SC - Making Soda

[Decker, Terry D.]

There are essentially two types of yeast, those that make lactic acid
and those that make alcohol and carbon dioxide.  The latter are the ones
used in baking and brewing and the chemical reaction is pretty much as
stated.  The key is that brewing has many strains of yeast and each of
these acts differently in certain circumstances.

Champagne yeast produces a high degree of natural carbonation over an
extended fermentation period.  If I remember the process correctly,
champagne is decanted early and allowed to ferment in the bottle racked
with the neck angled down.  The bottles are regularly turned.  The lees
build up in the neck of the bottle.  At the end of the fermentation
process, the bottle is opened, the lees are forced out by the internal
pressure, the bottle is resealed and the carbonic acid in the solution
replenishes the carbonation.

I vaguely remember some comments about stopping a yeast reaction by
giving it too much sugar.  If that is the case, then using the champagne
yeast in an over-sugared solution would likely produce a sweet, fizzy
drink.  Tyrca may have the answer.  If she doesn't, I'm having Sunday
supper with our local braumeister and I'll ask him.

Bear


>Puck explained a method, which involved 10 cups of Sugar (but not Louise, 
>aunless she wanted to) nd champagne yeast, which was said to produce a 
>non-alcoholic drink.
>
>Good Puck, what I recall of chemistry and biology is that one way to make 
>carbon dioxide, which is often used to put bubbles in drinks, is to use 
>yeast and sugar (and ideally a little acid, for the comfort of the beasties)
>
>What happens is the beasties convert the sugar into several things - One 
>part sugar (C6 H12 O6 for the chemists) (->)becomes two parts alcohol (2 
>CH3 CH2OH) and two parts bubbles (2 CO2) when metabolised by Yeast.
>
>From the sounds of your recipe, perhaps not all the sugaar is converted 
>when it is bottled. Given the required time, most of it has converted, 
>and some is left to provide sweetness. If too long is spent, there is a 
>risk of there being not enough sweetess about, and perhaps also some dead 
>yeasties. In many things this will not improve the flavour, although I 
>think it complements ginger beer marvellously.
>
>So I suspect you are producing drinks about as alcoholic as light beer. 
>You could ask a policeman to let you do a breath test after drinking one, 
>or you could measure the specific gravity (density) of the water when 
>first you cast the yeast and when the drink is drunk. If there is a 
>decrease, it suggests that the sugar has chaged to something else. If 
>there is yeast and bubbbles involved, then there are very few possible 
>alternatives, and most of them are petrochemicals of the sort that are 
>useful as fossil fuels.
>
>At least that's the way I see it. I hope I haven't spoiled the party.
>
>On the other hand, if you were to use a yeast starter, in liberal 
>quantity (Bear or sTyrca or somebody could tell you more about this than 
>I) and mix your water, flavours, and bottle them with but a teaspoon of 
>sugar in each quart bottle, they would hve a very low alcohol content 
>indeed. (Of the order of 1% or less. Meaning that it would take most 
>small people about a gallon to notice the effect at all, by which time the 
>narcotic properties of excessive water consumption would also play a part)
>
>Cheers
>
>Charles Ragnar
>
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