One thing we’ve actively avoided talking about for the last three and a half years is water chemistry. And that’s no different today as we look at adding nitrogen to the wort before fermentation.
Clearly, Luke doesn't get it. This sort of shit is exactly why he's on a permanent ban from the brewery.
Normally, an all grain wort will have sufficient nitrogen to sustain most yeast growth. Like us, when yeast replicate, they require lots of nitrogen to make amino acids, which are the building blocks to protein. Proteins are essential for loads of reasons, from providing biophysical structural framework, to morphogenic enzymes.
When brewers assess nitrogen requirements they often talk in terms of Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN). FAN is the amount of free nitrogen available for yeast to metabolise. In general, somewhere around 150ppm FAN is sufficient for good fermentation. Some brewers consider FAN as the best predictor of healthy yeast growth and fermentation. Further exacerbating the requirement for FAN control is that excess FAN is problematic. It can lead to increases in diacetyl, higher alcohols and sulphur containing compounds.
Different yeast species have various FAN requirements. With lager strains requiring the least, and saisons, farmhouse and Belgo yeasts requiring a lot more. And in our case, when we make mead, we need to add more FAN in the form of diammonium phosphate. Unlike malt, honey has very little FAN, and so we need to top it up to get a healthy, complete ferment. We also top up our FAN with some farmhouse beers we have made and mixed culture ferments.
You could say, we’re a big FAN.
Clearly, Luke doesn't get it. This sort of shit is exactly why he's on a permanent ban from the brewery.
Normally, an all grain wort will have sufficient nitrogen to sustain most yeast growth. Like us, when yeast replicate, they require lots of nitrogen to make amino acids, which are the building blocks to protein. Proteins are essential for loads of reasons, from providing biophysical structural framework, to morphogenic enzymes.
When brewers assess nitrogen requirements they often talk in terms of Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN). FAN is the amount of free nitrogen available for yeast to metabolise. In general, somewhere around 150ppm FAN is sufficient for good fermentation. Some brewers consider FAN as the best predictor of healthy yeast growth and fermentation. Further exacerbating the requirement for FAN control is that excess FAN is problematic. It can lead to increases in diacetyl, higher alcohols and sulphur containing compounds.
Different yeast species have various FAN requirements. With lager strains requiring the least, and saisons, farmhouse and Belgo yeasts requiring a lot more. And in our case, when we make mead, we need to add more FAN in the form of diammonium phosphate. Unlike malt, honey has very little FAN, and so we need to top it up to get a healthy, complete ferment. We also top up our FAN with some farmhouse beers we have made and mixed culture ferments.
You could say, we’re a big FAN.
