[SickLeaf]

Hello, ive just ordered essence and have been doing a bit of reading about it.

My question is could you keep a culture of essence long term, indefinitely? i have read a few posts that says it can be kept for 24 hrs bubbling but any more than that and the effectiveness (microbe count?) starts to fall. Can anyone tell me why this is?

In my mind, if they have the environment (warm water), food (mollasses), and oxygen from the aerator i cant see why they would drop off.

I was thinking that with a larger container to keep the environment more stable, regular partial water changes, constant aeration and regular feeding with mollasses would the culture not just continue?

Sorry if this has been asked before, links accepted

Cheers.
SickLeaf

[oldtimer1]

I have written about this several times before, essence is a blend of nearly 30 different microbe species from yeasts, bacteria to fungi, each of these multiplies as a different rate, each will have been raised in isolation as a pure culture, vacuum dried then blended to populate the foliage and soil in exactly the right numbers of each species of microbes after activation, spraying or drenching.

The optimum activation window is 4 to 24 hrs by the time you get to 30+ some species will be dying out and other growing to large proportions, some species multiply in the aerated water mix, some just come alive but don’t multiply until in their natural habitat, some like yeasts are food species that feed other species helping them establish once they are in their new home.

Brewing is really the wrong term, activation is what you are really doing.

You can brew a single yeast culture in sterile conditions, it is still very difficult not to get contamination outside sterile laboratory conditions, but big breweries manage to do it.

The only none lab brew that is long term fairly stable is sourdough starter, that is a blend of natural yeast occuring on grains and lactic bacillus, both would have been present in the farm house because of milk products which probably contaminated the baking yeast given warmth, a food source and moisture, these two inoculates balance one another and are self regulating keeping the right population of each, but then again they are in the same environment as they are used in, you are not activating you are brewing or multiplying them.

[SickLeaf]

Thanks Oldtimer1, that makes complete sense now

im never satisfied with just being told not do something, i have to know the reason why. You have covered all bases in your response. I had sourdough in mind when i was pondering my essence thoughts, funnily enough. I think my appreciation of essence's complexity has just gone up a notch or two too.

That idea is put to bed.

Thank you.
SickLeaf

This post has been edited by SickLeaf: 28 April 2012 - 11:12 AM