Elevation

[ibwahooka]

Hey everyone,
Just a thought my wife threw at me tonight. Does elevation affect yeast production in beer/soda?

-Shawn

 

[Medsen Fey]

It is my understanding that yeast fermenting under a vacuum divide and ferment faster (if they have the sterols and nutrients to do so), so being at higher elevations might offer a slight benefit. I don't think it will make too much of a difference in the rate of a typical fermentation however.

 

[akueck]

How do you keep liquid in a vacuum? Must be a pretty crappy vacuum, being all full of water vapor. (hehe) Could it be more of a dissolved gases thing? If you're pumping out the headspace, you'll get the CO2 out of suspension faster (keeping the CO2 in the must at a very low concentration) and I am pretty sure CO2 in solution is a yeast inhibitor.

Short answer to the OP: yes, but unless you're comparing Death Valley with Mt McKinley you won't see any difference. Even then it should be very small, the difference being the equilibrium point of gases in the must with the air.

 

[wayneb]

I can offer a personal anecdotal perspective... I have made meads in the past at near sea-level (in Houston), all the way up through where I now live in Colorado (7500+ ft altitude). I saw absolutely no quantifiable difference in fermentation attributable to the altitude difference. There's much more effect just from proper fermentation management (nutrients, oxygen, temperature control, pH, etc.).

 

[Matrix4b]

Hmm, I am in Colorado and my meads are turning out very potent. I think around 15 to 18 percent. I use Lavin D-47 but I like sweet meads so I use 20 pounds in a 5-6 gal batch. I don't do much more than stir it well when I put it together. I do put 1 tsp of yeast nutrient and 2 tsp of yeast energizer. But I am ending up with a mead that is both sweet and kicks your rear in potency. After 6 months to a year of aging I don't get the rocket fuel taste at all. I wonder what my diffrence is. Ofcourse I do use Unfiltered honey. Madhava's Alphalfa to be precice.

 

[wayneb]

Matrix, you're just doing something right!

Seriously, most active dry yeast will push past their rated ABV limits when properly nourished -- whether you do staggered additions or add it all near the start of fermentation -- provided that pH and oxygenation are both good at the start.

So your results are not out of bed with anyone else's, and whether they're higher or lower than you in altitude won't make an appreciable amount of difference. (Unless they happen to be up at the top of Mt. McKinley or K2 or the like....) ;D

 

[Matrix4b]

Matrix, you're just doing something right!

;D

Great to know. I wonder if using unfiltered yeast is the reason that it is a well fed yeast and the fact that I add yeast nutrient and energizer. I took the directions I commonly use directly out of The Complete Mead Makers Guidebook. Great book. I wish it had more in it about amounts of spices to use in meglethins and when it is better to add fruit and the like in the primary as opposed to the secondary. But all in all it does what it claims: A complete mead maker guidebook. I felt that it was very well researched and focus on the process rather than toting how good mead is and that it is wonderful and all. More of like a cookbook for mead. Anyway, Thanks for letting me know that it isn't the altidude and all or that I am just lucky.