{"id":45422,"date":"2021-08-05T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fort-lewis-college-students-add-a-shot-of-science-to-hard-cider\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:25:26","slug":"fort-lewis-college-students-add-a-shot-of-science-to-hard-cider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fort-lewis-college-students-add-a-shot-of-science-to-hard-cider\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Lewis College students add a shot of science to hard cider"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Callie
Callie Cole, a Fort Lewis College chemistry professor, uses a solid phase micro-extraction instrument on Wednesday to measure cider aroma. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In professor Callie Cole\u2019s laboratory at Fort Lewis College, undergraduate students get to study a common interest: alcohol.<\/p>\n

But far from the practice of imbibing, these chemistry students are researching how to make hard cider smell and taste better. The project takes Southwest Colorado\u2019s history of growing apples to a new level with real-world applications for local cideries and students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really great project because it\u2019s accessible to students the moment they land here,\u201d Cole said. \u201cSo not only is this project really fascinating and fun, it\u2019s amazing training for the next generation of scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, Cole invited local cider-maker Jared Scott, co-owner of EsoTerra, to speak to her analytical chemistry class. The presentation about the science of cider had Cole and her students hooked, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see that much student interest in any project, I really try to pursue it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Callie
Callie Cole, a Fort Lewis College chemistry professor, is working on, from left, Gravenstein apple cider, transcendent crab apple cider, Hibernal crab apple cider, Virginia Hewe's crab apple cider and an unknown variety crab apple cider on Wednesday in the school\u2019s laboratory. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Cole received grant funding from the Society for Analytical Chemists of the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Analytical Research Program and the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Agilent Technologies donated a $500,000 liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument.<\/p>\n

The FLC students picked five apple varieties from the apple orchard at the Old Fort, the former FLC campus, and a private farm near Hermosa. In the laboratory, general chemistry students applied their knowledge of titrations, which help measure the acidity of juice in cider making. Analytical chemistry students used instruments like mass spectrometers to study the fermentation process.<\/p>\n

The students tweaked the yeast strains, temperature, apple varieties, the use of dry hops and other variables in the fermentation process. The goal was to analyze how chemistry can be used to manipulate the smell and taste of hard cider.<\/p>\n

In the first two years, the research was featured in multiple publications. It was presented at the 2019 American Society for Mass Spectrometry Conference and the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy in 2020. The work was also featured on the cover of Beverages<\/em>, an academic journal, in September 2020.<\/p>\n

\"Callie
Callie Cole, a Fort Lewis College chemistry professor, uses a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument to measure flavor compounds. Agilent Technologies donated the $500,000 instrument. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cFort Lewis College students are really doing graduate-level research here, and I\u2019m so impressed by what they\u2019re able to accomplish,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado has a long history of growing quality apples. In the late 19th century, farmers grew hundreds of varieties of apples in Colorado. Apples from La Plata and Montezuma counties once won three of four gold medals at the 1904 St. Louis World\u2019s Fair, according to the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project.<\/p>\n

Some of those orchards were lost when the national trend began to favor three varieties and cider fell from popularity.<\/p>\n

The Cortez-based nonprofit, and other local cideries, are interested in revitalizing the region\u2019s orchard economy. The research at FLC might offer insight for local businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, local cideries and the chemistry to back it up, we\u2019re really going to bring some attention to some interesting forgotten fruits in the Four Corners region,\u201d Cole said. \u201cThat is really, really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

One surprising finding: how quickly adding hops alters flavor, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Callie
Callie Cole, a Fort Lewis College chemistry professor, measures alcohol by volume in cider in the school\u2019s laboratory. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The timing is much-debated within the industry. Some conclude that hops need 10 days in the mixture to produce a perceivable effect. The undergraduate researchers found that hops produced a perceivable citrus-smell within 72 hours.<\/p>\n

The finding is still being peer-reviewed, but results like that can have impacts on the quality and efficiency of the cider-making process for businesses, Cole said.<\/p>\n

The research is ongoing, but Cole\u2019s funding is not. Her original funding sources end in August. FLC awarded her some internal grants, but Cole is still searching for new funding sources.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, students will turn their attention to bottles of apple juice, frozen at various stages of the fermentation process. Their next step is to experiment on taste profiles using liquid chromatography, which separates components in a mixture.<\/p>\n

In the future, Cole sees a potential sensory panel (with people over 21 and older) or even a partnership with Ska Brewing Co.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese local community collaborations are the most interesting projects for students,\u201d Cole said. \u201cThey see their future careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Callie
Callie Cole, a Fort Lewis College chemistry professor, uses a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument that identifies and quantifies aroma contributors. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research project explores brewing through chemistry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[924,132,28,145],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alcohol","tag-fort-lewis-college","tag-headlines","tag-science-general"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86491,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45422\/revisions\/86491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45422"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}