tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90207874280121996492024-03-12T22:09:50.234-04:00Mead: Art, Science, and Other RamblingsAny and all things mead related, told from the perspective of an avid Mazer!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-88622824585667447012014-07-30T17:50:00.000-04:002014-07-30T17:50:44.093-04:00Composition of Grape vs Honey Musts, Part 2This part will deal with yeast assimilable nitrogen. Now, we are all familiar with the concept that mead musts don't have enough yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN), or at least they tend not to have enough for us to be comfortable with. Here, we will take a look, not only at the total levels of YAN, but which constituent parts are involved in the differences between grape and honey must.<br />
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What is going to be our baseline? That is a very interesting question as the specific amino acid profile of a grape must depends on the variety, specific clone, climate, vintage, soil type, and what vineyard practices occur. There are some basic profiles that can be drawn based on grape varietal, and differenced between red and white, so we will look at a few white varieties and the average for them. The same problem exists with honey: the specific amino acids and their ratios are heavily determined by floral source, but the weather will also play a major role (with drier weather usually meaning more pollen content, and thus more amino acids), as will the region (again having to do with nectar sources).<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixy4ZTReynw/U7rkElW7BtI/AAAAAAAAAKU/bh1NMhKhHok/s1600/YAN+in+Grape+vs+Honey+vs+pollen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixy4ZTReynw/U7rkElW7BtI/AAAAAAAAAKU/bh1NMhKhHok/s1600/YAN+in+Grape+vs+Honey+vs+pollen.png" height="259" width="640" /></a></div>
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Just look how different they all are. To better illustrate the point, lets look at the profiles of an average white grape must, honey, and pollen.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gxsiNQck3FQ/U7rmSRI8zFI/AAAAAAAAAK4/jsoZmGng4y4/s1600/Amino+acid+profiles+of+honey,+pollen,+and+grape+must.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gxsiNQck3FQ/U7rmSRI8zFI/AAAAAAAAAK4/jsoZmGng4y4/s1600/Amino+acid+profiles+of+honey,+pollen,+and+grape+must.png" height="193" width="640" /></a></span><br />
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Notice how honey and pollen have much higher levels of proline compared to the other amino acids, over half, while grape musts have proline representing about one fourth of the amino acids. Keep in mind that yeast can only use minute traces of proline (only when respiration is dominant compared to fermentation, which is incredibly rare in fermenting musts), and while arginine is utilized by yeast, they far prefer glutamic acid and glutamine, which show higher ratios in pollen (and therefore honey), in comparison to grape musts. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jfyu-ISBco8/U7robu8kKWI/AAAAAAAAALE/khsZ-GyZMbI/s1600/Amino+Acid+profile+of+different+musts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jfyu-ISBco8/U7robu8kKWI/AAAAAAAAALE/khsZ-GyZMbI/s1600/Amino+Acid+profile+of+different+musts.png" height="346" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here we get to see how two different honey musts compare to average white grape must. The honey must with pollen (30g/L) is closer to the levels of wine must, but it still has a ways to go. This represents a mead must made with 3lbs honey per gallon, but changing the concentration of honey to water changes the amino acid levels to a considerable degree. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DWM5Dm5E0O0/U7rpOAhU6SI/AAAAAAAAALM/B7HpyXgCsjo/s1600/Free+amino+acids+based+on+must+composition.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DWM5Dm5E0O0/U7rpOAhU6SI/AAAAAAAAALM/B7HpyXgCsjo/s1600/Free+amino+acids+based+on+must+composition.png" height="296" width="640" /></a></div>
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The more honey, the more amino acids, but also a higher starting gravity. Increasing pollen additions also help add amino acids, and if your honey is not filtered you may have anywhere from 1g/L to 5g/L, though this still represents only a small increase in YAN (<20ppm), far from what is considered acceptable.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hPMqaymS0cM/U7rptaezRpI/AAAAAAAAALU/axFrZGMcVwM/s1600/YAN+changes+in+must.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hPMqaymS0cM/U7rptaezRpI/AAAAAAAAALU/axFrZGMcVwM/s1600/YAN+changes+in+must.png" height="281" width="400" /></a></div>
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While pollen additions seem very effective, there can be a bitter flavor that accompanies the pollen, especially if it is of low quality (be warned, the majority of freeze dried pollen sold in the US is from china, even if the guy at the farmers market is selling it).</div>
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P.S. See . . . I told you more pictures! Also I'll get a half-a$$ bibliography soon; just a busy drone, even if I am male.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-66554632043741046622014-07-16T16:53:00.000-04:002014-07-25T13:31:25.967-04:00Carbohydrate Creation and Utilization<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is part two of a series covering yeast's metabolism of sugars. The first part (renamed for more catchy-ness) can be found <a href="http://meadscience.blogspot.com/2014/06/sugar-metabolism-in-yeast-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this section we will discuss the synthesis and degradation of storage carbohydrates within a cell. For medically minded people, these processes are used to balance blood glucose levels within humans (and most mammals). First we need to familiarize ourselves with the nomenclature.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLo3m5V_B5A/U6wr9uYYssI/AAAAAAAAAJE/-d_wpUwScwA/s1600/Maltose+and+Trehalose.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLo3m5V_B5A/U6wr9uYYssI/AAAAAAAAAJE/-d_wpUwScwA/s1600/Maltose+and+Trehalose.png" height="200" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Maltose and trehalose, both made<br /> from two glucose molecules:<br />maltose has an α(1→4) bond,<br />trehalose has an α(1→1)α bond.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monosaccharides are the simplest carbohydrates. What's a carbohydrate? Carbo- containing carbon; hydrate - a compound in which water (H<sub>2</sub>O) is bound to other elements; hence C<sub>X</sub>(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>X</sub>, where X > 3 (typically), is the chemical formula for most carbohydrates. Examples include glucose, fructose, galactose, etc..</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Disaccharides are two monosaccharides linked together, remember your greek δίς - two. Disaccharides form via dehydration (the removing of a water molecule), and can be linked on any hydroxyl group (-OH). This results in several types of compounds being possible from the same two monosaccharides. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Polysaccharides would obviously contain many individual monosaccharides linked together.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To form very complex carbohydrates it is necessary to put branches in this ever-growing chain of monosaccharides. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, now on to the show.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: large;"><b><u>Glyconogenesis/glycogenolysis</u></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When yeast are first introduced into a new environment, they break up internal glycogen (a very large chain of glucose molecules) reserves to produce their glucose without transporting external glucose across the cell membrane in order to reach a stable, internal osmotic pressure before the onset of full fermentation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">In order to make the glycogen reserves that yeast need, glucose-6-phosphate (the product of the first step of glycolysis) is acted on by the enzyme phosphoglucomutase to form glucose-1-phosphate.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Then, the enzyme uridyl transferase forms UDP-glucose and pyrophosphate (which is broken up into two phosphate groups by the enzyme pyrophosphatase; these P<sub>i</sub> groups are used in many metabolic processes).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Glycogen synthase then assembles smaller glycogen molecules using UDP-glucose and preexisting glycogen molecules or glycoginin (a "seed" protein). Larger glycogen molecules are created by adding branches of smaller glycogen molecules utilizing the enzyme transglycosylase (α(1,4 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">→</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1,6))</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">To utilize glycogen as an energy source, large glycogen molecules are broken by a different transglycosylase (α(1</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">→ </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">4)) enzyme into smaller glycogen molecules. The enzyme glycogen phosphorylase then forms glucose-1-phosphate from the terminal glucose molecules of a chain with the addition of a phosphate group. This process will work down the chain until 4 glucose molecules are left before the branch point, at which point it is joined to the terminal position of another chain. Phosphoglucomutase then transforms these glucose-1-phosphate molecules into glucose-6-phosphate (the opposite reaction of the first step of glycogenesis) that can be used directly in glycolysis.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: large;"><u><b>Trehalose synthesis</b></u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">D-glucose-6-phosphate can also be directed down a different pathway to produce trehalose. UDP-glucose and D-glucose-6-phosphate are the substrates that trehalose-6-phosphate synthase acts on to produce UDP and trehalose-6-phosphate. Trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase then cleaves the phosphate group off of T6P producing a free phosphate group (that can be used in further metabolic processes) and trehalose.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">This pathway has several benefits: it consumes ATP which creates a loss of energy, in turn driving glycolysis; it stabilizes cell membrane structures which helps protect the cell from temperature swings; it helps prevent damage to membranes by its ability to prevent phase transition events in lipid bi-layers; it prevents glycolysis from progressing too rapidly by diverting phosphorylated sugars used in glycolysis; it also exerts a restrictive control on the influx of sugar by resticting hexokinase activity. These last two act as flow-valves by limiting the amount of glucose that can enter glycolysis to moderate (healthy) levels preventing stalled metabolism that can occur when glycolysis progresses too quickly.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Takeaways</u></b></span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only small portions of glucose-6-phosphate are diverted to either of these paths</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The yeast will utilize glycogen during lag phase for its sole carbon source while it trys to reach equilibrium with the external osmotic pressure</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trehalose is vital for yeast health, especially when put under external temperature stress or changes in osmotic pressure</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The importance of a functional trehalose biosynthetic pathway for the life of yeasts and fungi. 2003</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Reserve carbohydrates metabolism in the yeast Saccharmyces Cerevisiae. 2000</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The role of trehalose synthesis for the acquisition of thermotolerance in yeast. 1994</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">(P.S. sorry for this crappy bibliography, but i didn't take great notes on sources, and really don't have the time. Also, sorry about only one picture, it takes time to make them; I promise the next post will be more . . . <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">colorful</span></i>)</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-34967207199217541832014-07-09T15:05:00.000-04:002014-07-09T15:05:12.446-04:00My Hydrometer Broke! What Now?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">OK! Time for a break from the science heavy stuff. Want a quick tip/technique? Try this on for size.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This for those of you who run into a broken hydrometer and find yourself unable to take an original gravity reading for your beer, wine, or mead.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">First things first, always have a spare hydrometer. I've got 2 normal hydrometers and 3 fine scale hydrometers, and if any break I have a replacement that covers a similar range and immediately get a replacement. However, if you are not prepared for some reason, this process works perfectly (in fact it's how brewers used to measure their gravities, though they used pounds and barrels for their measures), and if you have very accurate scales and beakers it can actually be more precise than a standard hydrometer.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Things you'll need:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">A scale that is precise to a minimum of 4 significant figures (look it up if you don't know what that means, it's important)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">A way to measure a given volume (either 100 or 1000mL works best) such as a beaker or a flask</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">A way to take samples (a wine thief is essential to have period! (I meant exclamation point.))</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Make sure that your volume beaker/flask can fit on the scale, and make sure your scale can measure the volume your using (for 1000mL you need a max of 1.3kg or more; for 100mL it needs to be able to weigh at least 130g).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Note: It is far easier to use SI units unless you feel like converting.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Here's the procedure for a 100mL sample:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1. Weigh your beaker/flask dry</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">2. Take a 100mL sample and put it into your beaker/flask</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">3. Weigh the filled beaker/flask</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">4. Subtract your beaker/flask weight from the reading</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">5. Transpose your decimal point so your number reads 1.XXX(X)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Ta Da!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Why it works?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">100mL of distilled water at 4*C (at standard atmospheric pressure) weighs 100g. A hydrometer works by comparing this known density to the density of the unknown sample, usually correcting to 20*C (68*F). To do this adjustment by hand, multiply your result by 1.00177. If the temperature of your sample is not 20*C (68*F), then take the number after multiplying and plug it into an SG temp correction calculator.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Example:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Volume: 100mL</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Beaker weight: 200.00</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Sample temp: 70*F</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Weight of total sample: 311.00g</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">311.00 - 200.00 = 111.00</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1.1100 x 1.00177 = 1.1120 (rounded)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Temp corrected and rounded for SG 1.111</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note that this procedure will not work with fermenting must unless it has been fully removed of CO<sub>2</sub>, which requires some special equipment. However, if your in a rut and need to measure fermentation progress it will work, it just cannot be compared to a standard SG scale.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-85120168079023088292014-07-02T16:09:00.001-04:002014-07-09T15:02:48.815-04:00Composition of Grape vs Honey Musts, Part 1This will be a series of articles that compare the constituent compositions of grape musts and honey musts, which is worse than comparing apples and oranges. Although we try to use similar practices on both for the production of wines and meads, there are intrinsic differences that can cause problems; but that also make each unique, even down to the specific grape variety or nectar source. These will not be all encompassing, comparing Russian River Pinot to Burgundy, or Arizona orange blossom to Floridian, but will serve as a guide to how we should treat our musts: what to add, when to add it, and what not to add it.<br />
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First we are going to take a look at the minerals in wine and mead. Why? Brewers worry night and day about their water, and for good reason; winemakers almost never consider it because whatever is in the grapes is considered good enough (most of the time); but mead makers don't tend to consider it at all, even though we are adding considerable amounts of it to our honey. As it stand now, no one has done a comparison of different water salt additions to test the organoleptic quality imparted by them, something I hope to do when I bottle some of last years traditionals. Until such time, all we can do is compare the minerals in mead musts to those of wine musts and try to guess what is going on and what needs to be corrected.<br />
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So, what specific minerals are we interested in? There are actually two questions there:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GZyYqNh3L78/U7LWOpBQ_cI/AAAAAAAAAJk/AnwRbIOtPCQ/s1600/Minerals+in+Must.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GZyYqNh3L78/U7LWOpBQ_cI/AAAAAAAAAJk/AnwRbIOtPCQ/s1600/Minerals+in+Must.png" height="640" width="266" /></a>
<li>What minerals do yeast need for healthy growth? </li>
<li>What minerals have an impact on the flavor of the product?</li>
</ol>
The first is readily available thanks to decades of extensive research on yeast metabolism and preferred growth media. The second is very hard in this context: I have yet to find any published papers on the effect of specific minerals on the quality of wine, let alone mead. Aside from obscure remarks about vineyard salt levels and the quality of grapes from them, it seems that no one is putting in any research on the organoleptic side. This is an area where brewers run circles around winemakers, and it is rather strange considering all the hype over the "minerality"of certain wines, although anyone who says they can taste slate is an idiot (go ahead, lick a piece of slate, then granite, and then quartz, they all taste the same; do it blindfolded if you want!).<br />
