Yeast Nutrient??

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chrisgray

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I'm an extract brewer and have recently been told that I should use Yeast Nutrient for a stronger yeast and, I suppose, a more complete fermentation. Do any of you have experience or knowledge of this stuff?

Thanks in advance!
 
who told you you need yeast nutrient? i've always been under the impression that the extract provides all the nutrients the yeast need. adding it wont hurt anything.
 
I use it in every batch. Extract or all grain, you still want the yeasties to at their peak so they can convert all that sugar to alcohol. Sure they'll grow if you don't use it, but I figure I want to give them every possible advantage (which also means oxygenating and using a big starter). Stressed yeast can lead to off flavors and stuck fermentations.
 
I just use starters... if I'm doing a more normal beer w/ OG like 1.050 or so, I just pitch usually, though, as liquid and dry yeasts have more than enough healthy yeast cells to do the job right. If I'm doing a bit bigger beer, I'll do a starter, and make the yeast extra happy.
 
One of the Brewmasters from Brooklyn Brewery gave a class on yeasts where I work (Brooklyn Kitchen Labs, we have a home brew section now!) last night (I couldn't make it) and suggested, I am told, that extract brewers could greatly benefit from using Yeast Nutrient. I suppose a big started would do the trick as far as good fermentation is concerned, I just wanted to know what the home brew community thought. I trust you guys!
 
Malt extract provides sugar, protein and a few minerals. Yeast nutrient adds lipids, vitamins and other things needed for optimal growth not found in the extract or wort.

Again: you don't need it; but having happy yeast is a good thing, right?

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-9-1.html

BTW - for a starter, I generally don't add extra nutrient, as I use smack packs, which have some nutrient built in. If you are using white labs or washed yeast, nutrients could help.
 
I only use yeast nutrient to wake up a dormant, washed yeast. I find that they become active more quickly and I don't have to make my starters as far in advance.
 
I use it in every batch. ...
+1. I use it, even in my starters, regardless of the gravity or the yeast brand. It's cheap insurance. Need is a strong work, but it can never hurt. When brewing, I add it the last 15 mins of the boil.
 
I started experimenting with using yeast nutrient in the kettle (I've always used it for starters) last summer. Although I haven't done side by side batches, I'd swear that I'm getting better fermentations and better tasting beers when using it. At last year's NHC I attended a talk by Dr. Fischborn of Lallemand (http://www.ahaconference.org/presentations/2009/Tobias-Fischborn-NHC2009-Yeast nutrition.pdf) and he explained the benefits of zinc to fermentation and how 95% of the zinc in the grain is left behind in the mash tun. The Wyeast nutrient I use provides zinc and the effects I saw on my beers matched what he said about zinc. It's cheap'n'easy and I intend to keep using it.
 
An alternative to yeast nutrient, is to try putting a bit of trub (I use about a cup) that you'd normally leave in the kettle, into the fermentor. The trub is loaded with goodness that the yeasties like, and can really give you the benefits of yeast nutrient. Just my experience.
 
That's true if the trub is high in zinc, which it should be if you have healthy yeast and a good fermentation in the batch you get the trub from. But if you take it from a less than healthy fermentation, it won't help much.
 
Actually, I'm talking about the trub left in the kettle after the boil, before the fermentor. I've found that if I completley filter out the trub, my fermentation is somewhat slower than when I let a bit of trub go through the valve into the fermentor. I forget the specifics, but there are compounds in the hot and cold break sediment that enhance the yeast performance. Perhaps there is zinc in there...I'm uncertain as to it's make up other than protein and some acids.
 
I sometimes add leftover bread yeast packets to my boil to add some extra nutrients for my higher OG beers. I think it works ok, but who really knows.
 
Actually, I'm talking about the trub left in the kettle after the boil, before the fermentor. I've found that if I completley filter out the trub, my fermentation is somewhat slower than when I let a bit of trub go through the valve into the fermentor. I forget the specifics, but there are compounds in the hot and cold break sediment that enhance the yeast performance. Perhaps there is zinc in there...I'm uncertain as to it's make up other than protein and some acids.

Ah, gotcha now. FWIW, I've always heard that cold break is a nutrient for the yeast, but I don't really know what qualities of it do that.
 
Just curious on this one since I don't use it. If adder to a starter, say 1.5-2 liter, how much neutrient is needed?
 
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