The temperature is rising in Freestone

Posted February 8, 2011 07:22 PM by Nicholas Janson    

As the sun comes out this year and the temperatures begin to rise, I can almost smell the gases liberating.  Whether we like it or not, humans cannot escape the reality that when things warm up, microbial activity speeds up.  Many things speed up.  Our lives speed up, the days get longer, the atoms that make up the molecules speed up, and our beloved ferments speed up.  The result is not always what we want.  What is that smell?  Or, why are all my home wine bottles popping their corks?  Why is there a funny greenish-blue film on my sauerkraut?  Often there is a known reason for fermentation problems, but sometimes there isn’t and we want to figure out the answers to these questions with your help.  

It is known that thousands of years have passed since humans have learned to harness and enjoy the products of fermentation.  Certainly we inadvertently consume the preliminary stages of unwanted bacterial colonization.  We do this when we eat just about anything with sugar that has had a significant period of time to gather “inhabitants”.  In my mind, and those of many, the line between “fermented” food and “non-fermented” food can quickly become grey.  For instance, if I leave a cut up melon out for a day in the hot sun, at which hour does it officially become “probiotic”, a product that is both “living” and “beneficial”.  How big does a bacterial or fungal colony need to get before it has some effect, positive or negative, on the human body.  So much of these ideas and the integrity of these products rely on the control of a particular fermentation or the lack of control of a particular fermentation.  As much as we do know about these processes, we still have a whole lot to learn.

My name is Nicholas Janson, I studied chemistry in college, but I did not follow a traditional chemist’s pathway.  I didn’t go and work for Pfizer for an insane pay check, I didn’t go deeper into academia.  Instead, I moved across the country and I landed in Sonoma County.  As I took a job as a wine chemist, I quickly learned more than most about wine making.  I then immersed myself in ferments.  I experimented with kombucha and fine tuned my ideal version of a wild fermented ginger brew, I furthered my knowledge of baking with yeast and now I am anxious to see what inspirations I receive this spring.  I am excited for the upcoming season of growth here in Sonoma County.

The Freestone Fermentation Festival seems like the perfect place to learn.  Whether you are a brewer, a baker, or a beginning cheese-maker you will learn something valuable at this event.  There is a ferver of ferments starting to brew in Freestone and you do not want to miss it.  Join me in welcoming Sandor Katz, proclaimed author of “Wild Fermentation", who will be speaking and mingling along with a great many local artists who will be surely sharing their vast knowledge of the edible microbial world.

May the fermentation be with you,

Nicholas Janson
Chemist
Fermenter
Lover of fine and healthy foods