On 14 Oct 98, Kit Anderson wrote: > All Belgian lambic brewers, the Fischer winery in California, and many New > England hard cider makers would disagree that wild yeast is a bad thing. > You may sacrifice consitency but you benefit in complexity. -- St. Kit Yes, this is true. If you grow your own crops, and have an old, controlled environment for the manufacturing, you could say that you also have control over what microorganisms/yeasts that you introduce to the brew. Indeed, for example, many grapes have a really thick, grey layer of natural yeast on the outside, that will quickly start a healthy fermentation. It is however completely different for the home maker. It is much more difficult to keep everything "quasi sterile" in your kitchen, and if you buy the grapes/apples/peppers... you can't be sure what kind of microorganisms you get. Maybe, as indicated before, some crops (like cabbage) has the same strong natural microorganisms present as grapes have? Regards, Kristofer