Boiled Bakers Yeast as yeast nutrient

I hijacked some ones thread to ask about boiling dead yeast and using it as a nutrient I have some more questions and did not want to offend.

The discussion moved to using dead or extra yeast as a nutrient after boiling it and to add to starters/wort for yeast nutrient.

Is there any reason why you could not use bakers yeast (I have a ton of it) boil it down and use that as a nutrient? I assume they use the same components in making a baker yeast cells as a beer brewing yeast cell just they eat slight different things.

If anyone is doing this how much do I add?

Clem

I would toss a packet into the boil of the starter/brew to kill it and provide dead bodies for the good yeast to munch on. Yeah, yeast are cannibalistic, but don't fault them for that.

I tossed some Cooper's yeast into the boil of a batch before (IMO, about all it's good for). Of course, I still used a bit of Wyeast nutrient too. If you don't have any other nutrient, and you want to give the yeast some extra food, toss a packet into the boil. Depending on the size of your starter, I would either go with a half or full packet. I would just be sure to boil it for at least 10 minutes before cooling it, once you've added the sacrificial yeast.

I use bread yeast in my starter wort pretty often. I add it at the beginning of the boil and have never tasted any off flavors from it.

Golddiggie said:

I tossed some Cooper's yeast into the boil of a batch before (IMO, about all it's good for)

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Ouch, Golddiggie, you missed that I'm an Aussie, we love our Coopers... but I'm not a fan of Coopers yeast flavors, I think they choose it for its robustness, drunk Aussies making home brew need something easy to work with, trust me I know!

Clem

An Aussie living in HI... How F'd up is that?? At least you were already used to heat...

I started my brewing life using Wyeast smack-packs and haven't tried anything else (so far)... I might use some White Labs yeast in a future batch...

None of the brewers I know (personally) use Cooper's yeast... I've only seen noobs leave the LHBS with it (they go for cheap the first time, sometimes)...

I am rather picky about my yeast selection. I ready up on what it will offer the brew, and select accordingly. If there's not a good amount of info about the yeast, I skip over it... Luckily, Wyeast publishes a good amount of info about their yeasts... It might not survive the trip to you though... Well, without costing a small fortune for shipping.

Golddiggie said:

An Aussie living in HI... How F'd up is that?? At least you were already used to heat...

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Ex Aussie Air Force married USN Chick, we just maintaining international relationships... really

I started brewing Coopers kits as when I was in college we did it for cheap beer. Since moving to America, I'm a liquid yeast convert, LHBS stock only whitelabs so sort of our only option here in HI. (note if your visiting hawaii I will provide free beer and airport transfers to anyone who bring whole leave hops and yeast!!!!) I was looking at moving the family back to Australia I saw the cost of liquid yeast and it nearly killed me, about 20 bucks a vial.... can anyone say yeast ranch!

Australians think that American beer is crap only because they have not had craft beer, my current favorite is West Coast Pale Ales and IPAs bring me them hops! If I move back to Australia I'm going to be a beer Messiah and preach the good word on Real American Beer!:rockin:

Clem

I only started brewing ~9 months ago (just before Thanksgiving 2010)... I did it NOT for 'cheap beer' but to get better beer than I could buy (locally)... I had become dissatisfied with the stuff I could find, that was supposed to be great beer. It was ok, when there was no other option. I yearned for something better. Something more in line with what I wanted to taste in a brew. Hence I started my journey down the home brewing path. My first batches were good, subsequent batches have become great. I've learned tons, and been refining my processes, and improving my hardware, all along. I'm about to get a keg converted into a mash tun with a RIMS setup. I've not decided, yet, if I'll go welded or weldless for the fittings. It really comes down to the cost of getting the welding done.

IF I ever visit HI, I'll be sure to pack some whole hops for you... Although you might be better off seeing if the HBS in your state, can place a bunch on one of their orders.