<br />
To the right is a chart comparing the levels of common ions in wine musts, honey, and mead musts, as well as a common synthetic must that is used in experiments. From it, we can see just how different wine must, mead must, and what scientists think wine must is, all are. Wine musts have far greater levels of potassium (K<sup>+</sup>), magnesium (Mg<sup>2+</sup>), zinc (Zn<sup>2+</sup>), sulfate (SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup>), phosphate (PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3-</sup>), in fact, all the minerals listed are in higher concentration in wine musts than mead musts. This is just further proof that honey is a very inhospitable environment for most organisms.<br />
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So, the question remains: do we need to adjust these levels, or is grape must just in excess? For that, we need to look at several very important ions, and a few ratios, and ask they yeast what they want, what they need, and what they prefer.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Potassium (K<sup>+</sup>)</i></span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NnLiQv9Hwug/U7Luwlgo_gI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/6UegjOnOwe4/s1600/Potassium+to+pH+balance.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NnLiQv9Hwug/U7Luwlgo_gI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/6UegjOnOwe4/s1600/Potassium+to+pH+balance.png" height="320" width="196" /></a>In brewing, potassium is not considered in a water profile because malt provides the amounts needed for yeast, but in wine and mead it is a very important consideration. Potassium plays a few vital roles concerning the yeast cell; first and foremost, yeast will uptake potassium ions in exchange for hydrogen ions in order to balance the pH in the cytoplasm. H<sup>+</sup> is produced in several steps of glycolysis, and if allowed to remain in the cell, the pH will drop to fast and cause many problems with the glycolytic pathway (and several other pathways). The second role potassium plays is to increase glucose uptake rates via an unknown process that probably occurs with the yeast's hexose transport pathways.<br />
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How much potassium is needed? It depends on the amount of H<sup>+</sup> ions within the medium. It has been shown that yeast need a molar ratio of 25-30:1 K:H in order to successfully complete a fermentation. If the ratio falls below this level, the fermentation is prone to sticking early, leaving a considerable amount of residual sugar. The amount of potassium needed can easily be calculated utilizing the pH of the must as seen to the right, but this calculation can be complicated when concerning mead due to the low pH buffering of meads. I'd suggest estimating how much you need based on the pH when the must is first created (before any additions are made), and just use that. To simplify matters, an addition of 0.25g/L (~1g/gal) potassium carbonate will yield 141ppm K, adding this value to the average 237ppm K in a SG 1.108 honey must gives 378ppm K, enough for a pH above 3.45. 1g/L cream of tartar yields 208ppm K, and 0.25g/L potassium carbonate and 1g/L creamo of tartar added together will give 349ppm K, enough to supplement even the lowest K levels found in honey.<br />
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It is also important to note that supplying K later in the fermentation does not correct an initial deficit, so there is no point in waiting to add potassium.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Calcium (Ca<sup>2+</sup>)</i></span><br />
Considered important by brewers because it stimulates yeast flocculation (and helps control mash pH), calcium is not terribly important in wine or mead making as the bulk aging time will easily clear yeast from the product. In fact, calcium acts antagonistically to magnesium and zinc uptake, and while small amounts (~1ppm) are needed for cell wall maintenance, it's use should be limited to low levels if any is added at all (be aware that almost all nutrient blends contain calcium as a cation attached to certain vitamins, and they usually contain magnesium to help balance this out). Also note that bentonite additions will add calcium to the product if used as a fining agent.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Magnesium (Mg<sup>2+</sup>)</i></span><br />
As seen in the <a href="http://meadscience.blogspot.com/2014/06/sugar-metabolism-in-yeast-part-1.html" target="_blank">glycolytic pathway</a>, yeast need magnesium for almost all cellular function, especially glycolysis. This is another mineral that brewers don't have to worry about because malt provides a ton of it; and winemakers tend to have enough of it, they just need to worry about if they have a proper amount compared to their calcium content. What is the proper amount? Something higher than 1:1 Mg:Ca. Many studies have been done showing that yeast function better with higher Mg:Ca ratios (2-4:1), but this may be excessive. I think a 1.5-2:1 ratio is right about where we should be to optimize yeast performance and not risk too rapid growth, zinc interference, or off flavors.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Sodium (Na<sup>+</sup>)</i></span><br />
Have you ever noticed that Australian wines tend to be really savory, almost salty? This mineral is responsible for a lot of that flavor. Yeast don't need it, but it is always amazing how it can bring that cup of broth up to the next level, if used carefully. Brewers concern themselves with the chloride ion to give round, mouth-filling, savoriness to a beer, and some add a lot of salt (NaCl); others would never touch it and just use calcium chloride; but there is a difference between adjusting chloride levels, and adding sodium, and in moderation sodium just gives things that extra bit of something. How very scientific of me!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Chloride (Cl<sup>-</sup>)</i></span><br />
Chloride, just like sodium, has no important function in yeast metabolism, and is an unknown as far as flavor contributions to mead. The levels found in grape musts are obviously higher than those in mead, but most commercial nutrient blend provide small amounts in the form of thiamine hydrochloride and other vitamin or amino acid based salts.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Sulfate (SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup>)</i></span><br />
Sulfates are very important for yeast health as yeast need two sulfur containing amino acids (cysteine and methionine) which are often synthesized from other amino acid skeletons and sulfate via the sulfate reduction pathway. It is very important to note that this pathway relies on sulfate (SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup>) and not sulfite (SO<sub>3</sub><sup>2-</sup>) or elemental sulfur (S), of which the latter can lead to increased hydrogen sulfide (H<sub>2</sub>S) production.<br />
<br />
Sulfate is generally added as an anion attached to another mineral that we choose to add (ie. MgSO<sub>4</sub>, magnesium sulfate). The addition of sulfate may have an affect on the flavor profile of wine and mead, though it is unclear what the impact is.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Phosphate (PO<sub>4</sub><sup>3-</sup>)</i></span><br />
Phosphates are very important for yeast metabolism (see how many times they occur just in glycolysis), allowing the construction of nucleic acids, energy transferring compounds (ATP), cell membranes and other internal structures, and are vital for the transport of extracellular compounds into the cell. Simply put, yeast needs phosphate, and honey does not have enough! The levels found in wine are on average 20-30 times those found in mead musts. Luckily, the P in DAP (diammonium phosphate) is there to help out; this compound is put in all non organic nutrient blends to provide both easy nitrogen, in the form of ammonium, and phosphates. A simple 0.25g/L addition of DAP will give 180ppm phosphate which is more than enough for yeast health. Note, however, that the 53ppm yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) provided by this same addition is normally not enough for mead musts; in order to get 212ppm YAN form just DAP, an addition of 1g/L is needed, which results in 719ppm phosphate (almost double the levels found in the highest testing wine samples, and above the legal limit of some countries).<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BnLdS5NUXds/U7Re_vOre6I/AAAAAAAAAKE/0e9xtWuaMLg/s1600/Portuguese+white+must+minerals.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BnLdS5NUXds/U7Re_vOre6I/AAAAAAAAAKE/0e9xtWuaMLg/s1600/Portuguese+white+must+minerals.png" height="175" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Trace Minerals</i></span><br />
Small amounts of manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), boron (B), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd) and even lead (Pb) are present in grape musts with the table to the left representing an "average" Portuguese white wine must. Manganese tends to run at about 0.5-7.3ppm (mean of 2.7ppm) in most european wines, and zinc is be all over the board from 0.1-10ppm (with some chinese musts registering >12ppm). Typically lead is below 1ppm, as well as copper and iron. Almost all the same trace minerals can be found in honey, but in much lower quantities, with almost no copper or iron.<br />
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Fermentation rates seem to be best when there is about 2ppm Zn, 11ppm Mn, and 15ppm Fe, however those concentrations of manganese and iron would clearly impact flavor, and as they are not essential (above trace amounts), there is no need to supplement musts with them. Zinc, however, can have a major impact on the progress of fermentation and should be supplemented to sufficient levels (servomyces works very well at the recommended rate of 8.5ppm (0.32g/gal)).<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Takeaways</u></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Add potassium, even if you don't have a way to measure pH, your must is probably lacking</li>
<li>If you can measure pH, use the chart to guess how much you need, keeping in mind that any addition will raise the pH</li>
<li>We don't know what flavor is added or changed, by what ion, yet</li>
<li>Don't worry about calcium, maybe try to get it to >50ppm if you want, but make sure you add enough magnesium</li>
<li>Add enough magnesium to get to about 100ppm, or about 1.5 times the calcium; remember that nutrient blends usually have it so don't go too crazy, maybe 2g/gal epsom salt</li>
<li>Sulfates are needed, but are usually provided by nutrient blends or added epsom salt</li>
<li>Phosphates are covered by DAP additions</li>
<li>Trace minerals are present, but zinc may need to be added </li>
<li>Lighter honeys have less minerals than dark honeys, but not by a lot</li>
</ul>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Birch, Rosslyn M., Maurizio Ciani, and Graeme M. Walker. "Magnesium, Calcium and Fermentative Metabolism in Wine Yeasts." <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Journal of Wine Research</i> 14.1 (2003): 3-15. <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Taylor & Francis Online</i>. 04 Aug. 2010. Web.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Kudo, Masayoshi, Paola Vagnoli, and Linda F. Bisson. "Imbalance of PH and Potassium Concentration as a Cause of Stuck Fermentations." <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">American Journal of Enology and Viticulture</i> 49.3 (1998): 295-301. Print.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Larcher, Robert, and Giorgio Nicolini. "Elements and Inorganic Anions in Winemaking: Analysis and Applications." <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hyphenated Techniques in Grape and Wine Chemistry</i>. Ed. Riccardo Flamini. Chichester, England: John Wiley, 2008. N. pag. Print.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ribéreau-Gayon, P., Y. Glories, A. Maujean, and Denis Dubourdieu. <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Handbook of Enology the Chemistry of Wine: Stabilization and Treatments</i>. Chichester: John Wiley, 2006. Print.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ricardo-da Silva, George/Jane M., H. Mira, P. Leite, and A. S. Curvelo-Garcia. "Metal Reduction in Wine Using PVI-PVP Copolymer and Its Effects on Chemical and Sensory Characters." <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Vitis -Geilweilerhof</i> 46.3 (2007): 138-47. Print.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Somda, Marius K., Aly Savadogo, Nicolas Barro, Philippe Thomart, and Alfred S. Traore. "Effect of Minerals Salts in Fermentation Process Using Mango Residues as Carbon Source for Bioethanol Production." <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Asian Journal of Industrial Engineering</i> 3.1 (2011): 29-38. <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Science Alert</i>. 29 July 2011. Web.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Stobbaerts, R., H. Robberecht, F. Haesen, and H. Deelstra. "Manganese Content of European Wines." <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">International Journal of Vitamin and Nutritional Research</i> 64.3 (1994): 233-36. Print.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-67719076563434442272014-06-25T14:52:00.001-04:002014-06-25T14:52:44.696-04:00Follow the white rabbit!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><u>Tired of checking for new posts?</u></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Annoyed that I can't seem </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">to post regularly?</span></b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-17525650305325565442014-06-25T12:35:00.000-04:002015-01-26T11:39:35.787-05:00Glycolysis for Zymurgists<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These articles are designed to give a basic "inside" view of what is going on in the yeast cell during fermentation, specifically, the metabolic pathways associated with the use of sugars. It may get a little dry, and may require several passes, but I urge you to read through as many times as needed in order to understand these concepts. While it is not necessary to know this information to make a great product, it will help in understanding what is truly going on with the yeast (and other orangisms), and will serve to elucidate certain biochemical processes that are commonly referenced in zymological texts (journals, articles, even internet ramblings). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end goal: understanding exactly what happens to sugars that are transported into the cell, and what byproducts result from these metabolic pathways, and their significance to the final product whether it be wine, mead or beer. You should be able to understand, and navigate this superpathway map by the end of these: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t473/rkiley1/SugarMetabolismYeast_zps896d9815.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t473/rkiley1/SugarMetabolismYeast_zps896d9815.png" height="256" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For this discussion we will focus on just Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, the main microbe used for alcoholic fermentations. Note that many other microbes will use similar processes, either with different end products, or different intermediates, depending on the species and the environment. For example, lactobacillus species will favor the metabolism pyruvate into lactic acid as opposed to ethanol, and brettanomyces species will produce far more acetate (via the PDH bypass route) in the presence of oxygen than saccharomyces species.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Preliminaries</b></u></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">In order to make this discussion beneficial, it is essential to have some basic understanding of chemistry and it's terminology. If you already have an understanding of basic organic chemistry and biology, feel free to skip to the next section.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Organic - does not mean no chemicals! The names of many compounds makes them seem vary dangerous, but be aware that all the compounds we will discuss occur naturally (either synthesized by other organisms, or alone in nature). In chemistry, organic just means that the compounds contains carbon, and inorganic means no carbon. This means that water is inorganic from a chemical standpoint.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Sugars - end in -ose. They can be classified very broadly by the number of carbon atoms in the molecule, typically using greek as the base. So a six carbon sugar would be a hex-ose; five, a pent-ose; three, a tri-ose.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Ions and salts - a salt (in chemical terms) is a compound formed by an ionic bond. The first (the cation) has a positive charge because it has lost at least one (possibly more) electrons from one of its atoms (or several atoms); the second (the anion) has a negative charge due to a gain of an electron(s). This process results in charged molecules that bind together (via the same process as magnets) very strongly. Salts tend to separate in solution to form free ions that can react with other ions. Negatively charged ions (anions) tend to have the suffix -ate (they can also have the suffix -ite, or prefix hypo- or hyper-, depending on the specific ions charge compared to its normal state).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Acids - the definition we are concerned about is that acids donate protons (H<sup>+</sup> ions). Many acids are in fact ionic salts who's cation is H<sup>+</sup>, but there are many organic compounds that do not form ionic bonds with hydrogen ions, but still donate protons when in solution making them acids. The left over anion tends to end in -ate (ie. acetic acid → H<sup>+</sup> + acetate).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Enzymes - end in ase. They are complex proteins that catalyze reactions, making them fast enough to allow the vital functions of life; with out them, these reactions would take too long to form the complex metabolic functions required for most life. The input (or initial compound) is called the substrate, and the end result (compound after transformation) is called the product. Many enzymes exist in very large complexes made of several variants of a single enzyme, or related enzymes in the same "family".</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Cofactors - most enzymes require other compounds to help with their functions called cofactors. These can be ions, or complex organic compounds, many of which are vitamins. Enzyme complexes utilize coenzymes, to help with multi step reactions, which can be considered cofactors.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Numbers - can mean a few different things in chemistry. A superscript number (accompanied by a +/- sign) tells the charge of an ion/molecule compared to 0. A subscript represents how many of that specific atom there are (CO<sub>2</sub> has 2 oxygen atoms). A number in the name of a compound (separated by hyphens) represents a specific atom within the compound that the following ion/compound is attached to (glucose-6-phosphate has a phosphate group on the 6th carbon atom in a glucose molecule; fructose-1,6-biphosphate has a phosphate group on the 1st and 6th carbon atoms of a fructose molecule).