Specialty Ingredients... Wirlflock, Irish Moss, Yeast Fuel...

I would like to know what additives are worth it and what are not. I keep spending money on every additive I find to make "SUPER YEAST" but, i'm sure some of these are gimicky. Could you please respond with the additive and its noticeable usefullness.

Never used whirfloc, but I've heard they're comparable to irish moss...which I do use, alot, and given how cheap it is, and how little you have to toss into the boil, I'd say it's definitely worth it. It really does help with beer clarity.

As for somehow making a super yeast, I don't think that there's any additive to get your yeast to be any more "super". Yeast nutrients might help, but not by much, as most wort has more than enough nutrients for them to subsist on.

A couple of things that will vastly improve the healt, verility and metabolism of your yeast during fermentation are, first, to make a starter, and second, to get an aeration kit if you don't already have one. I think one of the biggest causes of long lag time and underperforming yeast is lack of oxygen in the wort.

Also, along the lines a clarifiers, I'm a recent convert to KC finings. They cleared up my hopelessly cloudy punkin ale in a couple days. Not as cheap per batch as irish moss, but it does a much better job of clarifying.

More of less in like with Mike's original question (no thread hijack attempt intended!) - has anyone used this product called "Servomyces"? It's supposedly some sort of yeast supplement......if you listen to the hype this might be your ticket to SUPER YEAST.

I've never had a big problem with yeast not starting, nevertheless this product is kind of interesting to me. It is expensive, though, at $10 for a 5gal batch it adds significant cost to a batch percentage-wise. I have my doubts!

Fiery Sword said:

More of less in like with Mike's original question (no thread hijack attempt intended!) - has anyone used this product called "Servomyces"? It's supposedly some sort of yeast supplement......if you listen to the hype this might be your ticket to SUPER YEAST.

I've never had a big problem with yeast not starting, nevertheless this product is kind of interesting to me. It is expensive, though, at $10 for a 5gal batch it adds significant cost to a batch percentage-wise. I have my doubts!

Click to expand...

self-correction - $10 gets you 6 tabs. this nixes my high-cost comment!

Ive used whirflock and Irish moss and thought I had good results. Then I made a blonde and didn't use either. It was just as clear as the ones where I did use a fining agent.


so....to use, or not to use........what was the question again?

It's dead yeast according to White Labs & only $7.95 for six, if you buy direct from them.

I only use nutrient for wine & cider. Might be helpful for an all extract batch, but I use specialty grains with all my extract batches.

Making a starter with malt & good aeration of the wort will help more than anything you can buy.

Whirlfloc/Irish moss I routinely use in light colored ales. If a batch is cloudy, I filter.