---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


***************************************************************
       THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

          Northern  Brewer, Ltd. Home Brew Supplies
Visit http://www.northernbrewer.com  to show your appreciation!
               Or call them at 1-800-681-2739

    Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********


Contents:
  FOY, 2005-Response- Jerry Scott ("Rob Moline")
  FOY, 2005 -Response- methlyene blue ("Rob Moline")
  FOY-05-Mixed Strain Yeasts ("Rob Moline")
  Subsitution for Special B malt? ("BILL KUNKA")
  Re: Ballantine Ale Clone (asemok)
  Re: Turbo Tap ("May, Jeff")
  Special B ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  RE: Malt Chart ("Meyer, Aaron D.")
  Results of the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition (Scott and Cherie Stihler)
  MCAB VII Reminder / Website ("David Houseman")
  Anaheim Water ("Martin Brungard")
  Re: Solera Bourbon Barrel beers ("Martin Brungard")
  Response: FOY, 05-Immobilized Yeast/GMO/Cell Death/Strain #'s ("Rob Moline")


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*           The HBD Logo Store is now open!             *
*            http://www.hbd.org/store.html              *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*  Suppport this service: http://hbd.org/donate.shtml   *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*   Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!   *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*   Fortnight of Yeast 2005 - 10 July through 24 July   *
*       Presented in cooperation with Lallemand         *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word
  "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL
  ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!**
IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to
  the digest as we cannot reach you. We will not correct your address
  for the automation - that's your job.

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright 
  HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK 
  before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content 
  cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to 
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
                  and Spencer Thomas



----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 22:15:50 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: FOY, 2005-Response- Jerry Scott

From: jerry & Lilly Scott
Subject: Fortnight Of Yeast, 2005

Q.  I am getting ready to go to Germany for a couple of  weeks.  Please
duscuss methods of harvesting and transporting yeast samples from the
brewies I am likely to visit.

In particular I am interested in what it would take for me to  harvest
and culture samples from my favorite Lager and Hefe Weizen (both from
are from Mahr's Brau in Bamberg.  The Lager is their "Ungespundet"
(non-filtered) beer and so I would think that a sample should be fairly
easy to harvest from a bottle of either.

However, if it would be practical to bring two or three more yeasts home
I would certainly like to.

Thanks Jerry Scott


Jerry,

The best way to transport yeast is on slants of YM or wort agar. YM agar
is commercially available from various producers like Oxoid, Difco, or
Himedia. You can produce wort agar yourself by adding 1.5-2% agar to
regular wort. The yeast can be isolated by putting the bottle in a
fridge and let the yeast settle, than decant the beer and take a loop
(or toothpick) full of yeast and inoculate the slants.

The problem is that you might have some trouble at customs if they find
your yeast cultures. Therefore the easiest way to pass customs is to
bring the beer itself in its original bottle and isolate the yeast at
home. BUT this only works for the non-filtered lager beer. The
Weizenbier will most likely have different yeast in the bottle than used
for the main fermentation. Weizenbier producer tend to use lager yeasts
for bottle conditioning because of their better flocculation properties.

If you visit the brewery you could also ask the brew master if he could
give you a little sample of his yeast. If you mention that it is for
home brewing and not for commercial application I am sure he will give
you some yeast slurry. You should keep these samples refrigerated as
much/long as possible and you should be able to keep the yeast alive
until you are home. There you can cultivate the yeast on slants or
plates. But customs might be a problem again for this option.

Tobias

"The More I Know About Beer, The More I Realize I Need To Know More About
Beer!"
- --
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.1/51 - Release Date: 7/18/2005



Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 22:21:39 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: FOY, 2005 -Response- methlyene blue

From: David Edge <david.j.edge at ntlworld.com>
Subject: Fortnight Of Yeast, 2005 - methlyene blue

In the last fortnight of yeast you mentioned the methylene blue
technique. I use methylene blue, but am not sure how long it lasts or
what its failure mode is - does it make live cells look dead or dead
ones look alive when it goes off? It's not easy to find so I'd like
to use it as long as possible.