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Oxidation/Reduction (redox) - in a strictly chemical sense, oxidation means that a compound/atom lost an electron. The opposite reaction, a compound/atom gaining an electron, is called reduction. These reactions are incredibly important as the ratio of oxidized vs reduced compounds drives what reactions take place in a cell. The cell diverts metabolic intermediates to different metabolic pathways to create imbalances in the redox state, forcing the cell to use certain other pathways to rebalance the redox state within the cell.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />The yeast cell itself has many different component parts, but we are only concerned with a few for this discussion. The cell wall, which allows transport of molecules into and out of the cell, is composed of mostly β-1,3-glucan and mannoproteins (about 50% and 40% respectively, the rest being about 10% β-1,6-glucan and small amounts of chitin). The inside of the cell is full of a liquid called cytosol, which is comprised of about 70% water, the rest being comprised of many ions, proteins and enzymes. The cytosol is where the vast majority of the metabolic pathways about to be discussed occur. The other cellular component we are interested in is the mitochondria, which serves as the "power plant" of the cell of most organisms. While it's role is critical for yeast, because yeast do not regularly use aerobic respiration, this "power house" aspect of the mitochondria is not wholly relevant. What is relevant is the yeasts' use of the TCA cycle enzymes (also called the citric acid or Krebb's cycle), though in a diminished capacity compared to other organisms.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The form of energy used, and released from metabolic functions is typically stored in two families of compounds: adenosine mono/di/tri-phosphates (AMP, ADP, and ATP) which transport energy in the form of phosphate (PO4<sup>-</sup>) groups (and their bonds), and Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and it's reduced partner (NAD<sup>+</sup> and NADH respectively) which allows transport of reductive/oxidative energy (electrons). </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, and the reduced form (NADP<sup>+</sup> and NADPH), also serves the same purpose in certain metabolic pathways. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each step has a very specific group of enzymes that catalyze the reaction, and certain steps also require other ions or molecules (cofactors) that are bound to enzymes or energy molecules (ie. ADPMg<sup>-</sup>, or ATPMg<sup>2-</sup>)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Glycolysis</span></u></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Almost all organisms have evolved to use glycolysis as a means of energy generation, and it is crucial to understand this process if you want to know what is happening in a fermenting must/wort. In it's simplest terms, glycolysis is the transformation of glucose* to pyruvate**, which in turn can be transformed into ethanol, acetyl-CoA, or other compounds depending on the cells needs, and the organism's preferred processes.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Glycolysis is normally broken up into two phases: investment (or preparatory) and reward (or pay-off). In the investment phase, two phosphate groups are taken from two ATP molecules creating two ADP molecules (which contain less energy), and glucose is split into two D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (triose sugars that will be turned into pyruvate in the second phase of glycolysis). The equation for the first part of glycolysis is:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>O<sub>6</sub> + 2ATP </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">→</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> 2C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>7</sub>O<sub>6</sub>P + 2ADP + 2H<sup>+</sup></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">(the hydrogen and oxygen atoms are conserved via the nature of the phosphate groups in ATP vs ADP).</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first step in the preparatory/investment phase is the phosphorylation of D-glucose by a family of enzymes called hexokinases. This step breaks one phosphate group (P<sub>i</sub>) off of ATP (necessarily bound to a magnesium ion) and adds it to the sixth carbon in glucose molecules, creating α-D-glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), ADP and a free hydrogen ion. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This step is crucial for maintaining the cells preferred osmotic pressure by lowering the external glucose concentration; furthermore, G6P cannot be transported through the cell wall so it must continue on the process once started.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frBNcKHEvU8/U6hPKXBzU_I/AAAAAAAAAGo/cidEtllURGI/s1600/Glycolysis+1.gif" height="104" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second step is the isomerization (rearrangement) of α-D-glucose-6-phosphate into β-D-fructose-6-phosphate (F6P) using the enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase. This process is freely reversible; momentum is kept moving forward due to the normally low concentration of F6P, but in high fructose environments, it can run in reverse. At this point there are two ways in which yeast can get F6P: either by isomerization of glucose-6-phosphate, or from fructose that has been phosphorylated via the enzyme fructokinase (a hexokinase). Some yeast will readily use fructose (those deemed "fructophile" - liking fructose), whereas many will prefer to work with glucose (called "glucophilic" yeasts), only to later use the fructose, which often results in residual fructose (this is often considered a fault in wine as fructose is perceived to be much sweeter than glucose, leaving a wine "too sweet"). </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zz9hxOVfGrY/U6hXDuuAqPI/AAAAAAAAAG4/M4SUx7JhFaw/s1600/Glycolysis+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zz9hxOVfGrY/U6hXDuuAqPI/AAAAAAAAAG4/M4SUx7JhFaw/s1600/Glycolysis+2.png" height="94" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third step of glycolysis is the phosphorylation of β-D-fructose-6-phosphate to β-D-fructose-1,6-biphosphate (F1,6BP) via the enzyme 6-phosphofructokinase.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">This process cleaves a phosphate group off of ATP (bound to a magnesium ion) and results in ADP and a </span>free H+ ion, and represents the last expenditure of ATP in the process. This is also the point of no return for the process so far, F1,6BP has to continue through the process in order to be beneficial <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">to the yeast. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s14Jf0xezu4/U6hd0JjvcQI/AAAAAAAAAHM/NI90xtOhQ6E/s1600/Glycolysis+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s14Jf0xezu4/U6hd0JjvcQI/AAAAAAAAAHM/NI90xtOhQ6E/s1600/Glycolysis+3.png" height="201" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The extra phosphate group results in the destabilization of the molecule which allows the creation of two charged molecules in the steps that follow, not allowing the compounds to leave the cell. This is also one of the steps where the cell can limit the rate of glycolysis (the other two are step one and ten) by limiting the concentration of the phosphofructokinase enzyme. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The fourth step is the splitting of β-D-fructose-1,6-biphosphate by the enzyme fructose-biphosphate aldolase resulting in two different molecules: D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (GADP) and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP). It is important to note that yeast use a class II aldolase which typically uses a transition metal ion (normally zinc) as a cofactor, whereas animals and plants use a class I aldolase. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKRBEp4lVJc/U6hg1r1uAOI/AAAAAAAAAHU/HAR4En-STFY/s1600/Glycolysis+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKRBEp4lVJc/U6hg1r1uAOI/AAAAAAAAAHU/HAR4En-STFY/s1600/Glycolysis+4.png" height="166" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The next step is almost instantaneous. An enzyme called triosephosphate isomerase rapidly converts DHAP to GADP and vice versa. As GADP is the molecule that continues with the process of glycolysis, this enzyme allows the same process to be used on both molecules from the previous step. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DRfU856LDo/U6hh_Frr5DI/AAAAAAAAAHg/YSnTP68zJf8/s1600/Glycolysis+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DRfU856LDo/U6hh_Frr5DI/AAAAAAAAAHg/YSnTP68zJf8/s1600/Glycolysis+5.png" height="173" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">This ends the investment/preparatory phase in which a single molecule of glucose (or fructose) has been split into two triose molecules. The following reactions all take place in duplicate for a total formula of:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">2C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>7</sub>O<sub>6</sub>P + 2NAD+ + 2P<sub>i</sub> + 4ADP </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">→</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> 2C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>3</sub>O<sub>3</sub> + 2NADH + 4ATP + 2H<sub>2</sub>O + 4H<sup>+</sup></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The sixth step of glycolysis takes the D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate produced in the last step and makes D-1,3-biphosphoglycerate using a phosphate group (usually HPO4), NAD and an H<sup>+</sup> ion. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ILP0UyhiqMY/U6hjnblBPtI/AAAAAAAAAHs/6DL8_6-nAQc/s1600/Glycolysis+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ILP0UyhiqMY/U6hjnblBPtI/AAAAAAAAAHs/6DL8_6-nAQc/s1600/Glycolysis+6.png" height="176" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The seventh step results in the first generation of ATP by cleaving a phosphate group off of D-1,3-biphosphoglycerate, via the enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase, and adding it to a ADP molecule, leaving 3-phosphoglycerate. As this reaction happens two times for each molecule of glucose consumed, this step creates 2 ATP molecules, repaying the two used in the investment phase (net gain = 0). As this step utilizes ATP/ADP, magnesium is a cofactor. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HtRk8AjkPWg/U6iBfQur7ZI/AAAAAAAAAH8/ckpQWw7hnuM/s1600/Glycolysis+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HtRk8AjkPWg/U6iBfQur7ZI/AAAAAAAAAH8/ckpQWw7hnuM/s1600/Glycolysis+7.png" height="184" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Step eight is a simple isomerization of 3-phosphoglycerate to 2-phosphoglycerate, using phosphoglycerate mutase. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGDIGTdGqlE/U6iCvx7wfVI/AAAAAAAAAIU/2aE1Z9cqFWA/s1600/Glycolysis+8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGDIGTdGqlE/U6iCvx7wfVI/AAAAAAAAAIU/2aE1Z9cqFWA/s1600/Glycolysis+8.png" height="157" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Step nine transforms 2-phosphoglycerate into phosphoenolpyruvate using the enzyme enolase. This reaction requires 2 magnesium ions (one associated with the carboxylate group of the substrate, the other as a catalyst for dehydration). </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhxrWSVYO4A/U6iFJ1-jJCI/AAAAAAAAAIk/T7MvgMcq75M/s1600/Glycolysis+9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhxrWSVYO4A/U6iFJ1-jJCI/AAAAAAAAAIk/T7MvgMcq75M/s1600/Glycolysis+9.png" height="131" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The final step in glycolysis is the cleaving of the phosphate group off of phosphoenolpyruvate to generate ATP (2 per each molecule of glucose that enters glycolysis; net gain = 2), and pyruvate by the enzyme pyruvate kinase. This step requires a magnesium ion (bound to ADP) and a hydrogen ion. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tAXXUdJ1OXQ/U6iGWTBJzpI/AAAAAAAAAIw/Ayh10rHoF2A/s1600/Glycolysis+10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tAXXUdJ1OXQ/U6iGWTBJzpI/AAAAAAAAAIw/Ayh10rHoF2A/s1600/Glycolysis+10.png" height="142" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once pyruvate is created, the cell will shunt it through different metabolic pathways to meat the cells needs given it's present state. This entire process, glycolysis, has several branch points where certain intermediates can follow other metabolic pathways, creating many more compounds than just ethanol. These branch points will be discussed in following articles.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Takeaways</u></b></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeast can use glucose or fructose as an energy source by converting it to different compounds and "capturing" the released energy for other uses</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These processes all require enzymes, which are made out of amino acids, showing how important amino acids truly are</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lots of phosphate groups are used throughout this and other biochemical processes, showing that yeast need some form of PO<sub>4</sub><sup>-</sup> for healthy metabolism, whether it's from DAP or organic sources</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Magnesium is also important for yeast (and other organisms') metabolism due to it's use throughout the process</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zinc is needed at a very critical point in glycolysis, and we will see its pivotal role in ethanol fermentation as well, making proper levels very important for yeast health</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From a single hexose, two pyruvate molecules, and a net gain of two ATP molecules, can be produced, making this process very energy efficient</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most importantly, glycolysis is only a single pathway that molecules can follow that branches out into many other pathways and fuels almost every action the cell can make; while its individual importance can not be underestimated, it is the holistic understanding of all the branches, and where they lead, that truly matters.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To clarify that last point, don't worry about remembering that 6-phosphofructokinase catalyzes the reaction of F6P to F1,6BP, instead, just try to grasp the "shape" of the process, where it leads, and where the branches that you'll learn about are.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">* greek γλεύκος - must, sweet wine; related greek γλυκύς- sweet; the upsilon is written υ/Υ which explains the older term glycose for glucose</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">** greek πύρ - fire and latin uva - grape; named because it was discovered by the dry distillation of racemic acid (derived from grapes); again note the υ/Υ switch yielding p<b>y</b>ruvate.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-9415526443061946172014-06-09T17:10:00.004-04:002014-06-09T17:10:53.274-04:00The trick to perfect mead?Alright, this is not the high quality, well researched post I promised, that's coming. Right now, I think one of those "brilliant" hollywood minds has given us the trick for perfect mead: project positive energy towards it, just like water.<br />
http://m.huffpost.com/ca/entry/5459634<br />
WOW! And I don't mean the computer game. For what it's worth, my meads age in my bedroom near my bed, so they get all kinds of energy. Is it good or bad? I don't know, but I know enough science to know that it doesn't matter!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(Little electrons carrying this signal, please do not feel upset, or do your job worse. I am sorry if I offended you)</i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-2514421550920868392014-06-05T11:40:00.000-04:002014-06-05T11:40:26.987-04:00RamblingsSorry, to the handful of you that read this, that I haven't posted much recently; it turns out that for all my lazziness I'm very busy. What little free time I've had lately has been devoted to research for some upcoming posts that, I assure you, are well worth the wait.<br />
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For now, just a quick observation and a question. I've noticed that batches of mead where the equipment was sanitized with star-San produce more H2S (rotten egg smell) than batches where the equipment was sanitized with iodine. Now, star-San is a sulfur based santizer, but the specific form of sulfur is supposedly not able to be metabolized by yeast. Has anyone else noticed this? I've had it with identicle recipes (even using the same exact batch of ingredients), where the only difference is the star-San vs iodophor.<br />
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P.S. Yes there is always a tiny bit of H2S I can detect (I think I'm more sensitive to it than others, though not with other sulfur compounds) in batches of mead or even beer. Nothing that stirring and splash racking can't fix (in the case of mead, with beer it goes away during the diacetyl rest); I've yet to have it in a final product (of mine).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-57648052407630267212014-05-20T09:34:00.001-04:002014-05-20T09:34:58.476-04:00Almost PoliticalI see that I have some viewers from the Ukraine. What ever side of the "issues" you are on, I am sorry you guys have to go through this. I'm not going to condem or condone any of the issues, nor the foreign involvement (on both sides), but I will say that it is sad that a people have to go through such difficult problems in "modern" times. So, whatever side your on, know that people will always try to do what they feel is right, and they should not be blamed for this, but communication is not something to be taken lightly, and it can solve a lot of problems sometimes.<br />
