Subject: Ale Yeast and Breadmaking

From: [email-masked] (Colette Goodyear)
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 17:12:09 GMT

I'm the head cook for an SCA event this summer (East Kingdom University
on June 19 in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada for all SCA folk but
anyone who is interested
is welcome!)  I have the luxury of having five months to prepare
for this event (it's a luxury compared to the time-span I usually
work with) and I started considering the amount of ale, cider, mead
and sekanjabin that needs to be made before the event.  Then I started
thinking about all that yeast sediment left over from the ale 
and what it can be used for...

How would I store the yeast left over from my brewing?  How much
yeast do I use in baking bread?  How do I activate it?  
Can I also use the yeast left over from making mead and cider (my
instinct is to say yes).  I have a recipe
for barley bread--does anyone have any other recipes? (I have the
time to brew and bake but I'm working on redacting my stockfish recipes
for this event so I don't have time to redact bread recipes.)

Any help and tips appreciated.

Colette Goodyear (Lady Alienor Llanfaes)
[email-masked]

---

From: [email-masked] (Mark Schuldenfrei)
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 18:35:05 GMT

Hi Colette, from Mark (in other venues, it would Hi Alienor, from Tibor)
  How would I store the yeast left over from my brewing?  How much
  yeast do I use in baking bread?  How do I activate it?  
  Can I also use the yeast left over from making mead and cider (my
  instinct is to say yes).

Well, any leftover yeast is good.  There really is little trick
to it: store the yeast in a closed container, and it will sporulate
and go quiet when there is no more sugar or air.  Give it some
to eat, and it will activate.  Many brewers culture their own
yeast, and almost any brewing book will have the specifics.  I
have stored the old barm from brewing in a sealed container,
filling it with water to the top.  When I need some more yeast,
I usually pour the container into the new batch of must.

I've not tried use old ale yeast in bread.  I would suggest a
healthy quantity of the old liquid, matching whatever was called
for as liquid in the bread recipe.  I would also activate the
yeast: mix the liquid, and some sugar or honey in advance of
the addition of flour, and let it rest until some foaming or
bubbling action is apparent.  It takes regular bread yeast from
the store about 1/2 an hour to show a LOT of action.

You will find, however, that modern bread yeasts produce way
more CO2 than brewing yeasts do.  Allow much more rising time,
and small batches, is my guess.  It also flavors the bread
nicely (I've eaten it, just not baked it).

As for recipes, I don't use 'em.  Take 1/2 cup of water, a
squirt of honey, and the yeast.  Let it proof.  When ready,
add 50/50 white and whole wheat flour until the right texture
is obtained, knead and rise twice, and bake at 350 or so.

While pure white flour was available in the SCA's period of
study (especially around the time of the cookbooks we tend to
use), I presume that it was more expensive, and used more by
the elite than the lower classes.  Given my station within the
SCA, and my preference for whole grain bread, I use the
above recipe.

Thanks for the thought, it's time to bake with ale yeast!

	schuldy

PS. Looking forward to those redactions, yes I am!  Hope to
    see you at EKU, if I can find a way to make it.
--
Mark Schuldenfrei ([email-masked])
[I'm just showin' you my opinions: this ain't a gift]