Menu Icon


Looking for homebrewing gift ideas? Check out our previous gift guides here or here!
Also, if you enjoy BrewUnited, please consider doing your Amazon shopping via our affiliate link!



You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Brewing Forum --> Brewing Discussion --> Wyeast Yeast Nutrient - Really?

Jump to:    1   
vinpaysdoc
Charter Member
High Point, NC
321 Posts


So, I ordered some yeast nutrient online and received it today. 

The label reads: for wine, mead, cider, sake, & distilling.

There is a completely separate one for beer. That, of course, is the one I ordered.

I notified the company and they're sending me the beer one. 

Sheesh, the vials look identical but for the label. The powder inside looks like powdered yeast to me. Is it really different? Short answer: NO.

I emailed Wyeast to see if they were identical. Yup. Just labeled differently. They're working on changing the label just to avoid confusion.

Just so you folks will know.

G




Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


Nice. 



Posted 34 days ago.

Matt
Charter Member
Normal, IL
341 Posts


Hey, free nutrient!



Posted 34 days ago.

CXR1037
San Diego, CA
23 Posts


I always just bought the seemingly generic stuff from my LHBS (I think Fermax yeast nutrient). Aren't they mostly diammonium phosphate? 



Posted 34 days ago.

vinpaysdoc
Charter Member
High Point, NC
321 Posts


Actually, no. Some (I believe Wyeast and Servomyces) include zinc and other nutrients. It looks to me like this stuff is simply dried, pulverized yeast. 



Posted 34 days ago.

chino_brews
Charter Member
Eden Prairie, MN
301 Posts


Servomyces is definitely yeast hulls: yeast that have been grown under ideal conditions to absorb a ton of nutrients, and which are then killed in some manner (probably by controlled boiling) and dried.

I'm not sure that is the case with Wyeast yeast nutrient, which is what I use right now, because of the way it cakes (hygroscopic) and the different-colored chunks in it.

My LHBSs were out of Wyeast yeast nutrient for months when I wanted to start using nutrient, and so I used to just add baker's yeast to the last five minutes boil as an attempted facsimile of Servomyces. This could be cognitive bias, but I felt like I got faster starts to fermentation when I started doing this, and it was comparable to Wyeast yeast nutrient.

And yeah, I know all about yeast autolysis, but we're talking about a gram or so per 5-gal. batch, not 2-3 L of yeast cake.




Posted 34 days ago.

uberg33k
Charter Member
The Internet
314 Posts


If you're boiling the yeast, you're not going to have autolysis.  You'd be rupturing cell walls and you're left with yeast hulls + whatever nutrients were inside the cell ... which is the same idea as servomyces.  I'm not sure it would be quite as effective as servomyces, but it's certainly cheaper and I could see how it would have a positive effect. 

And before someone asks about "why isn't this bad like autolysis", think of it this way : the yeast in the boil are releasing nutrients pre digestion and autolysis is post digestion.  How healthy is it for you to eat food before someone else has digested it?  How health is it to eat food after someone has digested it?




Posted 34 days ago.

mchrispen
Bastrop, TX
485 Posts


> How healthy is it for you to eat food before someone else has digested
it?  How health is it to eat food after someone has digested it?

For me? Not very, but I have some very happy bacteria living happily in my septic tank. We talk some times... they want more beer.




Posted 34 days ago.

Jump to:    1