Mead Lover's Digest #1310 Fri 16 March 2007

 

Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor

 

Contents:

Re: Servomyces (Dick Adams)
Re: table error (Dick Adams)
Follow up: yeast recovery (=?iso-8859-1?q?Omar=20Hern=E1ndez=20Romero?=)

 

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Subject: Re: Servomyces
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2007 18:26:23 -0500 (EST)

"David Houseman" <david.houseman@verizon.net> wrote:

> > Servomyces is essentially dead yeast. This is used to supply zinc,
> > a necessary mineral to yeast health. While there is trace amounts
> > of zinc in malt, the graphs showing increased yeast growth and
> > fermentation indicate that Servomyces does greatly improve the
> > health of yeast. I don't know what the zinc presence is in honey
> > but I would imagine that the yeast would still benefit from the
> > added zinc. It's added to the boil when making beer. I suspect
> > you'd add to water that you'd heat up to sanitize prior to adding
> > honey.

Since I do not heat my honey, I must ask 'Does the Servomyes need
to be heated to a certain temperature'

Dick


Subject: Re: table error
From: rdadams@smart.net (Dick Adams)
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2007 18:42:00 -0500 (EST)

Dan wrote:

> > http://brewery.org/library/beeslees.html#App3

> >

> > appears mis-labeled. It says "difference in gravity" and
> > then proceeds to start with 1.000 as 0%.

> >

> > This is not possible; to achieve a difference in gravity of
> > 1.000 you must start at circa 2.000 which would be solid
> > sugar under pressure.

> >

> > The labels down the left should not begin with 1.000 but
> > rather with 0.000. I mention all this as the URL above
> > is a link on a number of other pages and appears in the
> > archives here.

> >

> > If I am wrong, I am sure corrections will now appear.

You are correct. The auther needs to start the start the
column witb 0.000. Also neither of the ABV calculations
agree with his calculations. But then who can tell the
difference between 10% ABV and 10.2% ABV?

Dick


Subject: Follow up: yeast recovery
From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Omar=20Hern=E1ndez=20Romero?= <omar_h_r@yahoo.com.mx>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:15:59 -0500 (CDT)


Hello,

I want to thank those that responded to my questions, and have some comments.
By the way, my "beverage" started fermenting three days after posting, and
it tastes like cheap wine now… anyway, it didn't serve its purpose, since
I see very little difference in the amount of yeast.
These are my comments and follow-up questions:

Kristo Homzi > … and then prepare a small mead batch (< 0.5 gallon),…
Well, this is kind of my standard batch!! Due to space limitations,
my batches go from 1.5 to 4 liters.

Kristo Homzi > If you want to get another batch started on the cheap, recover
Kristo Homzi > some of the yeast upon first racking of the fresh batch,
Kristo Homzi > about 1 week after first pitching it. This yeast is highly
Kristo Homzi > active and will activate another batch within 3 days, generally.
I think this may be the best; I tried recover from fermentations that had
almost finished, maybe a big portion of the yeast are already dead or too
stressed to reproduce and grow a healthy new culture.
I'll try this next time.

Kristo Homzi > Your yeast is attenuated after 3 generations or so…
What does this mean exactly? What should I understand by a "generation"?
I entered one yeast biology forum, and discovered there that yeast cells can
reproduce safely up to 30 times; of course, this is not directly applicable
to a homebrewing culture, though. I think that you refer to a combination
of several variables, such as yeast viability, maybe average age, stress, etc.

Stencil > …and, probably, "stabilizers," i.e. yeastkillers
Well, that's something I routinely look for in my supplies. In this case, I
forgot to add that the beverage in question also has some citric acid
(harmless?) and vitamin C. By mexican law, any product must declare whether
it uses preservatives, and what, this way, sodium sorbate, benzoate, and the
like are words that you commonly read in any label. Also, I have made wines
from Welch's grape juice (grape only, not mixed-fruit like the "beverage" in
question), which do indicate that they contain sulfites. I haven't had any
problems starting these wines (in fact, the first one had to be re-sanitized
because fermentation started too quickly and agressively).
Anyway, I cannot state that the beverage did not contain preservatives, only
that I did not expect that based on previous experiences.

Stencil > …if you feel you have to add a campden tablet to clean up the
Stencil > juice/starter/wort/must, then wait 24 hours or so to allow the gases
Stencil > to dissipate, before pitching the yeast.
OK, I'll take that into account. Good catch!

Stencil > …The yeast will respond to the oxygen-rich environment by entering
Stencil > a reproductive phase for a few hours…
Anything that can help the yeast in the process? ADP? Remove alcohol (change
growing media? Sugars?

Dick Adams > Fermenting at 7C (44.6F) is the lower limit for EC-1118.
Dick Adams > Per Lallemand, 71B-1122 has a lower limit of 15C (59F).
How should I apply these guidelines? My fridge is below 15°C, and I definitely
see [slow] fermentation activitiy for my 71B while in the fridge. Does
this apply to "vigourous winemaking fermentation"? I think that the yeast
does not fully inactivate, but enters a slow-pace activity.

Dick Addams > Where are you located geographically?
In Querétaro, A 3/4 million people city located 200 km NW from Mexico City.


End of Mead Lover's Digest #1310