Will sodium benzoate kill my yeast?

[jkpq45]

OK, here's the scheme:

I want to buy bulk cola concentrate (RC cola is all I can find at sam's club after a brief search here), mix it with the proper amount of boiled/cooled water, add some sugar to bring it to a respectable OG, ferment out and age on oak chips.

It's Jack and Coke, get it? Seems like a worthy experiment, seeing as how the syrup's cheap enough and you can get Jack Daniel's oak chips at any Walmart.

Here's the catch: there's sodium benzoate in that syrup. Sounds like a yeast killer for sure.

Any comments? On the recipe or the syrup ingredients?

Thanks,
jkpq45

 

[Evan!]

I have nothing of value to add, except the following...

Owner: Take this object, but beware it carries a terrible curse!
Homer: [worried] Ooooh, that's bad.
Owner: But it comes with a free Frogurt!
Homer: [relieved] That's good.
Owner: The Frogurt is also cursed.
Homer: [worried] That's bad.
Owner: But you get your choice of topping!
Homer: [relieved] That's good.
Owner: The toppings contains Potassium Benzoate.
Homer: [stares]
Owner: That's bad.

sorry...

 

[ClutchDude]

I like buying a bottle of whisky, pouring the whisky into a glass then pouring cola into that.

Saves me time and money.

Wait.....what the heck are you attempting here?

 

[albannach]

You are correct, sodium benzoate will prevent any and all fermentation. I can assure you that the final product from such an 'experiment' would taste like gutter water. Just buy some Jack and Coke.

 

[SnickASaurusRex]

Ummm. I tried this with Mountain Dew when I was in high school. The only thing I made back then that didn't ferment.

Really if you are going to do this, add some yeast nutrient and energizer. Try a clean campaign yeast not an ale yeast.

This might make a decent wine if you start with whole cola nuts and winter green leaves then brew your own cola extract. But that syrup does not ferment well at all.

 

[jkpq45]

What about cola extract, like you'd find in the baking aisle?

Contrary to how it might sound, I'm not going for pruno or bathtub gin. Just sounds like a fun experiment--hell, I've got all the stuff, might as well have some fun.

 

[Freezeblade]

you could start from this base: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCola_(drink)

 

[malkore]

problem is the oak chips aren't the magic ingredient to make ethanol taste like jack daniels whiskey (which I do love).

just take the easy way out...mix up some cola in a keg. add a couple handles of jack. force carb and dispense at your leisure.

 

[the_Roqk]

problem is the oak chips aren't the magic ingredient to make ethanol taste like jack daniels whiskey (which I do love).

just take the easy way out...mix up some cola in a keg. add a couple handles of jack. force carb and dispense at your leisure.

+1 on that idea!

 

[SnickASaurusRex]

Oooooh I might have to put that on a house handle.

 

[jkpq45]

Sounds frickin' delicious. Yes, that would be the easy way out (and would certainly taste like a Jack & Coke). Any idea how long it would last if I bottled from the keg using BMBF?

So no one has aged a simple fermented sugar-water-yeast-nutrient blend on oak chips to see how it would taste?

 

[BrewtalBeerFL]

sodium benzoate will only work when the pH balance of foods is less than 3.6. Raise the ph of the soda and the benzoate won't matter.

 

[a.s.painters]

sodium benzoate will only work when the pH balance of foods is less than 3.6. Raise the ph of the soda and the benzoate won't matter.

wow, is this true tried and tested? it may solve my current problem if this is correct.

 

[RPh_Guy]

wow, is this true tried and tested?

No, it's not true.

 

[a.s.painters]

No, it's not true.

i thought it a bit odd when the ph of a lot of foods containing sodium benzoate as a preservative would tend to be somewhat ph neutral?

 

[RPh_Guy]

i thought it a bit odd when the ph of a lot of foods containing sodium benzoate as a preservative would tend to be somewhat ph neutral?

It is definitely most effective at low pH, but there's nothing magical about pH 3.6 (it is active above that pH).

It's more effective at low pH because it's the undissociated benzoic acid that is active against microbes. The pKa is about 4.2, which means at pH 4.2 only 50% of added benzoate is active.

Thanks to the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and a bit of algebra we can calculate the fraction of added benzoate that is active at a given pH:
Fraction active = 1÷(1+10^(pH−4.2))

For example at pH 3.6, sorbate is 80% active. At pH 3.8 it's 72% active. At pH 7 it's about 0.2% active.

Cheers

 

[a.s.painters]

It is definitely most effective at low pH, but there's nothing magical about pH 3.6 (it is active above that pH).

It's more effective at low pH because it's the undissociated benzoic acid that is active against microbes. The pKa is about 4.2, which means at pH 4.2 only 50% of added benzoate is active.

Thanks to the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation and a bit of algebra we can calculate the fraction of added benzoate that is active at a given pH:
Fraction active = 1÷(1+10^(pH−4.2))

For example at pH 3.6, sorbate is 80% active. At pH 3.8 it's 72% active. At pH 7 it's about 0.2% active.

Cheers

thank you for the explanation. very useable information.