Regards
David Edge
Derby, UK

David,
It becomes more and more difficult to differentiate between dead and
alive cells the older your methylen solution is. This means you will end
up with more light blue cells and it depends on how the person who does
the microscopic exam interprets the blue color. 

I don't know what kind of methylen blue you have (powder, stock solution
or ready to use) but the ready to use solution should be ok for 3 month.
Stock solutions can be kept for much longer; the powder can be kept
almost indefinitely.  

Tobias 
- -- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.1/51 - Release Date: 7/18/2005



Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 22:26:23 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: FOY-05-Mixed Strain Yeasts

Hi, long time lurker here.
I am very intrested in traditional brewing practices,
and in researching the methods used in the past it is
very hard to find information about yeast, primarly
because brewers were unaware of its existance untill
recently.

I would like a mixed strain yeast that I can reculture
infinatly. The goal would be to develop a mix of
yeasts that would be a 'house blend' and would mutate
over time. The reculturing technique would be scooping
off the yeasty head of active beer, using the sludge
at the bottom of the fermenter, or simply pouring part
of the old batch into the new one. The fermenter will
eventualy be a wooden barrel, so that should help to
carry the yeast over between batches.

Is it feasable to continue this for years? Will yeast
mutations cause undrinkable beer?

The alternative is to use wild yeast in every batch,
which would allow an amount of consistancy and reduce
the chances of contamination of the yeast culture. Is
this a better option? If so, what types of wild yeasts
are good for making beer? I know specific wild yeasts
are associated with certain plants, what plants can I
grow that will have tasty yeasts on them?

Thank you very much for your time. If possible,
answers to both sets of questions would be very
helpful. Looking foward all the info this year!
 -Will in oregon.

Will,
I assume you will produce ale styles if you want to use traditional
brewing practice. In this case reusing the yeast for indefinite times is
possible. There are a couple of breweries which reuse their yeast for
more than 10 years now. You will have some mutations over time like
changes in flocculation, sugar use and so on... but undrinkable is a
very subjective measure. I probably have a different definition of
undrinkable than you do. 

The most common yeasts in beer are Saccharomyces species but you can
also find some Brettanomyces (see lambic beers) or Torulaspora. Wild
yeasts in beer are not so much originated from plants/raw materials than
from the environment in your fermentation room (air, fermentation
vessel...). All yeasts that are originated from malt or hop will be
killed during the boiling of the wort. One way to get the "wild" yeast
from your house flora is to leave strong hopped wort without yeast in an
open fermentation vessel and wait until it starts to ferment. You will
have initially all kinds of yeast and bacteria in your wort but the hop
and the fermentation products (alcohol and CO2) will be selective and
only a few yeast species and bacteria will survive in the finished beer.
You can crop the yeast start a new batch. If the beer is to your liking
you can use the crop yeast as your "house blend".

Tobias

- -- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.1/51 - Release Date: 7/18/2005



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:12:30 -0400
From: "BILL KUNKA" <wkunka at vianet.ca>
Subject: Subsitution for Special B malt?

OK I have been unable to find any special B malt and have a recipe for a 
barley wine that calls for a 1/2 pound of it, what can i use in place of it? 
Does Special B malt go by another name? 




Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:24:27 -0400
From: asemok at mac.com
Subject: Re: Ballantine Ale Clone


On Jul 17, 2005, at 11:10 PM, pulsarxp at earthlink.net wrote:

> Does anyone have a clone receipe/formula for Ballantine Ale?
> I would really like to hear from anyone who could help me out.
> I can't find one searching the web.  Very frustrating!
> Thanks,
> Lee

Even more frustrating is the change that Ballantine Ale has undergone 
in it's various moves from owner to owner (and the brand is apparently 
up for grabs again, in a portfolio of brands and labels being offered 
by present owner  Pabst, who is apparently now interested in getting 
out of the brewery business).
  It's still not a bad beer at the price it sells for, but the flavor 
profile began to change (and not for the better) 20 years ago.  It is 
now a totally different beer masquerading under the great Ballantine 
name.   There are aspects of the current brew that evoke the original 
profile, but it's an elusive shadow of its former self, most notably in 
the diminished hop character and increased "corn" sweetness..

