Goya Malta...

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Pelikan

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So I'm in the grocery store today, and see Goya Malta on the shelf in individual bottles. It was labeled as a more or less non-alcoholic beer. I've never had a non-A before, and figured "what the hell" and got a bottle.

When I tasted it, it was exactly (exactly) like a small sample of unfermented, diluted wort I had tried one time (fairly nasty, in other words). Is that basically what this stuff is, unfermented wort?

My first thought was "what a waste of good malt and hops," but then I thought maybe this stuff could be used for something brew-wise, like a pre-made starter solution or something. Any thoughts?
 
Do a search for Goya Malta and you will see the answer. :) A bunch of threads on starters. Yesterday someone mentioned the stuff and I had no idea what it was so I searched it.
 
Ah ha! That's pretty funny, I just picked it up on a whim, and it's actually pretty widespread in the brewing community. I may very well use it as the base for a starter with a little Wyest nutrient added, and forgo the DME boiling PITA.

Do you think the 8ish fluid ounces of this stuff used in a starter would have any notable impact on the flavor of the brew?
 
Ah ha! That's pretty funny, I just picked it up on a whim, and it's actually pretty widespread in the brewing community. I may very well use it as the base for a starter with a little Wyest nutrient added, and forgo the DME boiling PITA.

Do you think the 8ish fluid ounces of this stuff used in a starter would have any notable impact on the flavor of the brew?

Aside from your description I don't really know anything about what is in it. People use it for starters which means no preservatives I guess, which seems strange. I can't imagine it would have a big impact on a full batch though.

Sounds truly nasty as a beverage to me. I am not a fan of non-finished beer.
 
Aside from your description I don't really know anything about what is in it. People use it for starters which means no preservatives I guess, which seems strange. I can't imagine it would have a big impact on a full batch though.

Sounds truly nasty as a beverage to me. I am not a fan of non-finished beer.

Really, it's just unfermented stout wort with a minimal amount of carbonation and a dash of phosphoric acid, which, contrary to popular belief, is not a preservative but a taste enhancer. It is also hopped, which helps give yeast the advantage over other nasties.

All accounts I've read say to mix it half and half with water, which dilutes the high grav (1.075), and anything else that might be unfavorable to yeastie growth.

The basic procedure is as follows: sterilize your flask, and have a bottle of Malta on hand for your next starter. Boil 12 oz of water, throw in an 1/8th or so tsp of Wyeast nutrient, mix. Open the malta, sterilize the bottle opening, then pour into the flask. Do the same with the boiling nutrient water. Put a foam stopper on your flask, agitate a bit to encourage any residual carbonation to come out, then put in a cool water bath for about thirty or so minutes. Pitch, replace with drilled rubber stopper, and you're good.
 
Unfermented malt beverages have been around a long time. Barley water has been used as infant formula, a health tonic to clear the completion and remove wrinkles.

Oddly enough, if you ferment it, then drink it, it can clear up other people's complexions and remove wrinkles; at least until the morning after.
 
phosphoric acid, which, contrary to popular belief, is not a preservative but a taste enhancer.
Negative. It is an acidifying agent, which acts as a preservative since it lowers the pH so that bacteria can't grow. It is also an antioxidant, i.e. protects food from deterioration caused by oxygen. In other words, a preservative.

Also, see this thread concerning this topic: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/just-made-starter-goya-malta-85681/
 
Negative. It is an acidifying agent, which acts as a preservative since it lowers the pH so that bacteria can't grow. It is also an antioxidant, i.e. protects food from deterioration caused by oxygen. In other words, a preservative.

Also, see this thread concerning this topic: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/just-made-starter-goya-malta-85681/

No need to be pushy...

The amount of food-grade phosphoric acid added to Goya Malta, or coke, or any other beverage is not enough to overcome the buffering power of the drink. In other words, it won't drop the pH to the point where it would impact yeast that can tolerate 8 to 20% alcohol. It's not added as an acidifying agent per se, but to impart a tartness to the beverage that would otherwise be lacking (much less expensive when compared to citric acid, or the natural juices of lemon, lime, orange, etc).

Does it have preservative properties? Sure. But is it a preservative in the traditional sense (ie: in relation to microbial activity)? Not as it's used in food and drink.
 
1) I'm talking about bacteria, not yeast.
2) Strains that can easily tolerate 20% aren't really abundantly floating around, or even over 10-15% for that matter.
3) Malta Goya is filtered.
4) You're wrong about the pH. Cola is more acidic than lemon juice. pH of lemon juice = ~3.28-2.5. pH of cola = ~ 1.75-2.75. pH of beer = ~ 4.

But is it a preservative in the traditional sense (ie: in relation to microbial activity)? Not as it's used in food and drink.
Science seems to disagree with you: Analysis of preservatives in soft drink beverages: News from Metrohm UK
 
1) I'm talking about bacteria, not yeast.
2) Strains that can easily tolerate 20% aren't really abundantly floating around, or even over 10-15% for that matter.
3) Malta Goya is filtered.
4) You're wrong about the pH. Cola is more acidic than lemon juice. pH of lemon juice = ~3.28-2.5. pH of cola = ~ 1.75-2.75. pH of beer = ~ 4.


Science seems to disagree with you: Analysis of preservatives in soft drink beverages: News from Metrohm UK

My man, I'm not trying to start a thing over phosphoric acid, because I could really care less, but my father is a VP at a bottling plant, and I've gone into the lab there to get food grade phosphoric acid on numerous occasions for various purposes, and have had this exact same conversation with the techs.

It provides a tangy or sour taste and, being a mass-produced chemical, is available cheaply and in large quantities. The low cost and bulk availability is unlike more expensive natural seasonings that give comparable flavors, such as citric acid which is obtainable from lemons and limes.

This is a write up on food grade phosphoric from Wiki. Not the best source, but it more or less validates what I'm trying to get across. Does it acidify the cola? To an extent, yes. But the acidic nature of the drink has to do with a cornucopia of ingredients plus an abundance of dissolved CO2 (carbonic acid).

Sodium benzoate is a real preservative, targeting microbial activity. This is what Wiki has to say about SB:

Sodium benzoate is a preservative. It is bacteriostatic and fungistatic under acidic conditions. It is used most prevalently in acidic foods such as salad dressings (vinegar), carbonated drinks (carbonic acid), jams and fruit juices (citric acid), pickles (vinegar), and condiments.

Again, the phosphoric acid is added for flavor; the effect it has on pH is a concern to bottlers only insofar as it impacts the other ingredients, it is not added as a preservative. They use sodium benzoate for that purpose.

Case in point: if SB was added to Goya Malta, diluting it 50/50 with water would not save it from being unfermentable and deadly to yeast. But the phosphoric acid is no biggie (ie: it's not the greatest of preservatives, and is not intended for that purpose).

Not trying to split hairs, but when someone is consistently telling me I'm wrong, I gotta defend myself.
 
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