Fermentation variables

Important physical and chemical

variables for alcoholic fermentation
 A cautionary note…
• Remember that a hydrometer does not
measure ‘sugar’ or for that matter, ‘alcohol’,
directly
• A hydrometer measures density
• Any component in solution that affects
solution density will affect S.G.
• Sugar increases density, alcohol decreases
density
• You cannot calculate either sugar content or
alcohol content from an S.G. reading where
both sugar and alcohol are present!
 ‘Investigations’ in Fermentation
• A common assignment seems to be to
investigate the effects of changing one
variable in the must/juice
• Important to remember when performing such
experiments that fermentation is a biological
process
• Any ‘effect’ observed will be fundamentally
due to a change in yeast metabolism/viability
 Typical variables
• pH
• Acidity or varying acid profile
• Initial sugar concentration
• Type of sugar (glucose, fructose, sucrose)
• Temperature
• Yeast strain
• Yeast preparation
• Usually investigated against a ‘control’
 What sort of results?
Can we draw conclusions?
• Failure of fermentation onset
• Increased/decrease lag phase period
• Increase total fermentation period
• Failure of fermentation completion - ‘stuck’
• Increased/decreased alcohol production
• Final residual sugar levels
• Variability in other fermentation products
• Changes in pH or acidity pre- to post- fermentation
• Other changes – colour, smell, clarity
 pH
• Yeast will ferment sugar to alcohol over a very large pH
range
• Winemaking pH range is typically 3.0-4.0
• Changing initial pH generally has little effect on
fermentation kinetics or products, or final alcohol levels
• Very low pH (<3) will impede yeast
• Higher pH >4 will favour bacteria and other competing
organisms (Acetobacter)
• Very high pH >4.5 will favour other pathways of sugar
catabolism (reduced alcohol production)
• pH will affect role of any SO2 present as action of SO2 is
pH dependent
• pH does not usually change much during normal ferment
 Acidity
• Acids in fruits are weak organic acids
• Acid profile varies with fruit (handout)
• Most acids do not take significant part in fermentation metabolism
• Tartaric acid may precipitate as tartrate salt (loss of acidity)
• Malic acid may be metabolised to lactic acid (loss of acidity) by
yeast or MLF bacteria
• Faulty ferment may produce excess acetic acid (increased acidity)
• Acidity and pH may change slightly due to production of alcohol
(changes buffer capacity)
 Changes in Acidity and Acid
Profile during Fermentation
• Acidity (TA) may increase or decrease overall
• Succinic acid, acetic acid produced via normal
alternative pathways (increase)
• Some yeast strains may produce malic acid, more
may convert some of malic acid to lactic acid
(increase or decrease)
• Tartaric acid is stable to microbial action but can
precipitate with liberated potassium ions (as
potassium tartrate or potassium hydrogen tartrate)
 Sugar
• Sugars in fruit are usually a combination of
glucose, fructose and sucrose
• Grapes approx 1:1 glucose:fructose, trace
sucrose (other fruits, see handout)
• Yeast may ferment glucose faster than
fructose.
• Sucrose is inverted by yeast enzymes to
glucose + fructose
 Sugar Concentration
• Typically 20-25% in winemaking
• This is high enough to delay onset of fermentation
(longer lag phase)
• High sugar >250g/L – cell viability reduced
- cell division retarded
- possible increased sensitivity
to alcohol toxicity
- increased production of acetic acid
- greater likelihood of stuck ferment
 Temperature
• Along with sugar concentration, temperature is one of the
most important fermentation variables
• Growth rate of yeast strongly temperature dependent
• Cell division: every 12 hours at 10˚, every 5 hours at 20˚,
every 3 hours at 30˚
• At temperatures over 20, yeast viability declines rapidly at
the end of ferment
• For many reasons, the preferred temperature for
winemaking is below that known to be optimal for ethanol
production or yeast growth
 Low temperature ferments
• 15-20˚ typical for white wine styles
• Yeast growth retarded, but yeast viability enhanced
(reduces toxicity effects of alcohol)
• Slower ferment rate – longer to complete fermentation
(note: too cold will arrest fermentation)
• Higher production of alcohol
• Increased synthesis and retention of fruit esters and
fatty acid ethyl esters
• Better flavour concentration for whites
 Higher temperature ferments
• 24-27˚ for reds
• Higher temperatures favours extraction of anthocyanins
(colour) and tannins
• Shorter lag phase = earlier alcohol production, which also
favours colour and tannin extraction
• Higher temps can favour undesirable consequences such as
increased production of acetic acid, aldehyde and acetoin,
lower ester production
• will be less noticeable in reds due to their more complex
composition
 Final Thoughts - Temperature
• Consider a juice at 23˚ Brix
• Theoretically can increase its own
temperature by 30˚ during fermentation
• However this heating occurs over days-weeks,
not all at once (luckily for yeast)
• Rise in temperature due to fermentation can
easily reach levels critical to yeast survival if
not controlled
 Yeast Strain
• Yeast strains vary considerably in many factors, such as:
• Alcohol production and toxicity tolerance
• Temperature range
• Acetic acid production
• SO2 production
• Sugar metabolism (glucophilic, fructophilic)
• Flavour production and metabolism
• Selection of yeast strain is a critical decision in
commercial winemaking