Fermentory

Fermentory is a term used to describe a facility or space where fermentation processes are conducted. Historically, fermentories were rooms or buildings dedicated to fermentative activities in the production of foods and beverages, including bread leavening, beer and wine production, vinegar making, dairy fermentation, and the preservation of vegetables and fish.

Today, the term is largely archaic or literary, and contemporary usage tends to substitute more specific terms such as fermentation facility, fermenter, brewery, dairy, or winery. A fermentory may range from a single vessel or room to an entire industrial plant.

Typical equipment includes fermentation vessels such as stainless-steel tanks, oak barrels, or brick-lined vats, with controls for temperature, pH, aeration, and agitation. Ancillary systems for sanitation (cleaning-in-place), inert gas supply, sampling, filtration, and storage are common.

Fermentation is driven by microorganisms that convert substrates (usually sugars) into products such as ethanol, organic acids, and gases. Major categories encountered in fermentories include alcoholic fermentation (beer, wine), lactic acid fermentation (yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi), and acetic fermentation (vinegar). Other products are produced via specialized fermentations used in soy sauce, miso, and fermented fish pastes, among others.

Etymology: The word fermentory derives from Latin fermentum via historical English usage; in modern English the term is rare and often replaced by more precise descriptors.

See also: Fermentation; Brewery; Winery; Dairy; Lactic acid fermentation.