Commercialization to Convert Whey to an Artisanal Clear Spirit

Wheyward Spirit USDA SBIR Phase I 2021Project Summary/Abstract.The US dairy industry produces >132 billion lb of wheyeach year as a by-product of cheese production.Some of this whey is recovered and furtherprocessed into value-added products but an estimated 55% is considered food waste.Due toextremely high BOD/COD properties proper disposal through municipal waste processing canrepresent a significant cost burden especially to small and mid-sized processors.Whenimproperly disposed of whey can have an adverse impact on the environment. Various attemptsto convert whey to value-added products such as biofuel have seen limited or no success due tonarrow cost margins and must be run in a large continuous capital-intensive process.Theproposed research will prove the feasibility of developing a novel value-added food process toeconomically convert otherwise unused lactose within whey into a premium quality clear spiritthrough batch fermentation and distillation. Our technology will comprise a batch-typefermentation and distillation process that utilizes an optimized yeast that is ethanol-tolerant andcommercially scalable. In Phase I research we will demonstrate the feasibility of this technologyby documenting fermentation yield investigating the viability for commercial operations andthe technical and commercial potential of the distillation system with respect to cost yieldscalability ease of propagation flavor profile and other technical/commercial criteria.Anticipated Results and Potential Commercial Applications.In this Phase I SBIR projectwe will work with dairy producers yeast banks research labs and a contract distillery to furtheroptimize our fermentation process from benchtop to through a scaled run with the goal ofincreasing the ethanol yield of fermented whey while maintaining targeted organoleptic qualities.Increasing ethanol yield in a batch process will improve economics and further support scaling ofa whey-derived artisanal clear spirit for consumer consumption.The results of Phase I willdeliver an operational improvement in existing processes and the development of a proprietaryethanol tolerant yeast optimized for whey fermentation. These optimizations will improve theeconomics of batch produced whey-derived clear spirits which is critical for broad commercialimplementation. This innovation will benefit dairy producers by diverting their existing wastestream into an economically scalable value-added product.1