I have been experimenting with clone recipes for both the regular 
Ballantine Ale (pre 1985) and the late, lamented, (and as yet unmatched 
by any microbrewery)  Ballantine India Pale Ale.  When I finally nail 
them (and I will...I am remarkably close on the IPA) they will 
certainly be posted here for the enjoyment of all those who remember 
that a big brewery once made products that would put a lot of  
microbrews (and especially most brewpub stuff) to shame.
Stay tuned.
And if you find something before I do, let me know!!!
cheers,
AL



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:02:46 -0400
From: "May, Jeff" <Jeff.May at uscellular.com>
Subject: Re: Turbo Tap

Pretty impressive videos on the web page. I can see where concession stands
could really benefit from these.

Actually, I have been working on something very similar for filling bottles.
Since I now use a picnic faucet to fill bottles with conditioned beer from
my kegs, I have been trying to reduce foaming.  I use really cold beer and
chill the filling apparatus and bottles. But I still wanted to reduce the
turbulence of the beer hitting the bottom of the bottle when you start the
flow.  I have attached one of those nylon spray diverters (used to aerate
wort as you rack) to the end of the fill tubing.  Now I had to really shave
it down and take off one leg to make it fit into the bottle, but the
important parts are still there.  To fill, you place the diverter against
the bottom of the bottle and press the lever. This is basically the same
concept as the turbo tap.  I honestly haven't done any side-by-side testing,
but it seems to work. One drawback is that the diverter is still a little
too large in the neck and it pulls some beer and foam out as you remove it
from the bottle.  As long as you go slow, it's not too bad.  I need to come
up with a smaller overall design.   

Jeff May
Wilmington, NC
AR[649.7,148.6]
There I go building gadgets again



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:18:18 -0400
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <spencer at spencerwthomas.com>
Subject: Special B

Bill asks about substitutions for "Special B" malt.

That's a tough one, because Special B has a unique flavor profile.  You
can get the color and caramel contributions with a dark crystal (90L -
120L), but many of them are more "burnt" tasting than the "raisiny"
character that Special B provides.

I note that Northern Brewer (www.northernbrewer.com) carries Dingemans
Special B.  I haven't used this one, I've used the DeWolf-Cosyns, but 
they're now out of business, so I guess Dingemans is it.

=Spencer in Ann Arbor



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 09:32:29 -0500
From: "Meyer, Aaron D." <Aaron.Meyer at oneok.com>
Subject: RE: Malt Chart

>>>
Subject: Malt Chart?
Is there such a thing as a really thorough chart/listing of grain malts
including degrees L? <<<

Grain lists included with brewing software likely have what you like. 
I personally use BrewSmith and every malt/grain in the database includes
color, maximum percent of grainbill, and some other tidbits. I would
assume that ProMash would have a similar database. Both packages have
trial versions available on their web sites.

Keep in mind any values you get on a chart or database are not
necessarily accurate as malt color can vary by batch and season. You
might see if your HBS gets a spec sheet with their malts as it will have
batch specific information.

BrewSmith: http://www.beersmith.com
ProMash: http://www.promash.com	



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 06:48:05 -0800
From: Scott and Cherie Stihler <stihlerunits at mosquitonet.com>
Subject: Results of the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition

Please join us in congratulating Rob Beck of Kansas City, Missouri 
for winning Best of Show in the 2005 E.T. Barnette Homebrew 
Competition.

Rob has entered this competition for several years and it seems that 
his persistence has finally paid off.

Results, pictures from the judging, links to our prize donors etc. 
are given at the following URL:
http://www.mosquitonet.com/~stihlerunits/ScottsDen/Beer/Events/ETB2005.html

We'd like to thank entrants for supporting the competition.

