[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: CO2 Questions



Mike Charlton said...

>Hi all.

>Most yeasts work best if the density of the sugar/water mix is about
>1.030 (you can use a marine hydrometer to measure this, or buy one at
>a homebrew store -- the latter is cheaper).  1 pound of sugar in 1 US
>gallon of water will give you a density of about 1.045 (this is a little
>over 100 grams per liter -- you can do the math better than me :-)).
>At anywhere between 1.020 and 1.060, you can expect the yeast to work
>at its highest rate and ferment all the sugar available.

>If the density gets higher, the yeast will endure some osmotic shock and
>will work more slowly.  Reproduction will be hampered and may produce
>mutants.  It is likely that the yeast will not fully ferment all the
>sugar available.  Note that most people recommend recipes that result
>in densities of 1100-1300.  I believe this is why many people find
>DIY yeast generators unpredictible (sometimes going for 3 weeks, sometimes
>going for 1 week, etc).

This is very interesting. Does this mean that I've been wasting
85% of the sugar in the generators?

--
Dave Whittaker
Gloucester, Ontario
Canada
ac554 at FreeNet_Carleton.ca