Wine yeast trials

As wine season gets under way, White Labs is analyzing months of data on wine fermentation tests. Conducted for nine months at the White Labs R&D lab in Davis, Calif., the tests by a team including intern Annie Hammang on-site and other microbiologists in San Diego have involved a wide range of strains. The tests have included White Labs brewing strains and wine strains, all in live fresh cultures, and other commercially available dry strains. The tests are yielding a wealth of data and are helping to answer many questions, such as how beer strains compare to wine strains. Indeed, the strain that has thus far had the highest marks out of all the strains tested is a White Labs beer strain, WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast. Results from the tests, which are being conducted using the White Labs MiniFerment system, will be released when the trials are complete in the months to come.