We'd also like to thank the judges for evaluating the all the excellent beers.


Cheers,

Scott & Cherie Stihler
Fairbanks, Alaska
[2874, 324.9] Apparent Rennerian


Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 17:49:26 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: MCAB VII Reminder / Website

Plans for MCAB VII are hardening as announced below.  Almost all those who
qualified (I believe I contacted all but one) have been notified that they
are eligible to enter.  We certainly hope that if you qualified you will
chose to enter.

This is also a heads up that we will need the best judges [that money can't
buy] to judge MCAB, so make plans now to be there.  I'm estimating that we
will need a bit more than 20 judges.  Ten AM flights followed by lunch and
10 afternoon flights.

The MCAB web site has been updated (thanks to Chris Clair) and is available
at www.hbd.org/mcab.

The following is a Summer re-run of the previously posted announcement:

We have finally been able to lock down the time and place for The
Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing for 2005.   MCAB VII will
take place on Saturday, September 17th, at the Iron Hill Brewery and
Restaurant in North Wales, PA.  The organizers of the Qualifying Events for
this competition have submitted the names and contact information for most
of the
qualifiers.  Some contact information is missing; get the word out about
this competition.   Individual emails will be sent to those for whom we have
contact information soon.  Remember that the competition will use the
categories and guidelines in place during 2004, the 1999 set of guidelines.
The MCAB web site, www.hbd.org/mcab, will be updated for this year's
competition in June.  Until then all qualifiers should crank up the kettles
or get out those stowed bottles of beer and prepare to send in your entries.
The entrance fee will be $5/entry this year to offset competition costs.
Checks should be made out to David Houseman.

Entries should be sent to arrive by September 12th to:
   Keystone Homebrew
   Attn:  Alan Folsom
   779 Bethlehem Pike
   Montgomeryville, PA 18936

David Houseman
MCAB VII Competition Organizer



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 17:11:56 -0800
From: "Martin Brungard" <mabrungard at hotmail.com>
Subject: Anaheim Water


Keith has a problem with his Anaheim brewing water.  His beers aren't coming 
out to his satisfaction even after diluting it.  He didn't mention in his 
post what he was diluting with, but that doesn't matter.

A true master, A.J. Delange, recommended a strong dilution of 5 parts RO to 
1 part tap.  A.J. also recommended that there are several brewing 
calculators and articles on the web to help in formulating water.  All of 
these are good recommendations.

There is a little more that Keith should know about his water.  I found 
information on Anaheim water quickly by visiting the Anaheim Water Utility 
web site and reviewing their water quality report.  The city had included a 
comprehensive analysis of the water composition.  Many water reports are not 
that complete.

Keith, there is good reason why you can't brew good beers with this water.  
The typical ionic concentrations reported by the water utility follow.

Calcium          86 ppm
Magnesium     32 ppm
Sodium          80 ppm
Potassium       6 ppm
Sulfate         252 ppm
Chloride         90 ppm
Alkalinity       116 ppm

The water is pretty hard at 347 ppm, but the combination with the alkalinity 
leaves the Residual Alkalinity at 36 ppm.  This suggests that the water will 
produce good mashing performance for pale beers.  Water with a Residual 
Alklinity of between 50 and -50 ppm can be expected to produce the proper 
mash pH when using a pale malt grist.  The hardness indicates that the water 
certainly isn't suited to brewing a pilsner!

The Alkalinity indicates that the Bicarbonate concentration of the water is 
141 ppm.  This is a little high, but the hardness balances this out nicely 
as attested by the acceptable Residual Alkalinity.

The real problem with this water is the flavor ion concentrations.  The 
sodium concentration is generally too high for any beer and the sulfate 
concentration is too high for many beer styles.  Some references suggest 
that the sodium concentration can be up to 100 ppm.  I recommend keeping it 
to 50 ppm or below.  This is even more critical when the sulfate 
concentration is high.  This water's sulfate is very high!  So the 
combination that exists in this tap water is going to produce a very harsh 
beer.

