What is the correct defination of fermentables

[rave808]

I know sugar and dme are considered to be fermentables and fruit is also but what does fermentables actually mean ?What is a correct defination of it

 

[Barnzy02]

Fermentable means ... in the simplest of terms - able to be fermented, which means the yeasties are able to convert the sugars into alcohol.

 

[PseudoChef]

In the homebrewing context it would be a sugar that is able to be metabolized by (generally) S. cerevisiae or S. pastorianus, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide.

 

[rave808]

what if i use cherries as a fermentable in my secondary if I add to much other than flavor what could be the outcome ?and in priming if i add cherry juice with the corn sugar ...I can make my beer too carbonated because i have the corn sugar and the sugar from the cherry juice acting as a priming agent...so if i am correct i would have to adjust the amount of corn sugar i would use to compensate for the amount of sugar from the cherry juice if i am correct how do you figure the formula out.....sorry for the multible questions ...just trying to understand stuff thanx

 

[storunner13]

Well, if you add cherries, the yeast would ferment the sugars in them, leaving some cherry flavor, and a little more alcohol. You can prime with cherry juice, but as you suggested, the yeast would ferment the sugar in the cherry juice, just as it would ferment the corn sugar. I'd figure the formula out but checking how many grams of sugar/volume of cherry juice there is. For example, you have 5 gallons of beer, at 70˚, and carbonating to 2.5 volumes. According to Tasty Brew you need 4.3 oz of cane sugar or 4.5 oz of corn sugar. If 1 quart of cherry juice has 100 grams (3.5 oz) of sugar, you'd need an additional ounce of corn sugar to get up to the correct priming rate. Actually, more like 1.1 or 1.2 ounces, since your final bottling volume would be 5.25 gallons.

 

[unionrdr]

In more basic terms,it's simple sugars that the typical brewing yeast can metabolize. Long chain sugar molecules like Maltodextrin can't be metabolized by brewing yeast,thus they add body,or mouth feel. They can also falsely raise the FG.

 

[rave808]

ok thanx