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Feel free to yell at me and say what you want, but I just wanted to say that it sucks, that's all.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-52128752062838799612014-05-08T17:17:00.001-04:002014-05-08T17:17:48.500-04:00Sourcing honey<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Honey is the most important ingredient in mead (duh!), and using quality honey is the first step to making quality mead. But how do we get it? Where can I find it? And what is it?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Let's start with what quality honey is. I'm going to say that unheated, minimally filtered, fresh honey is the best; we'll call this "raw" honey. Having said that, not all "raw" honey sold meets this definition: many products labelled as such have been heated and filtered beyond what I would prefer. It is very important to get to know your beekeepers for this reason, but I'll get to that in a bit. You should also be aware that not all honey that matches my definition tastes good, some types of honey, from certain vintages or floral sources, just tastes downright bad. Some honeys taste great, but make bad mead. And some honeys taste terrible and make great mead. Some need to be blended with other types and end up being very interesting, or they can ruin a batch. This is all part of the risk in using exotic honeys, or trying new honeys that you haven't had before; and there is very little advice anyone can give for many of these as they may work great sometimes and turn out bad other times, it's a matter of personal taste.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Where to find honey</u></span></span><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Start local; it will be fresh and you may know exactly where it came from. It also give you a sense of "terrior" in your mead making (sorry to use the controversial wine term, but it's the best way to get the idea across). I will also say that small does not always mean better; a large honey producer who cares about his product is better than the small "honey guy" who has no concept of quality.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Your first stop should be any of the several homebrew/meadmaking/winemaking forums. Post something saying where you are and try finding mead makers in your area. You can also try your local homebrew shop; ask if anyone makes mead in the area, they might also have local honey and a quick conversation with the owner may get you somewhere.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Next stop is the <a href="http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/" target="_blank">USDA honey board locator</a>. While it will not list all the producers in your area, you are bound to find some. They usually list some form of contact information (website, email, phone, etc.) that you can use to contact the producer. The site also lets you see what the common honeys produced in your state are.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Local farmers market are your friends when it comes to finding local producers. Any good farmers market should have a honey booth (or several), and if it doesn't try another one. Try as many as you can drive to, and try them several times a year as some honey producers don't show up year round. When you do find a honey booth, try every sample they'll let you have, if you have to give the guy 5 bucks/quid/euro/whatever do it.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">The next thing to try is a local Whole Foods, health food store, or other hippie store (no offense, again best word for the job). Go to their honey section (usually near maple syrup) and look for any products labelled as local, or start looking at the containers to find the producers address and try to find one that's near your area. Buy some honey from the producers you find and start tasting it; if it's good, try to contact the producer. If you don't have a hippie store in your area, move (seriously, it's probably a bad indication no matter what you views are). Local supermarkets (the publix/target type, not Walmart) sometimes carry local honey as well, try to find some and contact the producers.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">After this, if you can't find anything local your in a tough spot. You can try contacting your local university extension office and see if they have any registry of apiarists, or a local club. Even a hobby beekeeper can produce a decent surplus that you can buy or trade some mead for. Don't be afraid to stop at roadside honey venders either, they usually have their own hives or buy from someone local.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Honestly, if you can't find a local beekeeper your either not looking hard enough, or your in a place that humans should not live. However, there are a number of alternatives.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Many large scale apiarists have websites and commonly ship honey cross-county. Beefolks has high quality honey at a good price and can ship you many different varieties. Dutch gold, while limited in offerings and processing their honey a little too much for my preference, is another such company.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">The last resort should be generic store honey. Costco's, BJ's and Sams club all have large containers of honey. I find Costco's to be the best of the three, but all are cheaper than regular supermarket honey.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Befriend your beekeeper(s)</u></span></span><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">While not necessary, it is a very good idea to get to know your beekeeper. He'll let you know what crops aren't good in a certain year, and can point you toward some interesting rare honeys he might get. After you've tasted his honey selection and deemed it worthy, bring a bottle of mead and offer it to him, if he refuses for reasons other than religious or philosophical, check to make sure he's not a Dalek, cyberman, or other "bad guy". Often times a reduction in price can come with buying a certain volume or bartering with mead, and a good level of trust in the person supplying your most precious ingredients is not something to shy away from.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Diversify</u></span></span><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">The best strategy for any investment portfolio, and trust me, mead making is an investment, is to diversify your sources. I get most of my honey from two local sources, one in central Florida (Webbs honey) and one in south Florida (Smak attack, or something like that) by me. The first is a larger producer who can sell by the barrel, and I get great consistency from him. The latter is very small and gets certain rare honeys that are hard to come by. There is a price difference, but there's also a difference in hive locations which allows for more complex meads via blending (either within varietal boundaries or not). I have also bought from larger online producers, and roadside vendors, and even used generic bulk honey for some melomels (though I tend not to anymore). The more options you have, the more creative you can be, and the better bargain you can get. I think the strategy of "infinite diversity, in infinite combinations" is a very good one to adopt when it comes to honey varieties and mead making (is my geek showing?).</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-12683694292911186322014-05-01T15:21:00.002-04:002014-05-04T15:16:55.589-04:00Sugar breaks and SNA timing<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">This is mainly about calculating when to add nutrients during SNA (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><u>S</u>taggered <u>N</u>utrient <u>A</u>dditions</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">), not the benefits of specific dosages, or dosage regimes; that's for another post.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">So what the hell is a sugar break? Think of it as a mile marker, that's all it really is, there's no physiochemical change in yeast performance (there are changes, but that just clouds the water of our clear atoll here), or important kinetic changes inherent at these events (though some appear as a byproduct of choices made regarding treatment at certain mile markers).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Let's talk wine for a minute to get a picture.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The average grape wine (traditionally) starts around 23*Bx (SG ~1.097), and it will probably finish close to -1*Bx (SG 0.996). So a total consumption of about 24*Bx or 101 gravity points worth of sugar will have been consumed:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">(</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">this is the historical format for SG which is 1000 times our standard fractional SG form of 1.XXX)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">So, when is fermentation half done? Half of 24 is 12, so when the yeast have eaten 12*Bx of sugar, they are half done (ie, 23 - 12 = 11; 11*Bx is the halfway mark). The same calculations work with gravity points (1,097.0 - 50.5 = 1,046.5).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">So, when you here wine people talk about the 1/3 sugar break, you can calculate it like this:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">FG: -1*Bx FG: 996.0</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">23 - (-1) = 24 1097 - 996 = 101</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">24 * 1/3 = 8 101 * 1/3 = 33</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">23 - 8 = 15 1097 - 33.7 = 1063</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">1/3 sugar break = 15*Bx 1/3 sugar break = 1.063</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">That's all well in good for wine world where you know both your initial and terminal gravities, but we don't always know our FG in mead land. What if I have a mead with an OG of 1.130? It probably won't finish at 0.99X, it will probably be sweeter. That's where yeast tolerance comes into play. Let's take D47 as an example:<br />D47 tends to chew through about 100 +/-4 gravity points (~23.8*Bx)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">That's all well in good for wine world where you know both your initial and terminal gravities, but we don't always know our FG in mead land. What if I have a mead with an OG of 1.130? It probably won't finish at 0.99X, it will probably be sweeter. That's where yeast tolerance comes into play. Let's take D47 as an example:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">D47 tends to chew through about 100 +/-4 gravity points (~23.8*Bx)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">D47: 23.8*Bx D47: 100 points</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">30.2 - 23.8 = 6.4 1130.0 - 100 = 1030.0</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">FG ~ 6.4*Bx FG ~ 1.030</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">30.2 - 6.4 = 23.8 1130.0 - 1030.0 = 100</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">23.8 * 1/3 = 7.9 100 * 1/3 = 33</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">30.2 - 7.9 = 22.3 1130.0 - 33 = 1097.0</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">1/3 sugar break =</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">22.3*Bx </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">1/3 sugar break = 1.097</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br />When calculating the 1/3 sugar break for meads, it is necessary to estimate the FG based on the yeasts alcohol tolerance or average amount of sugar consumed (as gravity points or *Brix).<br /><br />When to feed? That depends on your SNA schedule, but generally there will be at least 2 feedings (one at onset of fermentation, and 1/3 sugar depletion). Some may have many more, but the trick is to spread them out evenly (or close to even) over the first third of fermentation. Let's see some options for a must with an initial gravity of 26*Bx (SG 1.110), assuming a terminal gravity of -1*Bx (SG 0.996):<br /><br />OG: 26*Bx OG 1110.0<br />FG: -1*Bx FG 996.0<br /><br />26 - (-1) = 27 1110 - 996 = 114<br />27 * 1/3 = 9 114 * 1/3 = 38<br />26 - 9 = 17 1110 - 38 = 1072<br />1/3 break = 17*Bx </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">1/3 break =</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> 1.072</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">When calculating the 1/3 sugar break for meads, it is necessary to estimate the FG based on the yeasts alcohol tolerance or average amount of sugar consumed (as gravity points or *Brix).</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Here are more possibilities:</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NyPglhocNKE/U2Fky0T_YUI/AAAAAAAAAFg/PByiOXvd5Uc/s1600/SNA+timing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NyPglhocNKE/U2Fky0T_YUI/AAAAAAAAAFg/PByiOXvd5Uc/s1600/SNA+timing.gif" height="640" width="392" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just follow the same color.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Red = 10 feedings (1/27</span></span><sup>th</sup> breaks)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Blue = 7 feedings (1/18<sup>th</sup> breaks)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Green = 5 feedings (1/12<sup>th</sup> breaks)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yellow = 4 feedings (1/9<sup>th</sup> breaks)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">White = 3 feedings (1/6<sup>th</sup> breaks)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-61823537526194714252014-04-22T17:25:00.000-04:002014-04-22T17:25:49.673-04:00What do you want from an experiment?<div style="direction: ltr;">
Please, I beg that the few of you reading this post a comment so I can make up my own mind. <i>(Who could be expected to do that on their own?!)</i></div>
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The next experiment I'd like to do is to test pitching rates on a standard gravity (23*Bx, SG 1.097) mead; a duplication of an experiment from a scientific journal. My problem? What would you care about: many gravity and pH readings to see how the different pitching rates effect kinetics (ie. high sample rate of 4-8 hrs between samples), or modest sample rate (~12hrs between samples)? Obviously the former is better, however, I work; I'm a real person! (Sometimes?)<br />
Basically, if people are OK with a low sample rate (inconclusive fermentation kinetics data), then I can start soon; if people would prefer accurate kinetics data I would have to wait for several weeks, possibly months. It's your choice, wait (even longer), or deal with only moderate understanding of how pitching rate effects fermentation kinetics.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">If no one feels like commenting, then don't complain!</span></b> <i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Not that you'll post your complaints, but I'll still here you!!!)</span></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-57536550049541275622014-04-18T11:14:00.000-04:002014-04-18T11:16:06.896-04:00Yeast Rehydration<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Why?</b></span></div>
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Choosing a yeast strain is vital to the final quality of mead (and beer, wine, sake, even spirits), as is the care that is taken to nurture them. For the purposes of mead (and wine, because we are mostly using wine yeast strains), we will most often encounter dried yeast as they are more numerous in selection, cheaper, and there is no damage caused by the drying process (beer yeast, especially lager yeast, are rather difficult to cultivate in a medium that permits drying, and can often have mutations result from the process; though techniques have improved drastically over the last few decades). The funny thing about the drying process is that it is not all that harmful to yeast, but the 'waking' is turbulent and rather tiresome for our little helpers. We are basically starting from very weak little creature who are just waking up and we want them to run a marathon; granted it's in their genetics, but without proper conditioning they may pass out at 26 miles instead of the 26.3 they were supposed to run. </div>
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They yeast companies have done a good job feeding the yeast many things that they will need to actually get out of dormancy (high oxygen, nutrient dense, and low osmotic pressure media give them the reserves they need for the trauma about to occur), but once awake, they have to deal with their environment which can be rather harsh (lack of nutrients, and relatively high osmotic pressure), and they may give up. The number of yeast cells that die upon 'sprinkling' (the common technique of just opening the pack and adding the yeast to the must/wort) ranges a considerable gamut with some sources saying as low as 20%, and some claiming almost 2/3! I tend to think the mode number of 50% is most accurate, but even if it were only 20%, that's a lot of helpers you are killing off. The cells that do survive and work are not in very good shape either: having depleted their energy reserves (glycogen and trehalose usually) they have to spend a considerable amount of time and further energy to rebuild these levels in order to get to the point where they can actually start working.</div>
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In an environment like mead, where there is always a shortage of yeast assimilable nitrogen, lack of micronutrients, low pH buffering capacity, high osmotic pressure (usually very high compared to other fermentations), why would we want to use yeast that were even the slightest bit unhealthy? Why risk a stuck, stinky, or non existent ferment? "That's never happened to me and I don't rehydrate.", me either, but at least I've got money on the high half, first third and a zero while your all on 31! (sorry, roulette/james bond reference)</div>
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<b>Pitching Rates</b></div>
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A quick note on pitching rates is in order here. Pitching rate is measured as CFU/mL (<u>c</u>olony <u>f</u>orming <u>u</u>nits per milliliter), but can be approximated using g dried yeast / L of must; assuming 20,000,000,000 (2*10^10)CFU/g dried yeast, we can estimate the resulting pitching rate of X grams of dried yeast added to a liquid whose total volume is Y. Great, how much do I pitch? 0.005-0.5g/L is a good range, that's 10^5-10^7 CFU/mL. More specific? Almost all manufacturers recommend 0.25g/L (~1g/gal), winemaking textbooks say 0.1-1% by volume (which is ~10^5-10^6 CFU/mL), researches have found that 0.5g/L works best for high brix musts, and brewers pitch anywhere between 6*10^6 - 2*10^7 CFU/mL! The best 'rule' to follow is</div>
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<24*Bx (SG 1.101) gets either 0.25g/L or 1g/gal, whichever measurement you prefer; </div>
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25-28*Bx (SG 1.106-1.120) gets 0.3g/L or 1.2g/gal</div>
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>28*Bx (SG 1.120+) gets 0.5g/L or 2g/gal. </div>
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That is not to say that many people don't cross these boundaries and make unsatisfactory meads, many people do for many reasons, it's just a guideline. Also, there has been research that suggests lower pitching rates enhance the flavors of mead, but I would stick to these guidelines for now (sometime soon I will be starting a pitching rate experiment focusing on the lower end of the spectrum). </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Basic Procedure</b></span></div>
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1g yeast strain of choice</div>
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1.25g Go-Ferm Protect (or what ever their (lallemand's) newest one is, I think evolution)</div>
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25g water</div>
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-multiply all numbers by your chosen amount of yeast (pitching rate * volume)</div>
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<ul>
<li>Boil the water for a few minutes (pasteurization), I would recommend boiling more than needed and weighing afterwards</li>
