Recipe
Mexican Pulque
Readers should keep in mind that it is difficult to replicate true pulque using only the ingredients in a home brewer’s pharmacopeia. It is common for pulque brewers in Mexico to reproduce their own strains of yeast, using a starter of fermented pulque (known as the “semilla”, or seed) to ferment a fresh batch of agave nectar. These yeast strains, like many tricks of the trade, are closely guarded secrets amongst pulqueros — indeed, some of these strains of yeast may be as old as the Aztec Empire itself.
Written by David J. Schmidt
Issue: January-February 2011
Readers should keep in mind that it is difficult to replicate true pulque using only the ingredients in a home brewer’s pharmacopeia. It is common for pulque brewers in Mexico to reproduce their own strains of yeast, using a starter of fermented pulque (known as the “semilla”, or seed) to ferment a fresh batch of agave nectar. These yeast strains, like many tricks of the trade, are closely guarded secrets amongst pulqueros — indeed, some of these strains of yeast may be as old as the Aztec Empire itself.