03-16-2004, 03:50 AM
The keyhere is to make sure that fermentation has ENDED before you put it intothe fridge. You can make sure that fermentation has ended bylooking closely at the (unrefrigerated and unopened) beverage in thelight. If no bubble are rising, fermentation has ended. Fermentation usually ends because of one of three reasons:1) All the useable sugars are consumed by the yeast and the yeaststarves. (a dry beverage).2) The alcohol content gets to 15-17%. Alcohol contentthis high will kill the yeast. 3) The yeast consumes all the useable amino acids and othernutrients in the beverage and the yeast starves. (there areother reasons that yeast can die and fermentation ends, but that is awhole 'nother article) Sulfitesare not necessary if you plan to consume the drinks within theyear. (longer for higher octane drinks). Generally, I don'trecommend adding chemicals to your beverages. One of the majorreasons people beginning making their own beverages is to get away fromcommercially-added chemicals. Sulfites are like pesticides: they serve a vital purpose for mass production but have no nutritionalvalue, and some people are highly sensitive to them. (sulfites arenot insecticides)isthere any possibility of the drink beggining to ferment again andexploding due to the pressure? Wheneveryou vint or homebrew, or any hobby that includes putting any pressurizedsubstance into a container, bursting is always apossibility. But it usually happens when people do somethingfoolish like trying to store champagne in a wine bottle, or beer in awater bottle, etc. Will the drinks go bad due to severaltemperature changes? Alldrinks, including commercially prepared ones, will EVENTUALLY go bad dueto several temperature changes. Temperature changes shorten the"shelf life" of all beverages including beers, wines, Coke,Pepsi, etc even things like bottled water. Temperature changes likeyou described for a beverage consumed within a year should not noticeablyeffect the quality.At 01:14 AM 3/16/2004 +0000, you wrote: Once I finish making the drink, and I allow it to refrigerate - are there any hazards in pouring it into glass bottles and using a capping machine? I plan to seperate the yeast from the drink by slowly pouring it out (about 90% of it at least) and leaving the yeast at the bottom of the bottle. I guess the question I'm trying to get at is... if I pour the drinks into glass bottles and cap them, but then the drinks warm up (lets say in my trunk after a party), is there any possibility of the drink beggining to ferment again and exploding due to the pressure? Will the drinks go bad due to several temperature changes? If sulfites are a necessity for the bottling process, where can I get them? Yahoo! Groups LinksORGINAL POSTER: terracore