Mmmm mr. yeast, please eat this

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tandpbrewing

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So, hypothetically speaking, if someone were to try and do something creative in a brew, but accidentally ended up with a large amount of high fructose corn syrup in their beer (say from not reading the ingredients list on something)...
Let's assume this beer did not ferment all the way (no surprise, s-04 doesn't eat HFCS...).

Naturally this beer would taste oversweet due to unfermented sugars.
Is there any yeast that could digest HFCS? I'm thinking maybe brettanomyces, I know White Labs sells some (or I could just hope for a very kind strain to eventually infect my beer...)

Anyone know if this could do it?
If not, is there any fining that drops unfermented sugars out? Gelatin?

...hypothetically of course.
 
Is HFCS non fermentable? I dont think it is. What is your recipe? What temperature are you fermenting at? How long has it been there? OG, expected FG & current gravity? If you are under attenuated, there could be other reasons.
 
Many strains of brettanomyces can eat all kinds of normally unfermentable sugars. Not sure if HFCS is one of them though

Not sure you want to go the funky route, but it could be an option.
 
I'm not sure that the HFCS is the problem either. But, if you are looking to break down the more complicated sugars, then try a little Beano. It has worked for me in the past.
 
HFCS isn't a kind of sugar, it's corn syrup with a higher than normal level of fructose. Fructose is 100% fermentable by yeast, so the HFCS likely isn't the problem. What did you add that had corn syrup in it, it may have also contained something to prevent infection, potassium benzoate for example.
 
BarleyWater said:
HFCS isn't a kind of sugar, it's corn syrup with a higher than normal level of fructose. Fructose is 100% fermentable by yeast, so the HFCS likely isn't the problem. What did you add that had corn syrup in it, it may have also contained something to prevent infection, potassium benzoate for example.
Click to expand...

and by "you" he meant "the definitely-not-you person in your hypothetical scenario" of course :D
 
HFCS is very very ferment-able. It's not some fake sugar or anything, it's just corn syrup with more fructose in it.
 
And corn syrup is simply corn starch that has been enzymatically converted to glucose monomers (ala Beano). For HFCS, additional enzymes convert some of the glucose to fructose which is sweeter tasting, so you get less calories with more sweetness.
 
and as a side note, with all the HFCS being bad and all, while I haven't seen a study either way yet... but fructose is the sweetest sugar, so I would think you could use less and reduce the overall amount of sugar while maintaining the same sweetness... although fructose tastes different from sucrose and glucose.
 
z987k said:
and as a side note, with all the HFCS being bad and all, while I haven't seen a study either way yet... but fructose is the sweetest sugar, so I would think you could use less and reduce the overall amount of sugar while maintaining the same sweetness... although fructose tastes different from sucrose and glucose.
Click to expand...

HCFS is effectively identical to invert sugar: healthwise it's not going to be any different for you than honey or candi sugar, or even cane sugar for that matter, but it just tastes different because of a different source. Some research has shown that it's potentially less healthy than pure glucose, but pure glucose/dextrose isn't commonly used to sweeten drinks either because its less sweet. People get upset about it because of misreading said studies and because of fear that there's something "fake" about it being processed with microbe-derived enzymes - something that brewers should be less skittish about. :)

More on topic, what I said above applies the same to yeast as it does to people: Corn sugar, cane sugar, and HCFS are all quickly and completely fermentable by yeast. So I'm wondering, did this hypothetical situation have regular corn syrup involved? The sort you can buy at the supermarket tends to have a lot of unfermentable sugars and dextrins in it as I understand, so would cause the problem described.
 
Killer_Robot said:
HCFS is effectively identical to invert sugar: healthwise it's not going to be any different for you than honey or candi sugar, or even cane sugar for that matter, but it just tastes different because of a different source. Some research has shown that it's potentially less healthy than pure glucose, but pure glucose/dextrose isn't commonly used to sweeten drinks either because its less sweet. People get upset about it because of misreading said studies and because of fear that there's something "fake" about it being processed with microbe-derived enzymes - something that brewers should be less skittish about. :)

More on topic, what I said above applies the same to yeast as it does to people: Corn sugar, cane sugar, and HCFS are all quickly and completely fermentable by yeast. So I'm wondering, did this hypothetical situation have regular corn syrup involved? The sort you can buy at the supermarket tends to have a lot of unfermentable sugars and dextrins in it as I understand, so would cause the problem described.
Click to expand...

Yeah I always took the hfcs is bad for you as well anything in vast excess is bad for you... including water and air.

I do prefer the taste of sucrose in soda over hfcs though.
 
Wow, thanks for all the great replies.

The hypothetical brewer hypothetically used Tonic Water in his brew. I don't have a bottle handy but I suppose there is a good chance it had sodium benzoate in it, I don't suppose boiling would have done anything to that?

I don't have my notes in front of me as I am at work, but it definitely fermented part way. IIRC it started up near the 8.5-9% range on the hydro (sorry I don't remember the actual reading I suppose its 1.07 ish. Last time I checked after all apparent activity stopped it was 4.5%ish.

So, repitch? Cry and pour out? Glad to hear that HFCS is fermentable, perhaps it still has a chance then.
 
I was suprised to hear that tonic water has HFCS in it - I would have thought it was completely unsweetened - but a quick look at Schweppes' web site confirms it (sorry I didn't believe you!)

It also lists sodium benzoate, but unless you used massive amounts of it, I do not think you should worry, especially if fermentation already started. It is likely that it is diluted so much that it will not make a dent in the yeast reproduction.
 
JLem said:
I was suprised to hear that tonic water has HFCS in it - I would have thought it was completely unsweetened - but a quick look at Schweppes' web site confirms it (sorry I didn't believe you!)

It also lists sodium benzoate, but unless you used massive amounts of it, I do not think you should worry, especially if fermentation already started. It is likely that it is diluted so much that it will not make a dent in the yeast reproduction.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought tonic water was just club soda with quinine until after I poured it in and THEN looked at the ingredients (smart thinking I know).

I DID use massive amounts unfortunately, and the fermentation stopped less than halfway through...
 
look into another reason, it's not the hfcs.

Also... it stopped halfway through. Like in 3 days instead of 7 or at 1.030 instead of 1.015?
 
z987k said:
look into another reason, it's not the hfcs.

Also... it stopped halfway through. Like in 3 days instead of 7 or at 1.030 instead of 1.015?
Click to expand...

Hydrometer halfway, not days.

So sodium benzoate solution??? just repitch? make a big starter?
 

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