fermenting Stopping the fermentation

[Howiest]

I realize this is almost certainly covered in one of the pinned posts above, but I got ahead of myself and have some of the habanero mango ferments processed and heating on the stove now to bottle.
 
Question is, does bringing it to a boil stop the fermentation from continuing? I'll be storing the bottles in the fridge, but I'm giving a few away to friends and I don't want them exploding on them later if the fermentation kicks off later.
 
 

 

[D3monic]

To my understanding boiling stops the fermentation process

 

[Slug]

Question is, does bringing it to a boil stop the fermentation from continuing?
 
 

 
No.  Temporarily; perhaps, but no.  Boil it for at least 15 minutes then keep it in the fridge after bottling and don't be in such a rush next time.
 
To borrow from a meme, "One does not simply 'stop' a fermentation".  The only foolproof civilian method of killing a ferment in 'food safe' manner is to let it eat all of the available sugars and avoid introducing any more.  A fermentation will also temporarily stop or slow once the environment reaches a level of alcohol toxicity or PH that the strain absolutely cannot survive, but it will kick right back off again if those levels drop to a tolerable level.  Yeast is decidedly hard to kill.  Spores of many strains can easily survive boiling temperatures, which is why true 'sterilization' requires pressure heating to 250F or greater.  (The same spores can remain dormant and viable for up to 2 years, ready to kick off at the slightest hint of survivable conditions.)
 
That said, a temperature of 140F+ for 15 minutes will kill a lot of the active yeast in your ferment, assuming you were not using hardy brewing yeast like a champagne yeast.  If the yeast is at a food safe PH level, it is typically at the far edge of a happy yeast range.  Keeping it refrigerated will keep things slow, which should mostly prevent a fermentation from starting back up; but as any long time winecrafter will tell you, it is very difficult to fully kill a fermentation.  I've had incredibly sturdy 750ml bomber bottles shatter before when a plain old ale yeast that should only have gone to 9% alcohol decided to have a mega yeast party after one year of sitting around doing nothing.
 
You could hit the mixture with enough potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate in combination to create a 'hostile working environment' that will kill the ferment, but there are two big problems with that.  First, many people are allergic to sulfites.  Second, potassium sorbate in high enough concentration will make your hot sauce taste like geraniums.

 

[Howiest]

 
No.  Temporarily; perhaps, but no.  Boil it for at least 15 minutes then keep it in the fridge after bottling and don't be in such a rush next time.
 
To borrow from a meme, "One does not simply 'stop' a fermentation".  The only foolproof civilian method of killing a ferment in 'food safe' manner is to let it eat all of the available sugars and avoid introducing any more.  A fermentation will also temporarily stop or slow once the environment reaches a level of alcohol toxicity or PH that the strain absolutely cannot survive, but it will kick right back off again if those levels drop to a tolerable level.  Yeast is decidedly hard to kill.  Spores of many strains can easily survive boiling temperatures, which is why true 'sterilization' requires pressure heating to 250F or greater.  (The same spores can remain dormant and viable for up to 2 years, ready to kick off at the slightest hint of survivable conditions.)
 
That said, a temperature of 140F+ for 15 minutes will kill a lot of the active yeast in your ferment, assuming you were not using hardy brewing yeast like a champagne yeast.  If the yeast is at a food safe PH level, it is typically at the far edge of a happy yeast range.  Keeping it refrigerated will keep things slow, which should mostly prevent a fermentation from starting back up; but as any long time winecrafter will tell you, it is very difficult to fully kill a fermentation.  I've had incredibly sturdy 750ml bomber bottles shatter before when a plain old ale yeast that should only have gone to 9% alcohol decided to have a mega yeast party after one year of sitting around doing nothing.
 
You could hit the mixture with enough potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate in combination to create a 'hostile working environment' that will kill the ferment, but there are two big problems with that.  First, many people are allergic to sulfites.  Second, potassium sorbate in high enough concentration will make your hot sauce taste like geraniums.

