[Sca-cooks] RE:wine yeast and apples

[Decker, Terry D.]

I've done a little thinking and a little looking, so let's see if I can
answer these clearly.

The speed of a fermentation is controlled by thg genetics of the fermentor,
the quality of the fermenting environment, and the temperature of the
fermentation.  The easiest one to control is the temperature, so you can
slow the fermentation by cooling.

Fermentation continues until the fermentor is killed (as occurs when bread
is baked), the fermentor runs out of food, or the by-products of
fermentation poison the fermentor.  Reducing the sugar is not going to slow
the fermentation as you desire.  You can add chemicals to slow the
fermentation, but you run the risk of altering the taste of the brew.

Commercial champagne is made by making a regular wine, then adding a mix of
wine, sugar and champagne yeast to the wine.  Champagne yeasts are strains
which live in high alcohol environments and produce fairly large quantities
of CO2.  I suspect the apple wine was over yeasted with the wrong type of
yeast, but a brewer should be able to address that issue better.

> So, I have this theory that some of you bakers and brewers
> may be able to
> confirm or refute:
> In using the granny smith apples, which are not as sweet as some other
> apples, is there a reduced enough sugar level to reduce the
> sugar that the
> yeast needs to low enough that it would slow down the brewing
> process????
>
> -Cynwise
>
> Anyone know what kind of yeast you put in wine to ferment it.
> And if you
> ferment garum or liquamen, does it have a alcoholic tendency
> or do you put
> in
> a certain kind of yeast for that?
>
> Misha

All yeasts may be fermentors, but not all fermentors are yeasts.

Vinegars are produced by various strains of the bacteria Acetobacter aceti.
Some homebrew shops carry commercial vinegar fermentors.  And there is an
outfit up in the Dakotas involved in vinegar research and products.

Mother of vinegar is a cellulose mass produced by an overabundance of the
bacteria, which can inhibit the fermentation and alter the flavor of the
vinegar.  Commercial vinegar manufacturers try to avoid mother of vinegar
and use liquid infusions of the bacteria for their processing.

While I don't know about garum or liquamen, meats in brine are usually
fermented with halophilic (salt loving) bacteria.  One of these which has
been isolated from fish sauce is Halobacillus thailandensis.  Alcohol
doesn't seem to be a byproduct of the fermentation process.

Bear