Debittered Brewers Yeast from bulk store

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

iBeer

Active Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
I have a bulk food store that sells a large bag of debittered brewers yeast and I was wondering if anybody here has ever had any luck buying yeast from a bulk food store.
This bulk food store does not carry a line of home brew ingredients, its just the yeast. I have no reason to think that the quality is bad.
Does anybody have any experience using 'no name' debittered brewers yeast. And if so, what is the worst that I can expect out of it (assuming I run a starter first)
 
There's really only one way to find out, I guess. We're talking dried yeast here, right?

It's hard for me to see the real benefit, since you can get good-quality dried yeast for less than $2 from a HBS.
 
It is dry yeast. The reason I'm asking is I don't have a local HBS, and I have to mail order everything. I tend to have lots of ingredients left over, but I always use up my yeast packages.
I'd really like to have the flexibility to pick up some yeast on the way home from work one day when the mood strikes me to brew something out of the blue.
 
found this on the web
sounds like it is not a live yeast
What is Brewer’s Yeast?


Brewer’s Yeast is a dried, inactive yeast that has no fermenting power. It is sold for its nutritional qualities as it is very high in at least 10 separate B-vitamin factors, including:

Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacin
Pyridoxine
Pantothenic Acid
Biotin
Choline
Inositol
Folic Acid
Paraminobenzoic Acid


Brewer’s yeast is a by-product of the brewing industry. After 5-10 succeeding beer fermentations, the yeast, due to increasing contamination, loses its viability and activity and is no longer acceptable for making beer. The yeast then becomes surplus and can be used for the production of food flavors, feed formulations or as nutritional yeast food.


Over the years, the term "brewer’s yeast" has become generic. Primary grown baker’s yeast (not a by-product of the same strain of yeast used by bakers to make bread) is often sold as brewer’s yeast because the term is familiar to the consumer. The processing and drying of this yeast is carefully controlled so it remains inactive, making it easily digestible and yielding valuable amounts of B-complex vitamins and protein for assimilation.

Another form of brewer’s yeast is labeled as "DEBITTERED Brewer’s Yeast", due to neutralization of the bitter flavor of hops. This form of yeast is almost always certain to be brewer’s yeast. However, due to a lack of standards governing this particular label, product packaging may claim to contain "brewer’s yeast" and actually contain inactive baker’s yeast.
 
Well, that's a pisser. Next time you do a mail order, just make sure to order tons of extra dry yeast to keep around. Just buy like an extra half-dozen packs of Nottingham. It doesn't really go bad as long as you keep it stored properly, and it's so cheap anyway. I always try to have a couple more packets around than I need, either Nottingham or US-56.
 
Hey Rod,
Thanks for searching for that. I could have just seen myself buying the bag and getting frustrated trying to get the starter going.
 
iBeer said:
Does anybody have any experience using 'no name' debittered brewers yeast. And if so, what is the worst that I can expect out of it (assuming I run a starter first)

Yes, I do!

Mix with some salt, pepper and your other favorite seasonings then lightly dust on some sliced tofu (or medium of your choice). Saute in olive oil, drain and enjoy.
 
It's dead, Jim!

[Yah, I'm that old]

You can buy distiller's yeast in bulk (!$10/lb) and keep the fermentation temperature down around 60F. I just use it for ciders and drying out high gravity stuff.
 
Back
Top