Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t taken Cider Quiz #1, click here to take it before exploring the answers. Check out the list of related articles at the bottom for reference material about organoleptic. Remember that I wanted the quiz to be challenging. I tried to make all the answer reasonable and related to the topic.
Question #2: What does organoleptic mean?
Let’s explore each answer.
1. It refers to the method yeast process nutrients: Incorrect Answer – Your cider’s organoleptic properties are impacted by how yeast process nutrients. However, organoleptic doesn’t define this process. It is a result of and not the process itself.
2. It refers to the sensory characteristics of cider: Correct Answer – Organoleptic defines the sensory characteristics of your cider. It’s the taste, smell, and even mouthfeel of your cider. These characteristics come from the various compounds found in the apples you use as well as the yeast. Yeast have different preferences for nutrients and will create new aromas and taste during the fermentation process. These sensory characteristics can further change during aging as other organisms, like lactic acid bacteria, also impact the organoleptic properties in your cider.
3. It refers to the core area on an apple containing the seeds: Incorrect Answer – The apple core contains large amounts of phenolic compounds and these compounds impact the organoleptic characteristics of the cider. However, organoleptic doesn’t refer to a specific area of the apple.
4. It refers to whether a compound is nutritional to humans: Incorrect Answer: Organoleptic defines the sensory aspects of cider. While some of the compounds that create the organoleptic characteristics have nutritional and health characteristics, organoleptic does not define the nutritional aspects.
Organoletpic simply means that your senses are involved. For cider, it is referring to the phenolics, esters, acids, and other numerous compounds that impact the smell, taste, and mouthfeel of a cider. It can even impact the look as these can affect color.
Cider Words: Polymerization
Polymerization can be a key part of the aging process for cider. It is a chemical process in which the tannins found in the cider combine to form larger and more complex molecules. This process is enabled by oxygen through oxidative coupling. Tannins are found at higher concentrations in apples known as bitters, but the…
Decoding Yeast Genes: Aroma and Sensory Characteristics
If you took the same juice and fermented it with different yeasts, why would they have different aromas or flavors and even unique mouthfeel and sensory characteristics? Why would one be slightly sweeter or more acidic? It’s all in the gene’s. As discussed in other Mālus Trivium posts, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast DNA genome was…
Yeast Derivative Products (YDPs) & Aroma
Yeast Derivative Products (YDPs) can aid with fermentation by providing nitrogen and nutrients and with clarity by binding with colloidal compounds. But recent research has been focusing on how they can impact aroma. Remember that YDPs are just inactivated yeast developed to provide specific reactionary compounds. YDPs are made by using heat, enzymes, or even…
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