A.J.'s recommendation for dilution with RO water is good in most cases.  
Unfortunately for Keith, if the RO water he uses is produced from his tap 
water, he can expect that the sodium concentration will still be around 32 
ppm after RO treatment.  This is because most RO membranes have poor 
rejection of sodium.  Where RO will reject about 90 percent of most ions, 
only about 60 percent of sodium is rejected.  That could still leave Keith 
with a somewhat marginal water.  He would not want to try a dilution in his 
case.  Keith should use pure RO for his brewing.  He should also avoid any 
sodium additions since the water will have a moderately high starting 
concentration.

Just a word concerning water supply for anyone receiving a portion of their 
water supply from the Colorado River.  This covers southern Arizona, 
California, and Nevada.  The river water is notorious for its high hardness, 
sodium, and sulfate content.  The recommendations presented above, probably 
apply to brewers in those areas too.  The Anaheim water is a combination of 
Colorado River water, local groundwater, and northern California water.

Keith, sorry for bringing the bad news about your water supply.

Martin Brungard
Tallahassee, FL




Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 17:22:13 -0800
From: "Martin Brungard" <mabrungard at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Solera Bourbon Barrel beers


If the upper staves of the barrel are drying out when the barrel is 
partially full, maybe the answer is to apply a wet towel to the exterior of 
the barrel to keep them wet? Then the task is just to keep the towel wet. 
Maybe a wick coming out of a bucket would work to provide a longer term 
exterior water supply to the towel?

Martin Brungard
Tallahassee, FL




Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:50:03 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: Response: FOY, 05-Immobilized Yeast/GMO/Cell Death/Strain #'s

From: Bob Devine 
Subject: Fortnight Of Yeast, 2005

Some questions about yeast.  If any of these
are answerable, please let me/us know.

1) what is the current status of brewing
    with immobilized yeast?  I've read papers
    over the past decade on this topic that
    showed some promise.  Will this ever make
    it into actual use (wasn't there a German
    brewery that tried it?).  Granted, this is
    unlikely to affect us homebrewers directly
    but it could have a secondary affect if all
    the majors move to that style of brewing.

Clayton: The commercial application of immobilized yeast technology has
arrived in the wine industry. Lallemand Inc. has been marketing
encapsulated yeast for the past three years. It is a more expensive
approach but in certain applications it is worth the added cost: 1.
Certain styles of wine require residual sugars of 3 - 5%.  It is very
difficult and expensive to stop an actively fermenting yeast at an exact
residual sugar level. Encapsulated yeast in a bag can easily be removed
and the fermentation stops at the desired sugar level. 2. Certain
strains of yeast can selectively remove malic acid from the grape
fermentation while the main sugar fermentation takes place or has
finished.  When the desired amount of malate has been consumed, the bag
of encapsulated yeast can be removed. 3. Certain genus of yeast that are
normally considered spoilage yeast, when used under very controlled
conditions, such as bags of encapsulated yeast, can impart the desired
level esters, then be removed without contaminating the fermentation and
perhaps contaminating the entire winery. 4. Certain powerful yeast can
be encapsulated and added to a stuck fermentation to complete the
fermentation to dryness.
I imagine that the use of immobilized yeast in the brewing industry will
start in speciality beers, where special strains of yeast can be added
then withdrawn when desired.

Tobias: there are a couple of groups working on it but as far as I
know there are no commercial applications yet. One problem they have is
that the beer taste does not meet the requirements although the
fermentation itself works reasonably well. I personally don't believe
that this will be used by commercial breweries in the next couple of
years... but who knows.

2) Genetic engineering has been in the news.
    Recently, a very simple virus was constructed.
    Grand claims of moving on to other artificial
    organisms have been proposed.  Are there any
    groups contemplating building a better yeast?

