Salut/Hi Tom S,

le/on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 03:27:27 GMT, tu disais/you said:-


>There are only a few yeast strains that are capable of reaching such high
>alcohol levels. Montrachet is one, and Prise de Mousse may be another.
>Even so, the conditions have to be favorable (temperature, nutrient, oxygen
>access) for the yeast to produce such high alcohol without "sticking"
>prematurely.

Unless I'm mistaken, the record for more or less natural yeast strains is
held by a tokay strain, which can ferment a little higher. I suspect that
there are two different abilities required. One is to be able to withstand
the high alcohol levels as the fermentation progresses, before dying. The
other (and this is where the Tokay strain excells iirc) is the ability to
survive and resist the VERY high osmotic pressure on the cell walls caused
by the very high sugar concentrations in the starting must. Given that
Tokaji Aszu Eszencia can start life with 400-500 gms/litre of sugar, there
aren't many yeasts that can withstand it and grow.
--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
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