Can you make wine with lower alcohol content? Researchers at Washington State University think so. They are growing wild in a lab to study how the yeasts behave and affect flavor and alcohol levels.
Yeasts used in winemaking — typically Saccharomyces — ferment by consuming the sugars in grapes, producing alcohol. If the grapes have higher sugar levels, they may produce wine with a higher alcohol percentage. But higher alcohol can have a range of negative consequences — bitter taste, incomplete fermentation leaving residual sugar and even higher taxes for the winemaker. WSU researchers hope, by perfecting wild non-Saccharomyces yeast strains, they can help the state’s winemakers better control the fermentation process, and reap the benefits of lower alcohol percentages.
Read more (Daily Evergreen)