 
Thanks for your responses.
 
I let the fermentation go for ~35 days or so, and I used a OTC probiotic pill to get it going. I'd imagine there is more fuel for the fermentation fire left in there due to the short period, but I had 7 quarts and a 2.5 gallon fermenting, and taunting me, and I wanted hot sauce!
 
I'm slowly bringing it to a boil on the stove and letting it sit at a slow boil while I stir it for a few minutes before bottling so hopefully it'll be fine. A guy I work with that brews his own beer told me about a bunch of bottles of his brew that sat in his trunk for a month or two after bottling, and as they were bringing it inside, a few bottles were exploding on the kitchen counter. I'd just rather not have habanero bombs going off, if I can avoid it.
 
Thanks again!
 

 

[jhc]

 
No.  Temporarily; perhaps, but no.  Boil it for at least 15 minutes then keep it in the fridge after bottling and don't be in such a rush next time.
 
To borrow from a meme, "One does not simply 'stop' a fermentation".  The only foolproof civilian method of killing a ferment in 'food safe' manner is to let it eat all of the available sugars and avoid introducing any more.  A fermentation will also temporarily stop or slow once the environment reaches a level of alcohol toxicity or PH that the strain absolutely cannot survive, but it will kick right back off again if those levels drop to a tolerable level.  Yeast is decidedly hard to kill.  Spores of many strains can easily survive boiling temperatures, which is why true 'sterilization' requires pressure heating to 250F or greater.  (The same spores can remain dormant and viable for up to 2 years, ready to kick off at the slightest hint of survivable conditions.)
 
That said, a temperature of 140F+ for 15 minutes will kill a lot of the active yeast in your ferment, assuming you were not using hardy brewing yeast like a champagne yeast.  If the yeast is at a food safe PH level, it is typically at the far edge of a happy yeast range.  Keeping it refrigerated will keep things slow, which should mostly prevent a fermentation from starting back up; but as any long time winecrafter will tell you, it is very difficult to fully kill a fermentation.  I've had incredibly sturdy 750ml bomber bottles shatter before when a plain old ale yeast that should only have gone to 9% alcohol decided to have a mega yeast party after one year of sitting around doing nothing.
 
You could hit the mixture with enough potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate in combination to create a 'hostile working environment' that will kill the ferment, but there are two big problems with that.  First, many people are allergic to sulfites.  Second, potassium sorbate in high enough concentration will make your hot sauce taste like geraniums.

The context here is lactobacillus fermentation so I'm not sure comments about yeast, spores, alcohol etc. are relevant. 
 
If boiling didn't stop fermentation I think we'd see a lot more stories about exploding bottles of fermented hot sauce.

 

[SmokenFire]

Bringing your pepper based ferment to a boil will stop fermentation in my experience.  I run ferments from 3 weeks to 3 months in most cases, and will bring the resultant mash to a boil before further processing prior to bottling.  Several of those same ferments have been bottle aged for months at room temperature in my house and have not exploded.  

 

[Slug]

The context here is lactobacillus fermentation so I'm not sure comments about yeast, spores, alcohol etc. are relevant. 
 
If boiling didn't stop fermentation I think we'd see a lot more stories about exploding bottles of fermented hot sauce.

 
True, bacterium are more heat sensitive.  A rolling 5 minute boil should kill lactobacillus.  I can't help that I read fermentation and my mind immediately goes to alcohol.  Best fermentation, represent! 

 

[AaronTT]

A boil WILL stop fermentation completely. It literally kills the very organisms responsible for the fermentation, which are susceptible to heat as mentioned already. I have done count less fermentations, and the only way to continue the process is to reintroduce some form of bacteria after the sauce has cooled. I have done just that with experiments. In fact, that is one of my favorite tricks I use in fermenting sauces. I ferment for several months, then strain out some of the cloudy liquid. The rest I boil, then put it back into the food processor, to fully liquify. After it has cooled, I reintroduce the bacteria to the sauce for health purposes.