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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday August 30 2018, @12:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the there's-always-someone dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4408

For more than two years now — from the second floor of a repurposed warehouse in the Dogpatch district of San Francisco — the young scientists and chemists at Ava Winery have been attempting to save the planet and conduct commerce by producing wine without grapes or fermentation. Recently, the company rebranded and shifted its focus: now known as Endless West, it is attempting to make brown spirits without the hidebound utilization of barrels for maturation.

In Endless West's 1,800-square-foot lab, there are no implements ordinarily associated with making wine or whiskey. Instead, one sees chemists quietly sitting at computers beside beakers, gas chromatography and mass spectrometer machines, and something called a liquid handling robot, which is loaded with test tubes that are filled with liquid from "real" wines and spirits. The white-smocked bio and analytical chemists are measuring and mapping the molecular profiles of standard alcoholic beverages. There is even a scanning area with an "electronic nose" to measure olfactory properties; something you likely won't find in a standard winery lab.

The quest is to tease out which "naturally derived" carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, amino acids, and lipids comprise a wine or spirit, and which components encompass the organoleptic profiles of various alcoholic beverages. Key aromatics and flavor molecules are being identified such as citrus-like esters from ethyl isobutyrate and pineapple-y aromas derived from ethyl hexanoate or the buttery qualities found in the compound diacetyl.

Once recognized, neutral distillates or grain alcohol is then added to the recipe to synthetically formulate a wine or whiskey.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/23/17703454/wine-whiskey-synthetic-climate-change-lab-made-ava-winery-endless-west


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 30 2018, @01:46PM (8 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 30 2018, @01:46PM (#728251) Journal

    for a moon or Mars colony. Ain't no grapes growing up there. Or rye, of barley, or corn, or . . . On earth? What a waste.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 30 2018, @02:03PM (6 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday August 30 2018, @02:03PM (#728258) Journal

    Honestly, who knows? Whisk(e)y was always just chemicals, like everything else. Maybe it will turn out great. Maybe it could turn out great, but will be used to cut corners and make $3 handles (1.75 L) overseas.

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    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 30 2018, @02:08PM (4 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 30 2018, @02:08PM (#728259) Journal

      Can't wait to see the first Spam brand wines on the grocery shelf!

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 30 2018, @02:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 30 2018, @02:36PM (#728272)

      Honestly, who knows? Whisk(e)y was always just chemicals, like everything else. Maybe it will turn out great. Maybe it could turn out great, but will be used to cut corners and make $3 handles (1.75 L) overseas.

      There was a case back in the late 70's/early 80's (I think) of a gang in Edinburgh who were faking, amongs other things, various 'high end' whisky brands using, amongst other ingredients, a range of Sodastream flavourings (which ISTR were integral to the flavour.)
      They (or, specifically the blender) were so good that expert whisky tasters couldn't tell the difference between the fakes and the real stuff...though some of that lot are as bad as audiophiles when it comes to the spouting of bullshit.
      Will do a better trawl of Google etc for any links.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 30 2018, @04:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 30 2018, @04:53PM (#728322)

    On Earth, if they get it right, it would mean incredible consistency. Which is good for typical drinkers as there'd be no variety from batch to batch, but it would suck for future innovation and collectors as that lack of variety would make it hard for anything new or interesting to show up.