) all seem to add yeast to the sap. Nothing 
is said about yeast coming off a birch tree there. I don't find it 
listed in E. David's English Bread and Yeast Cookery in the full rundown 
she has on yeast. Maybe they meant that sometimes the sap ferments on 
its own without the addition of yeast. Sap might do that, although what 
you end up with is ???

I did an involved Google search and turned this up---
A Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food & Drink:
Processing and Consumption and Production & Distribution
one review mentions this--

  One of my favorite bits: the Saxons would dip birch twigs in liquid 
yeast, hang dry, and store it that way -- their equivalent of today's 
modern yeast packets.

Might this be the source?

Johnnae llyn Lewis

Terry Decker wrote:
> I've never heard of collecting yeast off of birch trees.  I have heard of
> collecting and drying yeast with straws, twigs, and plates.  In each of
> these cases, yeast barm is collected on the surface of the item and allowed
> to dry, sometimes with several immersions to let the yeast collect in
> layers.  The twigs and the straws are stored in jars, broken off when
> necessary and used to kick off a new starter or barm.  The dried yeast from
> the plate is scrapped off and stored and used like cake yeast.
> 
> Yeast from brewing is most commonly used in the beer drinking regions of
> Europe.  Sourdoughs are more common in southern Europe where wines were the
> general beverage and ales spoil quickly.
> > Bear
> 
> 
> 
>>Long ago (OK, it was only 7 years ago), at a Laurel Prize Tourney, not so
> > very far away (only about 3 hours), I was told that although yeast from
> brewing was the most plentiful and commonly used in period, yeast was also
> collected off of birch trees.
> >>Have any of you heard of such a thing? Has anybody seen any documentation?
>>>>Thanks for the help,>>Samrah