magnets and aging

[Deafmeadmaker]

There's a winery near my house and I found out they use magnets about the size of hockey pucks to instantly age their wine. I talked shop with them and got their permission to try it with my mead.
Two bottles from the same batch. One goes in the fridge and the other goes on the magnet for 30 minutes. The magnetized bottle tastes... refined. I'm not sold on this technique for aging. I still hold that the honey needs time to absorb it's surroundings. On the other hand, they're selling their home made craft wines bottle over fist. In the perfect scenario, we partner up. I make mead to expand their product base. They, in turn show me the ropes to getting licensed for me to open my own meadery.
Has anyone ran into this before and is this some snake oil slick selling technique?

 

[Maylar]

Google says it's pretty much nonsense. Placebo effect at best. There's no underlying science to support the claims that magnets can make a difference.

Best of luck with your venture, however.

 

[Deafmeadmaker]

Google says it's pretty much nonsense. Placebo effect at best. There's no underlying science to support the claims that magnets can make a difference.

Best of luck with your venture, however.

Like I said; I'm not sold on the technique. It has been my experience the best way for mead to come to it's fullest potential is time. My Google searches came up the same: Placebo effect. I was looking for a consensus from the hive mind here on the forum.

 

[beernutz]

I don't know about the use of magnets but there is some solid science behind the claim that wine can be rapidly aged using electricity. Here is a journal article on the subject.

"The effects of AC electric field on wine maturation" in Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=D35F5DCD5473EBDF402DF3BF38687DDF?doi=10.1.1.627.6019&rep=rep1&type=pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiFkZKIj7XbAhWlzlkKHbLkA8UQFjACegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3xo7ni8q94vrvBvST0wpqj

 

[Deafmeadmaker]

Thanks for the info, beernutz. I'm reading it over now.

 

[JDWebb]

Followed some advice once about putting magnets in my shoes. Suddenly I was walking around with nails, washers, nuts and bolts stuck to my feet...

 

[ancientmariner52]

Try some blind tasting, where neither the observers nor tasters know which is which. If tasters can consistently tell them apart, then maybe. Otherwise......

 

[bernardsmith]

What are the magnets supposed to do? And how are they supposed to do this?

 

[BeerChemistWhiskey]

What are the magnets supposed to do? And how are they supposed to do this?

They probably align the flavor-electrons, allowing them to synchronize their quantum vibrations and transport the future-wine into the the present-wine's bottle.

If you like laughing at this kind of BS, check this out:

http://www.healthbreakthroughs.net/m-water.php

 

[S-Met]

Sounds like a similar action as the clef du vin. Meant to create a slowed semi-controlled oxidation. Not sure I trust it though. Seems more of a gimmick. The clef du vin is not intended to make your wine better; rather, suggest what this may taste like after x-years.

 

[ancientmariner52]

They probably align the flavor-electrons, allowing them to synchronize their quantum vibrations and transport the future-wine into the the present-wine's bottle.

If you like laughing at this kind of BS, check this out:

http://www.healthbreakthroughs.net/m-water.php

Credit where credit's due. I've never seen more nonsense crammed in to three paragraphs. Outside of campaign speeches, I mean.

 

[S-Met]

If you like laughing at this kind of BS, check this out:

http://www.healthbreakthroughs.net/m-water.php

Next year they are planning on introducing single serving dehydrated h2o in a cup. For 4.99 each or 4 for 16.00 you can have dehydrated H2O in a cup. Just buy the cup, add water and you instantly have fresh water.

 

[KTbrew]

A small winery near me does it as well. Other than that I know nothing about it.

 

[Lefou]

I'm not really sure, but do people really analyze the content of water when making mead? The only thing a magnet would influence in a liquid is dissolved ferrites or other paramagnetic metal salts. If there are any electrostatically sensitive particles in mead that could influence the taste it would definitely be worth a study or paper to be written.

I know I do when making certain styles of beer salts are added but you typically want to filter out or avoid iron content in drinking water. Magnetism affecting flavor ... it's a stretch of the imagination, in my opinion.

