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Continuous Fermentation

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Kansas Mead

Kansas Mead

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Mar 9, 2012
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Kansas
For about a week or so I have been reading African mead: biotechnology and indigenous knowledge systems in iQhilika process development by Garth Anton Cambray. A very good read about commercial mead. Now in chapter five Mr. Cambray details the building of a continuous fermentation system bench -scale. In his words


“The tower bioreactor produced a product containing approximately 9-10% alcohol by volume at a flow rate of 5.6 l/day. Within 3 days to a week of secondary fermentation in the maturation vessel this had increased to 12% alcohol. In contrast, batch mead making systems reported in the literature take many weeks to 6 months. The shift from batch to continuous mead production represents one of the largest fermentation technological advances in the history of mead making. ” page 126


Now what does everyone think about a home scale continuous fermentation for mead making?
Would it be better than a batch system?

I think it could be a big break through in home mead making.
 
Kansas,

Where are you reading this? I know of a couple of instances of continuous fermentation being used commercially (one in mead production alone and another in producing mead for use in making "honey wine vinegar"). I would be interested in reading more on this subject as well.

Ed
 
Last edited:
edblanford

The paper is called African mead: biotechnology and indigenous knowledge systems in iQhilika process development here is the link to the paper. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcontentpro.seals.ac.za%2Fiii%2Fcpro%2Fapp%3Fid%3D4440574678728512%26itemId%3D1003988%26lang%3Deng%26service%3Dblob%26suite%3Ddef&ei=2D27U9r3BcTpoASMkoKgBA&usg=AFQjCNGJlzifLo1QPXzBL69DBiHYJWp4hQ&sig2=AwtOIWq-uGVLHB-qdCPFvw&bvm=bv.70138588,d.cGU&cad=rja

Bryan38

When you toured Maine Mead Works did you see the fermentation room?
 
I'm pretty sure I read in another thread here recently that Mr. Cambray licensed the Maine Mead Works to use his continuous fermentation system.

My $.02, having studied continuous reactors during my university days? That's fine if you're making a lot of traditional mead. But if you've only got limited supplies or you're trying to incorporate fruit, you might run up against its limitations.
 
I agree that there are limitations to this system but there are many things we can learn from it. For example, would using a pump to recirculate the must lead to a better ferment? Also, does a fast ferment mean better tasting mead? I like to think so.

You are welcome, have fun reading! edblanford
 
Well, the experiments with stir plates suggest that yes, keeping things moving does lead to a faster, cleaner ferment.
 
I did tour fermentation room. It was small they must have had 8 or so reactors.
They also used fruit in secondary. They had a nice setup You can see the setup in the article I linked. they have a picture of the fermenters
 
Thanks Bryan38 the pictures help a lot.

Chevette Girl said:
Well, the experiments with stir plates suggest that yes, keeping things moving does lead to a faster, cleaner ferment.
Click to expand...

What if a person was to use a submersible pump in the mead to create a recirculating flow? In theory the yeast would flow from the bottom to the top and could ferment better due to the mixing action of the pump.
 
Kansas Mead said:
Thanks Bryan38 the pictures help a lot.



What if a person was to use a submersible pump in the mead to create a recirculating flow? In theory the yeast would flow from the bottom to the top and could ferment better due to the mixing action of the pump.
Click to expand...

Yeah but I imagine that cleaning and sanitizing that thing afterwards would mean completely disassembling it every time.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
 
Switch to cleaner (I use Cipton, which is very effective), turn it on. Switch to water (flush), turn it on. Switch to sanitizer, turn it on. Reload and repeat. I have thought about this system as well. Small pumps, both submersible and non-submersable are very cheap, so suspended from the lid or external are both reasonable designs. A port to add nutrients/oxygen would be easy to set up, especially in an external version, so it would almost be a set and forget setup (if you were to automate every step). May be something to play with.

Ed
 
I like your idea about a port to add nutrients/oxygen. I have a submersible pump that is rated at 520 GPH, I use it to wash carboys and buckets. If one was to use a pump what should be the maximum and minimum flow rates? Any ideas.
 
I would think in the range of 5 GPH, or possibly even less, as the goal is effectively a replacement for string. I think gentle and slow would be much better than fast and possibly violent. I have a small (about 1.5 inch cube shaped) food grade pump I bought on ebay a while back. I do not remember the GPH rating, but will research it. I think I will try an external pump setup on one of my unused buckets when time and motivation allows. If it works, I will start a thread with the build and use. If not, I guess I will post that as well, as there is a huge brain trust here.
 
I think 5 GPH would be about right. I will also look into it too. Now for the next question, what type of yeast would be the best to use?
 
I could not find that low a capacity pump readily, although I am sure that they exist (somewhere). I did find (and ordered) two submersible pumps, one rated at 1 Liter per minute @ 6 VDC and one at 3.8 Liters per minute @ 12 VDC, but both can be run at a lower voltage to reduce flow. I plan to set up two 6 gallon bucket fermenters with each of these mounted to the underside of the lids. I plan to run two 5 gallon batches of BOMM with the same honey and nutrients as a test run and see where it goes. I was going to wait before doing this but am getting very interested in experimenting. I have a temperature controlled freezer that will accommodate both batches so they will truly be comparable. Maybe two-three weeks to get the pumps and everything set up, then we will see. First test batches will be warranty BOMM (OB honey from the same 5 gallon batch, cold extracted and unfiltered) as a baseline, further experimentation to follow. I will initially post the build, and then the side by side test. I have done a number of warranty BOMM, so I have something to compare to. I am also very interested in trying a modified SNA I have developed from reading and thinking (pretty dangerous stuff!), so if the basic concept appears to work, I will move on to those experiments as well.
 
edblanford said:
I could not find that low a capacity pump readily, although I am sure that they exist (somewhere). I did find (and ordered) two submersible pumps, one rated at 1 Liter per minute @ 6 VDC and one at 3.8 Liters per minute @ 12 VDC, but both can be run at a lower voltage to reduce flow. I plan to set up two 6 gallon bucket fermenters with each of these mounted to the underside of the lids. I plan to run two 5 gallon batches of BOMM with the same honey and nutrients as a test run and see where it goes. I was going to wait before doing this but am getting very interested in experimenting. I have a temperature controlled freezer that will accommodate both batches so they will truly be comparable. Maybe two-three weeks to get the pumps and everything set up, then we will see. First test batches will be warranty BOMM (OB honey from the same 5 gallon batch, cold extracted and unfiltered) as a baseline, further experimentation to follow. I will initially post the build, and then the side by side test. I have done a number of warranty BOMM, so I have something to compare to. I am also very interested in trying a modified SNA I have developed from reading and thinking (pretty dangerous stuff!), so if the basic concept appears to work, I will move on to those experiments as well.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan. Please keep me in the loop.
 
I've only just found this thread after recently reading about Maine Mead Works and am curious as to how you're travelling with setting up one of these CF systems for home use? Anyone made any progress?
I also read that the system can operate for up to a year without needing to be cleaned (however the flip side was that it's even more important to maintain a sterilised/sanitised conditions through-out that year).
 
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