<li>Put into a thoroughly sanitized flask (Erlenmeyers work the best), if you can autoclave it (truly sterile), I would</li>
<li>Wait until the temp is down to ~110F</li>
<li>Add Go-Ferm 'whatever' and swirl (this is why erlenmeyers are best)</li>
<li>Wait for the temp to drop to 104F</li>
<li>Add yeast, swirl gently to break-up clumps</li>
<li>Wait 15-30min, don't exceed 30min or the yeast will start to starve</li>
</ul>
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<b>Notes</b></div>
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There are actually a range of temperatures that work best for rehydration, from 95-105F, and it depends on the specific yeast strain, but most seem to prefer the upper range with a mode of around 104-105F (40C).</div>
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You'll note that the amount of water is by weight not volume, why? 50mL of water at 110F weighs less than 50mL of water at 40F (about 454mg less); if you measured the volume after boiling (while hot) you won't use enough water, and if you measure before boiling you wont be able to account for evaporation. Therefore, weight is the way to go for precision. </div>
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As to the type of water, clean, potable water with no chlorine or chloramines is recommended. The Go-Ferm will not replace minerals found in water, therefore, the water must have a certain amount present for healthy rehydration. The hardness is a vital factor for yeast health with best results being achieved between 250-500ppm hardness.</div>
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This entire process is basically proofing the yeast and allowing their cell membranes to form properly, it does not acclimate them to the must, nor add any special property to they yeast, however, it does not damage the yeast as would happen by the 'sprinkling' method. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Add-Ons</span></div>
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These are extra steps that can/should be added to the basic procedure when the circumstances dictate.</div>
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<b>Temperature</b></div>
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The best 'add-on' is an acclimation phase for temperature. Simply put, take your slurry and add some must to it so that the yeast aren't shocked too much by the temperature. More technical you say? For every 18F (10C) difference between your must and starter, add an amount of must equal to the original starter size to the flask.</div>
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So, I have 6gal of mead must and want to pitch 8g D47.</div>
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I rehydrated with 10g Go-Ferm in 200g of water. I now have a starter/slurry of about 200mL (give or take), that is at 84F, and my must is at 66F. </div>
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I need to take 200mL of must and slowly add it (over a few minutes) to my slurry and wait 15-30min.</div>
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If the slurry was at 92F and my must at 56F, I would need to make 2 x 200mL additions to my starter. </div>
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This process works to slowly acclimate the yeast to the temperature, gravity and pH of the must. Because it works for gravity and pH also, it is usually recommended to do this even if the temperature is within the 18F tolerance.</div>
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<b>Very High Bix Musts</b></div>
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For very high brix musts (>35*Bx, SG 1.154), there are more delicate steps that should be taken to avoid osmotic shock that can happen even if utilizing the routine above. The method I describe here was put forth by Kantkanen et al. fot the production of ice wines. They tested several procedures across 2 pitching rates (4*10^6 and 10^7 CFU/mL): acclimated rehydration vs simple rehydration, and utilization of Go-Ferm vs none in the rehydration step. The starting gravity of the must was 37*Bx (SG 1.164), and the results showed that only those fermentation pitched at 0.5g/L (10^7 CFU/mL) were able to reach 10%abv, and that utilizing the following process with a lower pitching rate did not achieve desirable results; starters that underwent acclimation showed an increase in consumed sugar compared to non acclimated starters. </div>
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Interestingly, while the use of Go-Ferm decreased fermentation time and acetic acid production, it also decreased the amount of ethanol produced as a function of sugar consumed (ie. sugar was consumed quicker than the non Go-Ferm batches, but it's utilization for ethanol production was relatively lower).</div>
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Here's what you do using a 25mL slurry as made above (just multiply the volumes for larger amounts)</div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Take sample of must and dilute with sanitized water to 20*Bx (SG 1.083)</li>
<li>After initial 15-30min wait (above), add 25mL of dilute must to starter (the result should be a 50mL starter at 10*Bx)</li>
<li>Place flask in water bath at 77F (25C), for 1hr swirled every 30min</li>
<li>Take a second must sample and dilute it with sanitized water to 30*Bx (SG 1.129)</li>
<li>After 1hr wait add 50mL of the second dilute must sample; resulting in a 100mL starter at 20*Bx</li>
<li>Place flask in water bath at 68F (20C) for 2hrs, swirl every 30min</li>
</ul>
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Be warned, this works really well and creates super tolerant yeast that can pass their alcohol tolerance by a few percentage points (actual abv accounting for shift in composite density). Technically this process results in a solution that is equal to </div>
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25g dried yeast / L of water,</div>
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meaning that you would need to pitch 20mL starter / L of must to equal the 10^7 CFU/mL (0.5g/L dried yeast) recommended.</div>
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If you want to ferment something higher than 40*Bx (SG 1.179), I would high suggest step-feeding (adding honey in multiple increments during fermentation). However, if trying a polish style mead, or some other absurdly high gravity style, and you do not want to step-feed, I might suggest trying this method with an additional step of adding another equal amount (100mL in our example) of must to the starter for ~3hrs with swirling at 30min intervals (or stirplate the whole time!). Note that each addition has made a 10*Bx jump; in keeping with this the gravity of several additions can be estimated:</div>
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20*Bx addition to make 10*Bx starter</div>
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30*Bx addition to make 20*Bx starter</div>
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40*Bx addition to make 30*Bx starter</div>
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50*Bx addition to make 40*Bx starter</div>
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60*Bx addition to make 50*Bx starter</div>
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Obviously I did not have to list those as they are in 10*Bx increments with a 10*Bx offset, but I did want to show that at 50*Bx and above, it is almost useless in trying to ferment without some sort of gradual addition of fermentable material during the process. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-15533189216569411402014-03-25T13:43:00.000-04:002014-04-18T11:15:19.574-04:00Experiment: Boil v. No Boil (Part 2)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bd4ctNF31bQ/UzGxgknDL6I/AAAAAAAAAE0/HD8NrG4uFIA/s1600/Boil+Experiment+pH+graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bd4ctNF31bQ/UzGxgknDL6I/AAAAAAAAAE0/HD8NrG4uFIA/s1600/Boil+Experiment+pH+graph.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pH as a function of time (hrs). Nutrients added at <br />
roughly 24, and 82hrs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's data and conclusion time! (or partial conclusions)<br />
<br />
<b><u>Boil</u></b><br />
OG: 1.1080 --> FG: 1.0025<br />
pH 5.60 --> pH 3.56<br />
<br />
<b><u>No Boil</u></b><br />
OG: 1.1080 --> FG: 1.0015<br />
pH 5.33 --> pH 3.56<br />
<br />
Both fermentations were held within 1C of 20C (both had peaks of 21C @ 92hrs from pitch, right around the pH stabilizing). Nutrient additions and aeration were determined by gravity reading, not time after pitch.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-No8FRUP5jag/UzGxibHMRgI/AAAAAAAAAE8/ot-B-93TmBg/s1600/Boil+Experiment+SG+graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-No8FRUP5jag/UzGxibHMRgI/AAAAAAAAAE8/ot-B-93TmBg/s1600/Boil+Experiment+SG+graph.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Specific gravity as a function of time. Nutrients<br />
added at roughly 24, and 82hrs; aerated at<br />
roughly 24, 44, 58, 68, and 82hrs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unfortunately, the data points were not as close as I would have liked, but life gets in the way of things.<br />
<br />
Nutrients were added at roughly 24 and 82 hours after pitch, showing a slight change in slope in the gravity graph, and a 'bump' in the pH graph (the other 'bump' in the pH graph at ~44hrs seems to correlate to aeration).<br />
<br />
It is clear that the yeast are active well before a drop in gravity, this is shown by the drop in pH before ~24hrs (when a drop in gravity was first detected). This corresponds to the acclimation period which yeast go through commonly called the 'lag phase'; it would seem that instead of active sugar metabolism, they are more concerned with making an adequate environment for themselves at this point.<br />
<br />
As to the differences, it would seem that the boiled must had a higher pH throughout the process until the end of fermentation. This is contrary to common belief that boiling (and skimming) reduces the buffering capacity of mead musts, however, this may be an outlier as the honeys chosen for the must composition do naturally have higher mineral and ash contents than other honeys (avocado and lychee are particularly rich in both, the brazilian pepper had a very high pollen content, and the beach plants have a higher mineral concentration than average (White Jr)).<br />
Also the boiled mead fermented a little faster (about 2 days, though the data is not accurate to the hour, hence it's non-inclusion in the graphs).<br />
<br />
Both have been cold crashed for 2 weeks at 5C, and have been treated with sulfites (an addition of 1 campden (Kmeta) was added to each gallon container, this method was chosen for its prevalence throughout the mead and winemaking community). They will age for another 9mos before being racked and bottled. Bottle aging will be in 12oz beer bottles with O2 absorbing caps, and evaluation will be held at several points in their lifetimes (hopefully ~1yr, 2yr, and 3yr, but we'll see).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-18996446320726180512014-03-16T21:20:00.001-04:002014-03-16T21:20:05.039-04:00I'm going to start tweeting links to new posts; that way, instead of nobody checking to see if I have a new post up, no one can follow me on twitter to see if I have a new post up! @BOB_1and_only is my twitter thing (I think it's a "handle"). If I sound like the robot from the hitchhikers guide than it's working; not that anyone cares. ;)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-62849121858978431652014-03-16T19:12:00.000-04:002014-03-16T19:12:41.970-04:00Mead: Etymology Part 1I have a fascination with linguistics, particularly etymology. So instead of the standard "here is how to say mead in 20+ languages", I'd like to take you on a journey through the Indo-European language family via a single word: *med<sup>h</sup>u.<br />
First a quick note on some linguistic things. The * means that the word is reconstructed, meaning "we don't really know, but this is a very, very, very good guess that a few dozen people, with a few dozen letters following each of their names, have come up with using historical linguistic techniques (like comparative analysis, and internal reconstruction)". A proto language" is a hypothesized language that would account for similarities between several other languages; strictly speaking it is the youngest language that contains traits of several members of a language family or subfamily.<br />
Proto-Indo-Eutopean (PIE) is the hypothetical language that led to all Indo-European languages; it was probably highly inflected, and would have had a considerable number of crossover words that could have meant the same (or similar) thing(s). Over time, PIE broke apart (probably into dialects which would later represent individual proto languages) and formed different branches of the Indo-European language family, which in turn broke into further classifications or became extinct.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvft8Yslnv4/UyYe0233ZjI/AAAAAAAAAEk/LHm10QFcwB4/s1600/Centum+IE+mead+etymology.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvft8Yslnv4/UyYe0233ZjI/AAAAAAAAAEk/LHm10QFcwB4/s1600/Centum+IE+mead+etymology.gif" height="377" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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This diagram represents the Centum languages in the Indo European language family; what one might consider the "european" groups. The gray/grey areas are proto-languages for which we have reconstructed words. The yellow/gold indicate languages for which the word listed means mead (or honeyed, sweet, alcoholic drink). Note that the Mycenaean language is in teal due to the fact that the liner B script used to write their language was borrowed (probably from the minoans) and does not fully account for the sounds of their language (ma-tu-wo could have been spoken as matuw, matwo, matuwo, or any number of variations). </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">*méd<sup>h</sup>u vs *mélid </span></div>
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All three of these words could have been used to describe what one harvested from a beehive (honey).</div>
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*mélid survived to specifically mean honey in many branches of the language family (greek, celtic languages, italic languages, anatolian languages, and even germanic languages usually evolving into the word mildew (I have no f**king clue why!)). </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mead/Wine/Drunk(eness/ard)</span></div>
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It is interesting to see that the etymological root word *méd<sup>h</sup>u came to mean a number of things. In it's original form from PIE, it may have meant any drink made with, or having a honey-like flavor, but also could have specifically meant mead (I could describe sauternes as *méd<sup>h</sup>u, but I would not call it that as it's name (adjective vs noun sort of idea)).</div>
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In hellenic languages it came to mean wine by the time of Old Ionic, and by modern it means drunkenness, and stands in ablaut relation to the word that means drunkard. It also stands as the root for the words that come to mean methanol, methylene, methyl, and methane.</div>
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Of very interesting note is the complete disappearance of this word from the italic languages, only for them to re-invent a word for it. I could list theories and cite shady evidence, but it does no good to do so. It is more interesting to see the word that the italic languages use for mead: 'water' + 'honey'. Note that I do not say 'water-honey' as a single idea, if that were the case Spanish, French, Portuguese and Catalan would all have similar phonology (sounds), instead of the obvious translation of 'water' + 'honey'. </div>
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The Germanic and Celtic languages preserve this word and the meaning almost in its entirety. Mjothr, mid, mead, met, meede and medd all descend (rather obviously) form the same historical root, *méd<sup>h</sup>u, and all preserve the meaning of fermented honey, regardless of how rare the term is, or how niche the word in their respective cultures (with the older ones probably retaining it's use more than the surviving ones).</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-36425862814874207322014-03-03T16:05:00.000-05:002014-03-03T16:05:40.154-05:00Mead making rules<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here are some rules for the hobby of mead making. They're in no particular order, and don't take precedence over one another, with the exception of rules 1, 2, and 10 (with 10 being the most important).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">1. You must talk about mead making.</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is vital to spread the word about the hobby, and educate others about mead: the culture, art, taste, versatility, and general awesomeness. It is also very important to recruit other mead makers, not only to grow the hobby, but for your own education; by teaching others, we can learn more than by working in seclusion. A student can have a unique perspective that can induce our own creativity and break us from the binds of dogmatism.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2. You must talk about mead making!</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just do it. Go to your homebrew club, join <a href="http://www.gotmead.com/forum/index.php" target="_blank">GotMead</a>, or other forums. Go . . . do!<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">3. Thoroughly clean and sanitize everything.</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Keep in mind that sanitizing is different than sterilizing; the goal of sanitizing is to reduce the cell concentration (CFU/mL) of potentially harmful microorganisms, not rid them entirely. There is a balancing act involved in this: if you don't pasteurize your must (boiling or lower temps), you have more CFU/mL than a must that was sanitized, and may want to be more diligent in your sanitation practices pre fermentation (longer contact times with sanitizer etc). Never think that your equipment is sterile, it's not, just think in terms of concentration of cells and you'll make the better judgements. Also, make sure everything is cleaned before sanitizing (and that the detergents used for cleaning are thoroughly rinsed or neutralized).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">4. Patience is more than a virtue, it's a requirement! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are several ways to make a mead that is drinkable early in its life, but almost all mead benefits from some aging time. This is easy if you have a few cases in stock that are ready to drink, but to those who don't have that, utilize those quick mead recipes to quench your thirst while you wait for your other batches to age (or brew some beer, comparatively, it's much faster to drink). If you don't have patience mead making will teach it to you!<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">5. Mead making is not brewing, nor is it entirely wine making.