fermenting honey, student science experiment

[Maheel]

I teach but not science.

Some Snr students want to investigate if different types of honey ferment (yeast activity) differently based on the antiseptic properties of each variety of honey . They know i brew so can help with equipment and maybe some ideas.

Windosr is the yeast i have had suggested to me and should / would be quick.

We will likely do do a control with Dextrose.

My questions are...

What are the challenges with fermenting only honey?
Should we be watering it down to XXX : distilled water?
How can we measure SG of honey, will a Brix Refractometer or should we water down for hydro testing?

Feel free to offer any other advice / ideas.

 

[GalBrew]

Honey in its natural state will not ferment due to its high sugar concentration so you will have to dilute it so it can be fermented, however If you dilute honey to the stage where it will ferment I imagine it will lose its antiseptic properties (otherwise it would kill the yeast).

I also would just use bakers yeast, it will ferment honey just fine as all the JAO mazers will atttest to.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Alternatively plate out some yeast on agar (?), apply drops of honey and see if the yeast around /under the honey is affected?..

Maybe chat to a science teacher to clarify design.

 

[Maheel]

Thanks for the reply's, great comments and food for thought.
At the moment they are in "thinking about ideas" stage so any guidance / ideas are good for them and their projects.

 

[wereprawn]

You just want to brew don't you? You could use some petri dishes with different types of honey at various concentrations ( x yeast for all) .

Edit:- Why not use a dilution ratio of ..say..5:1 for testing ?

 

[Maheel]

You just want to brew don't you? You could use some petri dishes with different types of honey at various concentrations ( x yeast for all) .

Edit:- Why not use a dilution ratio of ..say..5:1 for testing ?

lol
Yes it would be great to have a school brewery, great STEAM project the Science, Tech, Engineering, Art (&marketing) and Math would make for some great learning with excellent hands on engagement experience. We could even have Hospitality, Accounting, Business involved in the project.....

Lets face it micro breweries is a developing employment market with real career options, there may even be a shortage of experienced brewery workers... i can solve the issues Australia faces with this skills shortage...

thought much i have on this.... but imagine "a current affair" / "news item" backlash....

headline - " school promotes and teachers Responsible consumption of alcohol" It's Un- Australian!!!

 

[good4whatAlesU]

This link shows agar method (test 2) usually applied for bacteria I think, but given yeast grow well on agar it would probably be applicable;

http://amrls.cvm.msu.edu/microbiology/detecting-antimicrobial-resistance/test-methods/examples-of-antibiotic-sensitivity-tesing-methods

The biology teachers should have a handle on how to set it up. Maybe try both a lager yeast and an ale yeast at optimal temperatures. Use the results to scale up to a fermentation experiment.

 

[Dan Pratt]

just a heads up, you will want to check with the principle, there are laws about making alcohol with students on school grounds for consumption or not.

Its been done before in the past but best to talk with the senior staff to get approval.