IF I was to move someplace where I couldn't get the ingredients I wanted either easily, or within a reasonable price range, I'd look to growing what I can, and make a yeast farm too. Get one packet of what you like, make some starters from it, slate them, freeze them, do whatever you need to maintain your supply of good yeast. I would probably have what holds them (fridge or freezer) on a generator, with battery backup, in case of a power failure. Even if the power has a 99.9% up-time rating, I'd be paranoid about a power failure killing them all. Growing grain and hops could prove more difficult. But, if you purchase a full pallet load at a time (or three) you should get better pricing. That should work for the grain. Hops, well, all bets are off.

Can't you grow some hops over in HI?? With the climate over there, you might be able to stagger when you first plant the rhizomes so that you get crops at least twice a year. I'd at least look into it...

But back to the original post question... Boil up a packet per 5 gallon batch, and see how it comes out. You shouldn't have any off flavors from it, since it's dead before fermentation is even close to starting. Use some pure O2 in the batch to help make it even cleaner...

Oh, and about your Aussie converts, make them EARN the heavenly elixir...

We are PCSing off island soon as I cannot expand my kingdom too much more, I want to expand to go all grain but the increase footprint would kill out military packout. When I get to the mainland I'm already planning my hop garden. I farm yeast now just as it only requires limited equipment.

Thanks for the advice will try the boiling yeast trick and I'm already all over the O2 with a 0.5 mircon stone it make the yeast fly!

Clem

This thread seemed to have gotten off track or something. But yes I've used bread yeast (which I assume is what you mean by baker's yeast" as nutrient in highgrav worts and in yeast starters all the time, and never have had any flavor issues.

What area are you planning to land on the mainland?

I need to get a flow meter for my O2 setup, so that I know how many L/minute I'm pushing. That will give me better PPM figures, and ensure I do right by the yeast.

I've found that while the yeast might take off a bit faster hitting it with pure O2, the best benefit from it is a much cleaner tasting brew. Besides, turning a knob is so much easier than trying to aerate a batch via the shake method. I just shake my head when I see people posting about trying to inject O2 as the wort leaves their chiller, or drains from the kettle...

BTW, from my understanding, just about any yeast can be used as food for your primary yeast. Just kill it before you add your fermenting yeast. Easiest way is in the kettle, while boiling, at least 10 minutes before flame-out... Just to keep it on track...

I agree with the others. One other piece of information which might be useful is that if you go to the big discount stores like Costco, Sam's Club, etc. they sell 1 lb blocks of bread yeast for dirt cheap; like $3 or something. Compared to the pricey little individual packets you usually find in the grocery store, it's a fantastic deal and it's enough yeast to last you a VERY long time even if you bake regularly like me.

I buy a brick, then transfer the contents to a tupperware container and keep it in the back of my fridge. It will last pretty much indefinitely stored like that.

Revvy said:

This thread seemed to have gotten off track or something.

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Sorry for getting I have a bad habit of doing that!

Thanks for the advice, once again you have helped me out I have read so many of your old posts. It seems like everytime I google a question about beer your posts pop up!:rockin:

Golddiggie said:

What area are you planning to land on the mainland?

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No idea yet long story to long for this forum!

Golddiggie said:

I need to get a flow meter for my O2 setup, so that I know how many L/minute I'm pushing. That will give me better PPM figures, and ensure I do right by the yeast.

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I was going to Try to make one, concept ping pong ball in a tube, just smaller scale??? Maybe that should move to the DIY forum page?

Clem

weirdboy said:

I agree with the others. One other piece of information which might be useful is that if you go to the big discount stores like Costco, Sam's Club, etc. they sell 1 lb blocks of bread yeast for dirt cheap; like $3 or something. Compared to the pricey little individual packets you usually find in the grocery store, it's a fantastic deal and it's enough yeast to last you a VERY long time even if you bake regularly like me.

I buy a brick, then transfer the contents to a tupperware container and keep it in the back of my fridge. It will last pretty much indefinitely stored like that.

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That's the stuff I get for making my pizza's with and I was planning on using as a cheap nutrient for my yeast farm.