</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are principles that can be applied from both disciplines, but mead making is unique and breaks certain rules of brewing and winemaking.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">6. Get in there, and be involved!</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sensory analysis, that's what this rule is about. Taste and smell as often as possible: during fermentation, when your aerating, smell it; when you pull gravity samples, smell and taste; when you rack, smell and taste; during aging, every few months, smell and taste; when bottling, smell and taste; set some bottles aside (12oz work great) and preform a thorough tasting at 6, 12, 18, 24 months and longer.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">7. Be creative.</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Try new things, and see how they work. Make a to-brew list, but be warned that you will never work your way through it (and if you do, you aren't being creative enough).<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">8. Avail yourself of local resources.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is a hard one for me as I love berries and they don't grow well here in south florida; even though I have access to hundreds of varieties of mangos, and rare fruits that most have never heard of, I would love to have access to truly fresh blackberries and raspberries. Take advantage of unique honey varietals (avocado, saw palm, Brazilian pepper, mangrove, and mango in my case), that are local, or unique fruits (or herbs) that are grown in your region.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">9. It's your mead, make what you like!</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you like your mead to be full of mercaptan thiols and disulfides, who am I to argue. I won't have a glass, but it's not my mead. Once you have tasted other meads (via rules 1 and 2), you'll begin to understand what you like in a mead, and if it's something that others don't like, oh well; but do not think that your mead is the pinnacle of mead making if you have such strange tastes, be aware that others may not like what you do.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">10. Have fun!</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Find what you enjoy most about the hobby, and guide yourself to doing that the most. If you really like experimenting, experiment; if it's the process of fermentation, get in there and enjoy it; if it's tasting, utilize rule 6 a lot. Just have fun and enjoy the hobby.</span></span><br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-18713482190388294112014-02-26T15:52:00.003-05:002014-02-26T15:53:44.380-05:00Some Brix Curves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EucFJkA8SKM/Uw5QEGRoQNI/AAAAAAAAAEI/cX7ak8g_kgw/s1600/Honey+varietal+D21+graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EucFJkA8SKM/Uw5QEGRoQNI/AAAAAAAAAEI/cX7ak8g_kgw/s1600/Honey+varietal+D21+graph.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
Here. . . have some brix curves. The ones to the right show three different musts fermented with the same yeast. I can't draw very much from these because they are single data sets; I wish I had them in triplicate to see if there are any trends, but I don't. Also note that I don't have data for the final parts of fermentation (<6*Bx), but they all slow compared to the main part, without dragging on for ever.<br />
<br />
Below we have 5 ferments, 2 palm, 2 orange blossom, and 1 brazilian pepper (AKA Christmasberry). The original plan was to have 2 of each kind of honey, one with a control yeast (D21 here), and the other a different yeast, but life gets in the way, and I needed some honey for a bochet in a pinch (the brazilian pepper worked nicely).<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyfDwAePw8I/Uw5QEdMNKDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/seos5EcgIkU/s1600/Honey+yeast+test+brix+graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyfDwAePw8I/Uw5QEdMNKDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/seos5EcgIkU/s1600/Honey+yeast+test+brix+graph.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a><br />
All 5 have the exact same recipe except for the honeys and yeasts: same additives, nutrient schedule, fermentation temps, pitching rates, gravity (original and final), etc.. They are all getting some sur lie treatment right now and should be coming into their own by next winter.<br />
<br />
These aren't perfect data sets, and can't tell much, but they do show the general shape of a healthy ferment. Some have faster drops, others slower, some have longer lag phases, and some finish fast and others slow (though none were too prolonged).<br />
<br />
The recipe can be found on this <a href="http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22064" target="_blank">GotMead thread</a>, but it does require Patron status on GotMead (which any serious meadmaker should have anyways!).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-22818990275612530162014-02-18T16:04:00.000-05:002014-02-26T15:55:39.129-05:00Mead Recipes for NewBees<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hah, see what I did there? New<b>Bee</b>, because it's mead, . . . get it?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ok, enough humor back to work.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Here are 3 recipes that can be made as your first mead. Hopefully you are aware of the cleaning and sanitizing involved, but here is a reminder:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Anything that touches the mead needs to be clean (no dirt, or anything else)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Anything that touches the mead needs to be sanitized</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Anything that touches anything that will touch the mead needs to be sanitized</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Once sanitized, don't put objects down, unless you want to resanitize them</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Don't rinse after sanitizing (unless the water is sanitized, read boiled)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Dry things by hanging them upside down for a few minutes, but they really don't need to be too dry</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Sanitize everything</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Sanitize again</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">And sanitize again</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Once you get that in your head, it's time to choose a recipe. There are many, but these present good starting points, each with a unique person in mind.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>JAOM</u></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Joe's ancient orange mead/melomel/methaglyn</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This has been around for a while, and is the recipe many meadmakers first use to get into the hobby. Developed by Joe Mattioli as a simple, tasty recipe that new meadmakers can make and enjoy without much effort or equipment.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Recipe:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">3.5lbs honey (whatever you want, even store bought, ultra filtered junk)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1 orange (not navel)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1 stick of cinnamon</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1-2 cloves</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">25 raisins (a handful, more or less)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1 tsp fleismanns bread yeast (not old, make sure their still alive: try baking some bread with it)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Put honey in glass 1gal jug and dissolve with some warm water</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Cut orange into pieces (including rind, pith and everything else), and put in jug</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add spices and raisins</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Fill with water leaving 3 inches for foam</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Shake the heck out of it</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">When room temp, add yeast</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Airlock and keep in dark, warmish (70-80F) place (cabinets work well)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Don't touch it at all! No feeding, racking, shaking, don't even look at it cross!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">It's done when the fruit drops to the bottom and there is a clear layer of mead on top (9-12 weeks)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This recipe follows a sort of warranty: if you mess with it, change anything, give it too much attention, anything, and it didn't work . . . I'll quote joe "If it didn't work out then take up another hobby. Mead is not for you. It is too complicated."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">With that being said, a few people (myself included) don't care for the flavor of this mead. It's sweet, phenolic, pithy, and just no my thing; however, it is a technically good mead, it has some balance, no off overt flavors, and complexity. It's similar to white Zinfandel: you may like it or not, but it is (usually) made OK, it's just not your thing.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Warranty aside, there are many variations of this mead that do work.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">You can swap the fruit:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">12oz frozen blackberries</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">2 tangelos</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Lemon (zest and pulp only)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Dates instead of raisins</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">2lbs frozen blueberries</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Or you could change the spices:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">2-4 allspice berries</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">A pinch of nutmeg</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">A sliver of ginger</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1 Vanilla bean</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">1 star anise</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">You could try different honeys as well, but their flavors tend to get covered.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This should give you some ideas for making JAO style meads. If JAOM is something you really like, you can spend years working out different variations of it and build quite a collection.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>BOMM</u></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Bray's one month mead</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This was developed by GotMead member loveofrose (Bray) over several trials to attain a simple, traditional mead recipe that was easy, and reproducible. It uses some of the techniques that a regular traditional uses (SNA, multiple aerations, sample taking), but is a more forgiving mead than the average traditional; it also ages faster. This follows the same warranty idea as JAOM: if you deviate from the recipe, don't complain about bad results. The thing that sets this mead apart from the average traditional is the yeast; after several tests to find a suitable yeast, Bray settled on wyeast 1388, a belgian ale yeast. This may seem strange as most meads are made with wine yeast, except the few brewers who use beer yeast, but belgian strains are POF+ (meaning they produce phenolics) as are most wine yeast, and they produce more esters than most other beer yeast. In fact, belgian yeast strains seem to be closer to wine yeast than normal brewers yeast (except for their ability to ferment maltotriose and easily ferment maltose which is lost in the isolation process of wine yeast), but they don't require as much age as the average wine yeast will.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This is the recipe I suggest for most people starting out as it is easy, fast drinking (and quite tasty), but will teach you some techniques that will be used throughout the hobby.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Recipe:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Start with a gallon of spring water</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Remove 1/2 cup (to compensate for the volume of the smack pack)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Draw a line on the jug at this water level</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Remove 3.2 cups (757mL) of water</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add honey back to line (~2.4lbs)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add 1/4 tsp (1.225g) DAP and 1/2 tsp (2.3g) Fermaid K</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">-Add these nutrients again when the gravity is at 1.064, and 1.032.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add 1/4 tsp (0.825g) potassium bicarbonate</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Shake mixture until homogenous</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add activated Wyeast 1388 smack pack (left for >2hr to swell)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Cover loosely</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Shake daily until done (1 week)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add airlock after fermentation is complete (1 week)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Allow to clear (3-4 weeks)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Rack, then decide: drink, age, backsweeten, what ever you wish to do.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Don't worry about the weight of the additives unless you are scaling up the recipe, volume measure work fine for small batches.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">There are some variations that Bray and a few other mead makers have been working on, and I'll probably do a separate post for modified BOMMs.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Standard Traditional</u></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">This is not as easy as JAOM or BOMM, but if you have experience making wine or brewing it is not that difficult. The benefit with starting with a traditional like this is that it will teach you all the right things to do so you don't have to unlearn things (like with JAOM). It is designed to be a dry mead, but you can backsweeten if you'd like. You can also split it into separate containers after some aging and spice them differently, or add fruit, or oak or what ever.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Recipe:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">3lbs honey per gallon of must (18lbs for 6gal batch)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Dissolve all honey in some water (stick blenders work miracles)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Then add water to make SG of ~1.108</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add 1g/gal potassium carbonate (6g for 6gal batch)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add 0.2g/gal tannin FT blanc soft</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add rehydrated yeast at 1g/gal (6g for 6gal batch)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Keep temp below 74F</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Seal with airlock, and wait for bubbles</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">When it bubbles, uncover and see what it looks like (this will get you familiar with the appearance so you don't have to look for bubbles in the future to see when the lag phase is over)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Add 2g/gal fermaid K and 1g/gal DAP</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Do not seal the lid (or you can leave the airlock dry if using a carboy)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Stir as often as you can (every 12-24 hours is ok)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">When the gravity drops to 1.090 add 1g/gal fermaid K and 1g/gal DAP</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">When the gravity drops to 1.072 add 1g/gal fermaid K</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Seal lid and affix airlock</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Wait</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">When bubbling slows, check gravity</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">When you have the same gravity reading for 3 consecutive days it's done (gravity should be 0.99X)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Rack, add sulfite (50ppm) and age for 3 months</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Rack again (at this point you can split it for experimentation or just leave it) age for 6 months</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">If left alone add sulfites and bottle</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">As you can see, this recipe is a little more technical than the others and may scare some new meadmakers off. Not to mention the others are drinkable in 2-3 months and this one really shouldn't be touched before the 1 year mark (though it is "drinkable" before that).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">I'd recommend a lighter honey unless you've had darker honey meads before, as they can be an acquired taste. As for yeast, D21 is my go to, it is temp tolerant, gives some acid which mead is lacking, and has a nice flavor; K1V would be my suggestion if you can't get D21, it's still temp tolerant so it's a good newbee yeast. You'll note that JAOM and BOMM can be made in the high 70s to low 80sF, where this one is better below 74 (below 72 if you can manage it), this is a property of the yeast and recipe (being dry and higher alcohol).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Acid may need to be added to this (or BOMM), just taste and start with 1g/gal tartaric (or your preferred acid) and let it sit for a month before deciding if more is needed. If using tartaric acid, cold stabilization is recommended as potassium bitartrate crystals may precipitate if there is potassium present. The reason I suggest tartaric acid is because it will add acidity, but when cold crashed the pH will lower (if it is below 3.6, which it should be) resulting in a more acid taste without additional acid.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Some prefer to add tannin to balance flavors instead of acid. This is a matter of preference, and small amounts should be used to slowly work up to the desired level of tannin.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">Decisions, decisions, decisions. For the beer brewer, I highly recommend BOMM; for the completely new zymurgist, I'd say JAOM or BOMM; and for the wine maker, the traditional or BOMM.