 

[Lefou]

Next year they are planning on introducing single serving dehydrated h2o in a cup. For 4.99 each or 4 for 16.00 you can have dehydrated H2O in a cup. Just buy the cup, add water and you instantly have fresh water.

Oh don't even start me in on that.
I've actually seen lost souls trying to convince fools of the potential dangers of dihydrogen monoxide.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Magnets work on ferrous metal (iron); unless they're EXTREMELY powerful magnets pulling the iron out of the must, they'll have no effect on your mead. Regards, GF.

 

[JDWebb]

Neither will turning you carboy to face the full moon.

 

[ancientmariner52]

Neither will turning you carboy to face the full moon.

Well, I can stop wasting my time on that, then.

 

[bernardsmith]

Neither will turning you carboy to face the full moon.

Wha! Who knew? Darn it. That might explain why my mead tastes like hooey.

 

[growlrr]

Dont you need to be drinking it in a DeLorean at 88 MPH to make that work?

 

[Lefou]

Well, well ... look what I stumbled on while reading the UK Daily Mail ...

Magnets could boost flavour
Wine could be made to taste better with magnets, drawing out foul-smelling chemicals that ruin a bottle of plonk, researchers found.

A method developed by Australian scientists used tiny magnetic particles to remove unwanted chemicals from wine, and eliminated off-tasting substances without altering its bouquet, according to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

All wines naturally contain molecules that contribute to their distinctive flavours and aromas. One group, MPs (or alkylmethoxypyrazines), smells like vegetables in certain wines, overwhelming the bouquet. Researchers utilised magnetic ‘nanoparticles’ in order to isolate the MPs in a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. A group of taste testers said the approach removed these molecules without damaging the wine’s distinct aroma intensity.

Study leader Professor David Jeffery, of Adelaide University, said there was ‘a lot to be done’ before regulators would allow the method to be applied to the winemaking process, but it could be tailored to remove chemicals other than MPs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5842031/Women-better-judges-wine-men.html

So it isn't just magnetism, it's the addition of magnetic particles as an alternative fining agent. Sort of like flocculants where charged ions in solution are attracted to dissolved compounds that have weak electrostatic charge, then they're filtered out.
It makes sense. If the magnetic particles are heavier and drop in solution, the magnets would help settle thing out.

 

[brewgar]

Credit where credit's due. I've never seen more nonsense crammed in to three paragraphs. Outside of campaign speeches, I mean.

Don't overlook this effective beneficial wafer wand. Use it in your fermentation chamber; insure yummy beer.

 

[azmark]

Gelatin works similar? When added to the beer, it attracts negatively charged particles – yeast and protein – which clump together. Their collective mass helps them settle to the bottom of the fermenter or keg. So somehow using magnets to positively charge certain ions in the beer/wine could have similar effect?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I tried magnetizing my beers. But found I had to stop drinking from any metal beer steins cause the beer wouldn't come out.

 

[JDWebb]

Australia... Of all places...

 

[JDWebb]

Guess I'm just goi g to have to go back to facing my car boys towards the moon then..

 

[fossilcat]

Guess I'm just goi g to have to go back to facing my car boys towards the moon then..

I tried to do this but couldn't decide which side of my carboy was the front. Wasted a good moon too.

 

[Ebbz]

I also was skeptical. But it might be worth challenging skepticism knowing that the forces of electricity and magnetism are irrevocably intertwined.

 

[Lefou]

I also was skeptical. But it might be worth challenging skepticism knowing that the forces of electricity and magnetism are irrevocably intertwined.

Off-topic, but there's something called the Biefeld-Brown Effect regarding how high intensity electrostatic fields affect metals and magnetism.
Anyway, if some chemist figured out how to bind a metal to the unwanted compounds, it would be a reasonable theory ... And if repeatable, it would be an interesting method to remove oxidation compounds.

 

[lump42]

I've heard that if you align crystals opposite of the magnet, it will intensify the reaction and turn it into a bottle of magical unicorn swill.