Clayton: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) offer great potential.
However, GMO is not looked on favorably in the food industry. Lallemand
receives many request for letters of assurance that none of our
organisms are GMO and that none of products used to produce our products
are GMO.

Tobias: Again there are a couple of groups working on genetically
modified yeast for different applications including brewing (e.g. faster
diacetyl reduction). But I don't know of any brewery using GMO yeast
since you have to label it and customers are not open in general to this
concept. 

3) Why do brewing yeasts die?  Is it from lack
    of nutrients?  Damaged cells, maybe from
    oxidation effects?  Telomere limit? Or is there
    a sinister "lemming" conspiracy here? ;-)

Clayton: There are numerous causes but primarily it is due to Stress and
old age. Prolong periods in the stationary phase eventually causes a
metabolic imbalance resulting in death. Not enough oxygen during the
growth phase resulting in a leathery cell wall as the alcohol builds up
preventing the transport systems from bringing in nutrients (sugar) and
expelling the alcohol.  The build up of alcohol inside the cell becomes
stressful and toxic.  Lack of certain minerals and vitamins can result
in death. Low alcohol beers at 3-5% are much less stressful that high
alcohol beers at 9 -10%.  20% alcohol beer is very stressful.  Up to 80%
of the yeast die immediately due to the high osmotic pressure.
Repeated and poor control of the acid wash stresses the yeast and can
cause some of the cells to die. Buds and young daughter cells seem to be
more susceptable to misshandling of acid washes. 
Yeast can multiply about 20 times before the bud scars on the surface of
the cell become so great that there is no more room for another bud.
This cell will soon die.
Most stresses are acentuated as the temperature rises, during
fermentation and storage.

Tobias: Yeast is like any other living organism... it ages and
eventually dies. Any stress will shorten the lifespan. This can be
oxidative stress but also nutrient deficiency, thermo stress, osmotic
pressure, alcohol....

 4) Are the number of yeast strains increasing
    or decreasing?  Have brewers winnowed down
    the number of active strains?  Or are new and
    beneficial mutations still being developed?

Clayton: I will let Tobias speak for the brewing industry since he was
at one time in charge of a yeast collection for a brewing school. I will
comment on the wine industry. 20 years ago we marketed three strains of
wine yeast taken from a university culture collection.  Today we have
over 500 strains in our culture collection and market over 100 strains,
all isolated from active fermentations at premium wineries through out
the world. A few were isolated from the soil of premium vineyards. Each
strain has a particular characteristic that is desirable for a certain
style of wine.
The opportunity to obtain new strains of wine yeast is much greater that
beer yeast because of the natural micro flora of grape juice verses beer
wort. Beer wort is sterile, so there is very little chance in isolating
a new strain from an actively fermenting beer wort. It is possible to
isolate a new strain that has adapted or mutated.  Grapes harvested from
an open vineyard are loaded with micro organisms from the soil, wind,
insects, hands, equipment, crushers, etc. There is no pasteurization
stage. The acid pH, osmotic pressure and alcohol eliminates all but a
select few yeast and bacteria which end up doing the fermentation. Every
vineyard, every winery, every grape varietals, every fermenter, every
season offers the potential of us isolating a new and exciting strain.
Nature has thousands of strains that have never been touched. We are
beginning to isolate beer strains in wineries (Italy)that produce very
good wine.
The goal of using commercially produced naturally isolated strains of
wine yeast is to overwhelm the indigenous micro flora in each fermenter
with a specific strain of yeast.
There are numerous strains of our wine yeast that produce excellent beer
and I believe offer the brewing industry a new source of yeast for
brewing.  There is a mind set by many brewers that wine yeast will make
the beer taste like wine. That mind set will be a stumbling block to
finding new strains of yeast for beer production.

Tobias: In theory the number of strains should still increase through
natural mutation. But breweries are selecting the yeast to fit their
production and desired flavor so I would say the number of strains
actually used in larger breweries is declining.

- -- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.2/52 - Release Date: 7/19/2005



Return to table of contents

---