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">If you are familiar with white winemaking, then the traditional is pretty much a white wine recipe (similar in techniques and processes), and it will get you on the track to make very good traditional meads. There are a few things you have to leave in winemaking world (TA measuring and adjusting, and complete anaerobic fermentation), but it should be very close to your other winemaking experiences. You can also split it into several jugs if making a larger batch and spice them, add different fruits or backsweeten a portion leaving you several opportunities to make a few different meads from a single fermentation.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">I cannot recommend BOMM enough, it is very easy, very fast, and very tasty. It will teach you a lot of the processes for making meads, but doesn't require as much patience. There are also many ways to treat it post ferment: spicing, sweetening, carbonating, adding fruit, etc.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;">JAOM is an old standby for many mead makers, and a very simple recipe for the newbee. It's charm is in it's simplicity: no samples needed, no temp issues, no messing with it; but, some people tend not to like it for its pithy, phenolic taste.</span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-71260922077902357782014-02-18T15:53:00.000-05:002014-02-26T15:56:05.898-05:00Beer Anyone?<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ayvAe2I-IAc/UwPEu7w8vkI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Fr-f8wDONfY/s1600/homebrewers+vintage+beer+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ayvAe2I-IAc/UwPEu7w8vkI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Fr-f8wDONfY/s1600/homebrewers+vintage+beer+.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">No one will probably read this, it may have something to do with being a new blog, or the esoteric nature of this blog (please feel free to correct me in the comments section, anyone? Beuller?), but I felt it necessary to post about this. (and it's my damn blog, so I'll do as I please!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If anyone here is a brewer, I highly recommend Ron Pattinson's newest book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Home-Brewers-Guide-Vintage-Beer/dp/1592538827/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392756096&sr=1-1&keywords=ron+pattinson" target="_blank">The Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer</a>; actually, I recommend most of his books (especially <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/bitter/hardcover/product-21398338.html" target="_blank">Bitter!</a>, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/mild-plus/hardcover/product-21397462.html" target="_blank">Mild! Plus</a>, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/porter/hardcover/product-21398311.html;jsessionid=2893C5EF8955036C58DA43D2A1B76CDB" target="_blank">Porter!</a>, and <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/strong/paperback/product-21453744.html" target="_blank">Strong!</a>), but this is a good place to start. If you ever thought you knew something about beer history, and wanted some actual recipes, this is what you want. It is impeccably well researched, informative, and concise.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He also maintains a blog, <a href="http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Shut Up About Barclay Perkins</a>, that shows his many hours in the catacombs of archives firmly places him at the pinnacle of historical beer research. Full of wit, facts, brewlogs, stats, more stats, techniques, even more stats, and anything else concerning the history and development of many English beers, and a few continental styles as well, his blog is a great place to check before you go bragging about your beer history knowledge.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So, if you think that IPA was high in alcohol to survive the journey, or that porter was smoky, or that grodziskie was sour, you may wish to pull your head out of your @$$ and buy some of his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_adv_b/?search-alias=stripbooks&unfiltered=1&field-keywords=&field-author=Ronald+Pattinson&field-title=&field-isbn=&field-publisher=&node=&field-p_n_condition-type=&field-feature_browse-bin=&field-subject=&field-language=&field-dateop=During&field-datemod=&field-dateyear=&sort=relevanceexprank&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=28&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=12" target="_blank">books</a> and read his <a href="http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-6258888002268936232014-02-09T09:53:00.001-05:002014-02-26T15:55:05.523-05:00Experiment: Boil v. No Boil (Part 1)This is a question that tears at the meadmaking community, it separates, polarizes, indoctrinates, and just generally sparks a nice (or not) debate: do I boil my must? The general reason to boil would be sanitization, but the opponents will cite loss of aromatics as too high a price (especially when honey can be diluted and fermented without fear in most cases); but are there other benefits to be gathered from either method? We shall see.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Materials</u></span><br />
Four different honeys where used to make a must considered to be average in flavor and aroma:<br />
<b>1. Winter wildflower</b> from Miami (Lip Smakin' Good Honey): mostly avocado and lychee, maybe some citrus, but not much. 2012<br />
<b>2. Summer wildflower</b> from broward and miami coast (Lip Smakin' Good Honey): late season black mangrove, seagrape, dogwood, and dune grasses. 2013<br />
<b>3. Wildflower</b> blended from most of south florida (Bee Natural): citrus notes and general floral character, not too rich or thin. ????<br />
<b>4. Brazilian Pepper</b> from broward and palm beach (Webb's Honey): brazilian pepper honey from 2013 and 2012.<br />
These were mixed at about 4lbs No. 3, 2lbs No. 1, 2lbs No. 2, 1lb No. 4, to make a must of 1.1060 (volume was irrelevant as you will see).<br />
Instruments used and their tolerances:<br />
<b>1. Hydrometer </b>1.1300-1.0600 ± 0.0005<br />
<b>2. Hydrometer</b> 1.0700-1.0000 ± 0.0005<br />
<b>3. Hydrometer</b> 1.020-0.980 ± 0.001<br />
<b>4. pH Meter </b>MW102 14.00-1.00 ± 0.02<br />
<b>5. Thermometer </b>150C-0C ± 0.1C<br />
<b>6. Scale</b> 500.00g-0.00g ± 0.02g<br />
<b>7. Scale</b> 11.000kg-0.000kg ± 0.005kg<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Procedure</u></span><br />
A must of 1.1060 was created as noted above, 5L was separated and left in a sanitized fermentation bucket. The remaining must (>5L) was placed into a kettle and brought to boil, then held at a boil for exactly 15min, with skimming at boil, 10min and 5min, and stirring at boil, 12min, 9min, 6min and 3min. The ramp time to boil was 15min, SG after boil was 1.1225 (showing that the boil was quite vigorous), and the must was cooled from boil (101C) to 44C in 1.25hrs (using passive cooling means). Once the boiled must reached 20C, it was adjusted with distilled water to SG 1.1060.<br />
Booster blanc at a rate of 0.25g/L, tannin FT blanc soft at a rate of 0.05g/L and potassium carbonate at 0.25g/L were added to both fermenters. Yeast (D21) was rehydrated with go-ferm protect for 15min, then 34.1g of this solution were added to each fermenter, resulting in a pitching rate near 5*10<sup>6 </sup>CFU/mL. These processes ensure that the only difference between the two musts is the reactions of boiling, and skimming, on the one.<br />
Both will be given 1g/L fermaid K at the end of lag (SG ~1.106) and another 1g/L at the 1/3 sugar break (SG 1.072) resulting in a YAN level of 200ppm. Both will be kept in a fermentation chamber with ambient set to 20C ± 1C.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Stats</u></span><br />
Five minutes after pitching, SG, pH and temp were observed:<br />
Pitched 8 February, 2014 at 20:00<br />
Boil: SG 1.1080 ± 0.0005, pH 5.33 ± 0.02, 22C ± 0.1C<br />
No Boil: SG 1.1080 ± 0.0005, pH 5.60 ± 0.02, 22C ± 0.1C<br />
<br />
The increase in gravity is due to additives and the yeast themselves. Note the lower pH of the boiled must, skimming most likely removes some of the ash that is in the honey resulting in less buffering and less alkali material in the must. Another note was that the boiled must was far clearer than the obviously opaque no boil must.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-67055947793665428102014-02-05T17:29:00.000-05:002014-02-26T15:54:41.697-05:00Honey Composition: Acids<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">An acid can be described as any chemical that donates a proton (note this post will use the Brønsted-Lowry definition). They can be simple ionic compounds like HCl (hydrochloric acid), or complex molecules like CH<sub>3</sub>COOH (acetic acid). They can be strong or weak (relative terms to describe how easily they disassociate, measured via pK<sub>a </sub>), organic or inorganic (containing carbon, or not), but all have an important role in mead making (and winemaking, even brewing).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why are they important? Take a glass of cheap pinot gris and add lye (NaOH) to pH 7, taste it. It's terrible; lacking body, aroma, flavor, depth, everything. Acids are flavor enhancers, and they all have aroma or flavor contributions. They can also combine with other chemical to make new aromas and flavors (via esterification, acting as catalysts in reactions, or any other number of changes they themselves can undergo).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">TA vs pH</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">TA stands for Titratable Acidity (not total acidity), and is a measure of how many <i>free</i> Hydrogen ions (H<sup>+</sup>) are available to react with a strong base (usually Lye (NaOH)) in and acid-base titration. Compare this to Total Acidity which is a measure of all H<sup>+ </sup> available in a solution from acids (even if they are not disassociated) using spectrometry or chromatography. Total acidity will always be greater than titratable acidity, but I don't have a gas chromatograph to take advantage of (and I doubt many home wine/mead makers do), so titratable acidity is the common language.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">pH is a measure of the concentration of <i>active </i>H<sup>+</sup>, and it can only give you an estimate of the amount of acid in a solution. Because H<sup>+</sup> can react with a number of compounds and get bound up, pH can not accurately account for the true amount of H<sup>+</sup> ions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Units</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So how do we quantize this data? How can we put it into scale? Because we are looking to count the number of H<sup>+</sup> ions in solution we can use a fancy trick: there are <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">6.02214129</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="margin-left: 0.25em; margin-right: 0.15em; white-space: nowrap;">×</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">10</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><sup style="line-height: 1em;">23 </sup></span><i>things</i> per mole. Atoms, molecules, muons, whatever. There are that many per mole. What's a mole? It's<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">6.02214129</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="margin-left: 0.25em; margin-right: 0.15em; white-space: nowrap;">×</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">10</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><sup style="line-height: 1em;">23 </sup></span>things! It's really just a useful conversion tool that allows us to convert from tiny masses, to numbers of things in a larger mass, and some other useful conversions. The atomic weight of H is 1.008, and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">6.02214129</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="margin-left: 0.25em; margin-right: 0.15em; white-space: nowrap;">×</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">10</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;"><sup style="line-height: 1em;">23 </sup></span> H atoms weigh 1.008 grams. See, useful conversions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now for something interesting. Tartaric acid has 2 H<sup>+</sup> ions it can loose (making it diprotic), so a mole of tartaric acid should contain 2 moles of H<sup>+</sup>. Citric acid is triprotic (3 H<sup>+</sup>), so a mole of citric acid contains 3 moles of H<sup>+</sup> (for those playing along thats 1.80664239 x 10<sup>24</sup> H<sup>+</sup> ions). One mole of Lye (NaOH) has 1 mole of OH<sup>-</sup>, and can react with 1 mole of H<sup>+</sup> to make water (H<sup>+ </sup>+ OH<sup>- </sup>= H<sub>2</sub>O). So 2 moles of NaOH can neutralize 1 mole of tartaric acid (because it's diprotic), and similar for other acids. So we can just count how many moles of H<sup>+</sup> it takes to get to a certain pH and get a measure of the amount of H<sup>+</sup> there is; this is titratable acidity.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The amount of H<sup>+</sup> in solution can be measure in equivalents, with 1 mole of H<sup>+</sup> equaling 1 Eq of H<sup>+ </sup> (with the amounts we'll be using, the miliequivalent (mEq) is more practical, being 1/1000<sup>th</sup> of an equivalent). Once in this measurement it is easy to convert to other acids (saying the amount of H<sup>+</sup> in solution is the same as X amount of some acid in solution).</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t-oGEVqHWfk/UvK52gvus_I/AAAAAAAAADk/Cm8dx5hHKI0/s1600/Acid+in+Honey.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t-oGEVqHWfk/UvK52gvus_I/AAAAAAAAADk/Cm8dx5hHKI0/s1600/Acid+in+Honey.gif" height="640" width="275" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1 mEq/L H<sup>+ </sup> = 0.0750435 g/L as Tartaric Acid</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1 mEq/L H<sup>+ </sup> = 0.0490395 g/L as Sulfuric Acid</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1 mEq/L H<sup>+ </sup> = 0.06005 g/L as Acetic Acid</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1 g/L = 0.1 g/100mL = 0.1 %</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the US it is common to write the acidity as a percent, but it is easily converted to g/L. The US, and most of northern Europe report acid as equivalent to tartaric, while Latin countries, and southern Europe report as sulfuric acid. Volatile acidity (a fault in wines and meads) is reported as acetic acid.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u>Organic Acids in Honey</u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Organic acids are those acids that are organic compounds (containing carbon). Honey contains, on average, 0.57% organic acids by weight. They can be categorized as aromatic (containing an aromatic ring like benzene) or aliphatic (non-aromatic). Many of the acids in this group are carboxylic acids (containing a carboxyl -COOH group).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Gluconic Acid </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">HOCH<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>(CHOH)<sub style="line-height: 1em;">4</sub>COOH - The predominant acid in honey, responsible for much of it's unique flavor. Gluconic acid, and it's related salts, are added as a flavor enhancer in many foods. It is a product of the enzyme glucose oxidase reacting with glucose to produce gluconolactone, which in turn forms an equilibrium with gluconic acid (as a byproduct of this equilibrium reaction, hydrogen peroxide is formed, a powerful antibacterial). This reaction is pH dependent and any change in pH (via titration, or dilution) will shift the balance of the gluconolactone/gluconic acid equilibrium. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Acetic Acid </b>CH<sub>3</sub>COOH - The acid responsible for vinegar, it's flavor and aroma are very distinct and detectable at a low threshold. It is generally considered a fault in wine (volatile acidity), but trace amounts will always be present as a metabolic byproduct of yeast.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Succinic Acid</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">HOOC-(CH</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">-COOH - A non aromatic acid that is added as a flavor enhancer to many foods. Commonly found in all fermented products, it is a byproduct of yeast metabolizing nitrogenous compounds. It is very rare in unfermented grape musts; as such mead will have a comparatively higher level than many other fermented beverages. It also produces several esters responsible for general "fruity" aromas in wines.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Mailc Acid</b> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">HO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>CCH<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>CHOHCO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>H - Green apple. That's the flavor, and where it was first isolated from. It's what gives Riesling it's gripping acidity, and what Chardonnay fans want completely gone (via malolactic fermentation). There are trace amounts in honey that add to it's depth of flavor.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Lactic Acid</b> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;">CH</b><sub style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1em;">3</sub><b style="font-weight: normal;">CH(OH)COOH - </b>This is what gives yogurt and sauerkraut their zing. Also responsible for the gripping acidity of a great lambic beer, or the gentle fullness of many red wines. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"><b style="font-weight: bold;">Citric Acid </b> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">C</span><sub>6</sub><span style="font-weight: normal;">H</span><sub>8</sub><span style="font-weight: normal;">O</span><sub>7</sub> - The acid responsible for citrus fruits' sour notes. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Butyric</b> <b>Acid </b>CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>-COOH - An aliphatic acid that has a slight rancid aroma, and is common in milk products (more in goat than cow).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Formic Acid </b>HCOOH - This is what gives ant bites and bee stings their punch. It has a very <i>unique</i> flavor, slightly acetic, chemical, and spicy (?) note.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u>Amino Acids</u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">An amino acid is simply an organic compound that has a carboxylic acid, and an amine group with a unique side-chain that determines the specific characteristics of the compound compared to others. Honey contains very small amounts of amino acids (0.05-0.1% by weight), with proline being the most commonly abundant (though some varietals have higher levels of glutamic acid or tyrosine).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Amino acids act as a source of assimilable nitrogen for yeast, and can be used in several steps of glycolysis, though the low levels in honey show that mead musts are a nutrient poor environment.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Argine, asparagine, glutamine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, threonine, glycine, alamine, proline, gamma-<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Aminobutyric acid</span>, valine, phenylthalanine, isoleucine, leucine, ornithine, lysine, tyrosine, methiomine, tryptophan and histidine have all been found in honey, though methiomine, tryptophan, and histidine are very rare.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It has been shown that amino acid profiles are unique to individual monofloral honeys, and determination of the ratios between them can positively identify the primary nectar source of many monofloral honeys.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">pH</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">pH is vital for yeast, as many reaction are catalyzed at low pH, and yeast use this to their advantage metabolically. It is also important to how we perceive the flavors of foods and drinks (we generally prefer acid tastes (low pH)).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">pH = - Log [H<sup>+</sup>]</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The above equation shows that pH is a logarithmic function of the concentration of active H<sup>+</sup> ions, meaning that there are 10 times more H<sup>+</sup> ions (that are not bound, and able to react) at pH 3 than at pH 4. Most people are familiar with the 0-14 scale with 7 being the theoretical pH of distilled water. Common wine musts ranges are 2.8-4.2, with finished wines ranging from 2.8-3.6 (whites lower (3.0-3.3 common), and reds higher (3.3-3.5)). WInes below 3.0 are rare (santorini can have as low as 2.8) because the yeast will struggle as the pH drops below 3.0; whereas above 3.6 oxidation reactions happen very fast, contributing to premature oxidation, and at 4.5-5.0 bacteria rapidly reproduce.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These values are useful only for an estimate. Mead does not act the same as wine. Why? Buffering. Buffering is a substance's ability to resist a change in pH. Wines have good buffering capability due to the high mineral composition (relative to honey) and their large amounts of weak organic acids (such as tartaric acid). Honey does not have high mineral content, or acid levels comparable to grape musts. As such, it is quite common for an all honey must to drop radically during fermentation (yeast will actually lower the pH of the substrate, and due to a lack of buffering it can fall too quick) , to such a point that the yeast struggle and can produce off flavors or not finish a fermentation. This is a big problem, but an easily fixed one: add buffering capacity! It is common to add carbonates for this purpose, and of all carbonates, potassium carbonate is preferable, not only because it is more soluble than calcium carbonate, but it also provides potassium which is a required yeast nutrient. The other additive that serves the buffering purpose is cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate). This is one of the natural buffering substances in wine, and it has been used for mead for some time (Morse recommends it, and latter in his life, Brother Adam also condoned it's use). I will note, that when using these additives your must may actually rise to pH>4 (which wine makers will advise against), but most of the time (almost all the time) it will drop to normal levels during fermentation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Adjustments</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Winemakers will often adjust pH and TA pre fermentation. This is a bad idea for mead as an acid added before fermentation will make the pH drop faster than normal, which is already a problem in mead. For this reason it is recommended to add acid only after fermentation. There are 3 main types of acid that can be added:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Tartaric</b> - the main acid in grapes, it has a general smooth, acid flavor; it adds a generic fruit-like flavor to wines and meads</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Malic</b> - the main acid in apples, it is very sharp and angular; responsible for rieslings crisp nature, and adds a fruitiness to the flavor of a wine/mead often reminiscent of green apples</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Citric</b> - yep, it's what gives citrus fruits their zing, less sharp than malic, but more than tartaric; it can give a citrus-like impression to wines and meads and can be inappropriate for some styles</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Additionally, there are many formulations of blends, some including all 3, other only two. The acid you choose depends on taste preference, style, and end goals. For example, if I made a light 10%abv mead with orange blossom honey, and was inspired by german riesling, I would probably add citric acid to highlight the citrus notes of the honey, and malic acid to give it the crispness of a good riesling. Generally, I prefer tartaric. The main reason is that it's the least obtrusive of the bunch, only adding a slight fruity flavor and not giving the impression of other, more specific fruits. It is also the fastest way to lower the pH, which can add an impression of acid. If tartaric is used, you should cold stabilize the mead to precipitate potassium bitartrate, that way the crystals do not appear when the mead is chilled in the future. This procedure has an added benefit: if the pH is below 3.6(5), then it will drop as the potassium bitartrate precipitates. This means that some of the acid flavor will be lost, but the pH will be lowered giving the impression of acid, making an acid addition even less obvious.</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The real problem with TA</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Simply put, TA cannot be measured accurately in mead. At least not by using the simple titration that many winemakers take for granted. In a normal titration the pH is adjusted to 8.2 with NaOH, but in homey this will not work like we want. Recall that the predominate acid in honey (and therefore mead) is gluconic acid, which exists in equilibrium with its lactone form gluconolactone. As the pH increases (via NaOH addition for titration) the actual amount of acid changes and the pH is lowered by this continuos equilibrium reaction. This characteristic of honey requires us to measure the free and lactone acidity separately, and add them together to get the TA.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will be posting the exact procedure for this in the future, but it can be found in USDA Technical bulletin 1261 on p55.</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Numbers vs Taste</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, we can't easily measure TA, but we can measure pH. OK, what number should my mead be? That would be too easy, and no fun. The best number to use is the one that works. You can pull some samples of the aging mead and start adding acid to them. Stop when you get to one that tastes great. Figure out how many g/L that is and add 10% less to the batch. Age and taste in a month. As for pH, as long as it's below 4.0 it's fine (though the lower, the slower it ages).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c0600; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">White, J.W., 1962, Composition of American Honeys, USDA Technical Bulletin 1261</span></i></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c0600; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c0600; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Carratu, B., 2011, </span>Journal of ApiProduct and ApiMedical Science, </i>Vol. 3 No. 2, p81-88</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-87146668148251909482014-01-27T18:00:00.000-05:002014-02-26T15:54:15.962-05:00Honey Composition: Sugars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sugar; its the thing we care about in zymurgy because it what yeast metabolize to make (in the end) ethanol. Mead is differentiated from other fermented beverages due to the use of diluted honey; so it makes sense that we should care about the exact sugar composition of honey. We'll break things down into a few classes of sugars so that things can be gleamed from a larger perspective.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Monosaccharides </u></span><br />
These are the base units from which other sugars are made through different links. They can generally be classified by the number of carbon atoms in the molecule (pentoses have 5, hexoses have 6, heptoses have 7), and can be further classified by their functional group. Honey is about 69.5% (by weight) monosaccharides.<br />
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<b>Glucose</b> (D-Glucose, Dextrose) C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>O<sub>6</sub> - <i>The</i> sugar. This is what the yeast actually prefer (being glucophilic), metabolizing it faster than other monosaccharides and faster than the production of enzymes to break down other sugars. On average honey is ~31% glucose, though it can vary from 22%-40% based on nectar source and age.<br />
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<b>Fructose </b>(D-Fructose, Levulose) C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>O<sub>6</sub><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>- The other sugar, found in almost all fruits. It may have the same formula as glucose but the placement of the atoms are different (it's an isomer of glucose). Yeast will almost never completely consume fructose in the presence of glucose, leaving some residual fructose in most wines. Honey is on average 38%, with a range of 27%-44%.<br />
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<b>Fructose/Glucose (F/G) ratio</b> - Much is made about this number in analytical winemaking. In their under ripe form, grapes have higher levels of glucose, and as they ripen the fructose levels increase until picking (with an optimum ratio of 1:1 as seen by most winemakers). As seen by the numbers, the F/G ratio in honey favors the fructose side more than many wine grape varieties. This may result in more residual fructose in mead than in a comparable wine.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Disaccharides</u></span><br />
Composed of two monosaccharides linked together, these require breaking by different enzymes produced by yeast in order to form monosaccharides that yeast can metabolize.<br />
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<b>Sucrose </b>(Saccharose) C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>22</sub>O<sub>11</sub> - Fructose and glucose held together by a glycosidic linkage. Yeast produce an enzyme called invertase which breaks this bond and allows the yeast to consume the derived monosaccharides. The average found in honey is ~1%, with a range of <1%-8%.<br />
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<b>Maltose </b>C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>22</sub>O<sub>11</sub> - Two glucose molecules joined together. Yeast excrete the enzyme maltase which breaks this molecule down to 2 glucose molecules. Honey has an average of 7% with some having as low as 3%, and others having up to 16%.<br />
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<b>Turanose</b><b> </b>C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>22</sub>O<sub>11</sub> - Fructose and glucose bonded together. Trace amounts are found in honey<br />
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<b>Maltulose</b><b> </b>C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>22</sub>O<sub>11</sub> - Fructose and glucose bonded with the same type of bond as maltose (and can be broken down with the same enzyme). It is produced via enzymatic reactions within honey between sucrose and enzymes present. Trace amounts are found in honey.<br />
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<b>Kojibiose, </b><b>Isomaltose, and </b><b>Nigerose </b>C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>22</sub>O<sub>11</sub> - These are made from 2 glucose molecules and are commonly found when glucose goes through caramelization and oxidation reaction. Trace amounts are present in honey.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Higher Sugars (Oligosaccharides)</u></span><br />
These are the larger sugar compounds that contain more than 2 monosaccharides. The average amount in honey is ~1%, with a range of <1%-9%. Most of these are not fermentable (or partially fermentable in specific circumstances).<br />
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<b>Melezitose</b><b> </b>C<sub>18</sub>H<sub>32</sub>O<sub>16</sub> - This is found in honeydew (a substance produced by certain insects commonly used by bees for food) and is present in all honey even if it is a nectar honey. It can undergo hydrolysis producing glucose and turanose. Trace amounts.<br />
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<b>Erlose</b><b> </b>C<sub>18</sub>H<sub>32</sub>O<sub>16</sub> - Trace amounts.<br />
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<b>Kestose </b>C<sub>18</sub>H<sub>32</sub>O<sub>16</sub> - Glucose and 2 fructose molecules. Trace amounts.<br />
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<b>Raffinose</b><b> </b>C<sub>18</sub>H<sub>32</sub>O<sub>16</sub> - Galactose, glucose, and fructose. Trace amounts.<br />
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<b>Dextrantriose </b>C<sub>18</sub>H<sub>32</sub>O<sub>16</sub> - Trace amounts.<br />
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OK. What does this mean? While the complexity for wines usually comes from an abundance of aromatic compounds, it seems that honey has a very complex sugar profile that is not found in many other products.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Variations</u></span><br />
At the top of the post you'll notice a chart comparing many different varietal honeys. Ken Schramm's book <u>The Compleat Meadmaker</u> has a similar chart on pgs. 96-97, both his chart and mine are compiled from the same raw data (with some differences in which samples were chosen): Dr. White Jr's study <u>Composition of American Honeys</u>. Why can such a chart exist? Because honey from different nectar sources shows marked differences in the sugar profile, and while this may vary with vintage and location, the difference is less than the difference between different nectar sources.<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MomCT-lOMwA/UugZL8MsuOI/AAAAAAAAABk/ncPkS2rUWAM/s1600/Honey+storage.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MomCT-lOMwA/UugZL8MsuOI/AAAAAAAAABk/ncPkS2rUWAM/s1600/Honey+storage.gif" height="189" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Age</b><br />
The length and condition of storing honey has an impact on it's sugar profile. To the right you will see a data table showing how the composition of honey <i>can</i> change over time, however it does not agree with the findings of Dr White Jr.<br />
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<br />
Here are two graphs of the table above.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e5B9tiTHeR0/UuggxtG9pEI/AAAAAAAAACw/IkhmDPrcyI0/s1600/sugar+change+in+honey+(monosaccharides)2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e5B9tiTHeR0/UuggxtG9pEI/AAAAAAAAACw/IkhmDPrcyI0/s1600/sugar+change+in+honey+(monosaccharides)2.gif" /></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A-88QHeq_Hk/Uuggx7TivDI/AAAAAAAAAC0/SUUdw4IObS0/s1600/sugar+change+in+honey+(polysaccharides)2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A-88QHeq_Hk/Uuggx7TivDI/AAAAAAAAAC0/SUUdw4IObS0/s1600/sugar+change+in+honey+(polysaccharides)2.gif" /></a>In Dr White's findings, he states that there is a decrease in both fructose and glucose as honey is stored. He also notes that the reducing sugars (maltose here) increase, as well the sucrose and higher sugars.<br />
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Looking at the graphs, none of these seem to be correct. The data from the above two graphs is from an experiment that used "a honey sample of 1kg . . . collected and mixed with 1kg of winter store after it had been deposited by bees from the syrup (sucrose:water ratio of 3:2) fed to them". What?! It has been common practice for quite some time to remove as much honey as possible from hives and to feed the bees a syrup that is supposed to provide the same benefit as honey. Using this method beekeepers can collect >90% of the honey in the hive, where traditional methods (leaving some honey behind for the bees) cannot come near this.<br />
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Why have I reported this data if it is useless? I'll quote from Dr White:<br />
"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">These Changes [changes in sugar due to storage] are in the direction of increased
complexity of sugars. They are probably brought about by two mechanisms –
chemical and enzymatic. A high sugar concentration and a considerable acidity,
both of which are present in honey, are known to promote a slow combination of
simple sugars. It is also thought that the enzymes in honey bring about slow
increases in the amounts of more complex sugars."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
What this means is that honey increases in complexity as it is stored, while it would seem that techniques used by very large beekeepers deprives honey of this aging potential. This may become useful if you wish to highlight certain aspects of a honey, or are looking for more complexity in your mead; or if you forgot you had some honey, you can use it and know that it will be slightly different than fresh honey. If I were you, I'd get to know my beekeeper and make sure that it is truly quality honey, even if the price is more.<br />
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<br />
Rybak-Chmielewska, H., 2007, Changes in the Carbohydrate Composition of Honey undergoing During Storage, <i>Journal of Apicultural Science</i>, Vol. 51 No.1, p39<br />
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White, J.W., 1961, A Survey of American Honeys 3. Identity of Honey Sugars, <i>Gleamings in Bee Culture</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">White, J.W., 1961, A Survey of American Honeys 8. Effect of Storage on Honey Sugars, </span></i><i>Gleamings in Bee Culture</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">White, J.W., 1962, Composition of American Honeys, USDA Technical Bulletin 1261</span></i></span></i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9020787428012199649.post-63287202023869207392014-01-26T17:20:00.001-05:002014-01-26T17:41:35.003-05:00Another Brewing/Winemaking Blog? Nope!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Midus. Met.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Mjöd.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Hydromel.</span> Aguamiel. Ydromeli. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Medu.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">MEAD!</span><br />
Not beer, wine, nor sake (although that would be an interesting blog); mead, that's what this blog will be about. Maybe some art, some science, and some random whatevers!<br />
I hope to do experiments every so often, and keep a post once a month about them. Hopefully, I'll have some useful insight for everyone to gleam from, maybe not.<br />
This should turn out to be a weekly blog as I don't have the time to do it daily (and doubt that anyone would want to read my thoughts daily, except for some NSA guys).<br />
OK. Nice, short, simple (but effective) first post. DONE.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05510147451494661315noreply@blogger.com0