Yeast Nutrients

I have been using the BrewVint Yeast Fuel from AHS and have had amazingingly fast fermentations (less than 12 hours they start and go crazy) but given the 1.49 price tag per pill, I would like to find alternatives. I guess I could buy the pills 6 for 6.50, but how do the other nutrients rate? I see AHS also sells Fermax and Wyeast and also Diammonium Phosphate.

My great gripe with yeast nutrients is that they give you no real indication of what they contain. I've always used wyeast nutrient with good results, and it is very cheap. A single tube will run you dozens of batches. Give another brand a shot and see how you like it. And, of course, crazy fast fermentation isn't necessarily a good thing anyway.

Yeah, there's a lot of yeast nutrients that are very cheap. That being said I have no idea what's in each or if they really help. Maybe these yeast nutrient vendors are a bunch of snake oil salesmen.

probably, but I'd rather have it as an insurance on my brew. Of course, it's better on the pocket to have the cheaper geico version.

I use wyeast nutrients in all my starters and boils. Why not -- as stated above, stuff is cheap.

greatschmaltez said:

Yeah, there's a lot of yeast nutrients that are very cheap. That being said I have no idea what's in each or if they really help. Maybe these yeast nutrient vendors are a bunch of snake oil salesmen.

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There's no doubt that nutrients are important, especially if you have a weak pitch or old cells. The open question is what makes this Yeast Fuel stuff worth its significantly higher costs above the more standard stuff. I've never seen anybody do any kind of standardized testing for results, and Forrest ain't saying anything other than that it's a secret formula. Color me skeptical, but there are enough people who like the stuff to swear by it.

What's it all about? Nitrogen and zinc?

+1 Wyeast nutrient works very well for me. My starters and beers ferment better then they did without the nutrient. I tried BrewVint once but I only had 1 and I was doing 10 gallons so it was not a fair experiment.

Yeah, no doubt that I'll continue to use it. My snake oil salesman comment was meant to just be silly. I would advocate to anyone to use the yeast nutrient... Just to use the cheap one though.

Yeast nutrient? I don't need no stinking yeast nutrient! Big starter on stir plate with DME and save the $ towards something that actually makes a difference in my brewing.

+1 for Wyeast, it is great. Brewvint is over hyped and over priced.

JonW said:

+1 for Wyeast, it is great. Brewvint is over hyped and over priced.

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Yeah but it is 20 cents per 5 gallon batch.

Assuming I take care of my yeast (starter or dry) sometimes I just toss 2 Tbl of bread yeast into the boil let that die and relive as yeast fuel.

I'm not sure who gave me that idea, but maybe if I have a little time I should test it out with a control....

I have been using White Labs Servo for about 6 months, and I am very happy with it.

http://www.whitelabs.com/servomyces.html

It is designed to supplement the Zinc levels in your wort. I think that Nutrients are just one part of the yeast health tri-fecta....

1) Pitching Rate
2) Oxygen levels
3) Yeast Nutrients

Concentrating on even one of those fascets will give you better beer, but when you combine all three things with temperature control, you give yourself the best chance to optimize beer quality. To me, that is the name of the game.

As for the cost, a six pack of Servo is about $10, so each capsule costs me about $1.60 / batch. Break that $1.60 down to a cost per pint - it costs you about 3 cents a beer. Is three cents really going to keep you from trying a product that could improve every beer you drink?

Many brewers use the White Labs product. In fact, Jamil was using it before it was even available in the homebrew market (he talks about it a lot in old posts on the B3 forum).

No yeast nutrient is a magic bullet, but used in conjunction with other good brewing practices, I believe it does improve your beer. For such a small cost, everyone should at least give it a try before saying it doesn't do anything.

Joe

Thanks everyone. I think I'll give Wyeast a try next time I order.

I've been using the Wyeast nutrient with my brews and yeast starters. I can't honestly say if it has helped or not, but it's cheap and easy so why not if there's some chance that it may help the little yeasties.

makomachine said:

Yeast nutrient? I don't need no stinking yeast nutrient! Big starter on stir plate with DME and save the $ towards something that actually makes a difference in my brewing.

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Sorry makomachine, this couldn't be any further from the truth. An all malt wort is an excellent source of nitrogen, minerals, and vitamins and supplies MOST of the vitamins needed for proper fermentation. However it does not provide key minerals such as phosphorus, sulfer, zinc, copper, iron, calcium, and sodium, which is key to healthy yeast. Supplimenting these through adding nutrients is a solid way to improve the health and performace of yeast. Making a starter is good to ensure viability and cell growth, but the health of your yeast through proper nutrition is CRUCIAL for making good beer. I'd rather spent a few bucks on nutrients to ensure my yeast has the essensials for health and perform to their full potential. Use the nutrients in your starters as well!!!!

I attached a picture of what I use, I always have a bag on hand because I make mead in addition to beer. I put a teaspoon in my starter for the last few brews and have noticed a considerably shorter lag time in my fermentation. It used to take 12 to 24 hours for me to get to active fermentation, now I see it happen in 4-8 hours. The length of fermentation is about the same, but I do feel like just this small addition has improved the vigor of my yeast starters. At $5 and only a teaspoon per batch, that's a very cheap way to get better performance out of your yeast.

hoppheadIPA said:

Sorry makomachine, this couldn't be any further from the truth. An all malt wort is an excellent source of nitrogen, minerals, and vitamins and supplies MOST of the vitamins needed for proper fermentation. However it does not provide key minerals such as phosphorus, sulfer, zinc, copper, iron, calcium, and sodium, which is key to healthy yeast. Supplimenting these through adding nutrients is a solid way to improve the health and performace of yeast. Making a starter is good to ensure viability and cell growth, but the health of your yeast through proper nutrition is CRUCIAL for making good beer. I'd rather spent a few bucks on nutrients to ensure my yeast has the essensials for health and perform to their full potential. Use the nutrients in your starters as well!!!!

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...and at only $2.25 a tube from northern brewer, you're only investing an extra $0.20 or so per batch. What's that $0.20 gonna buy for your beer that's more important than complete yeast nutrition?

TTB-J said:

I attached a picture of what I use, I always have a bag on hand because I make mead in addition to beer. I put a teaspoon in my starter for the last few brews and have noticed a considerably shorter lag time in my fermentation. It used to take 12 to 24 hours for me to get to active fermentation, now I see it happen in 4-8 hours. The length of fermentation is about the same, but I do feel like just this small addition has improved the vigor of my yeast starters. At $5 and only a teaspoon per batch, that's a very cheap way to get better performance out of your yeast.

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Damn, what a deal!

hoppheadIPA said:

Sorry makomachine, this couldn't be any further from the truth. An all malt wort is an excellent source of nitrogen, minerals, and vitamins and supplies MOST of the vitamins needed for proper fermentation. However it does not provide key minerals such as phosphorus, sulfer, zinc, copper, iron, calcium, and sodium, which is key to healthy yeast. Supplimenting these through adding nutrients is a solid way to improve the health and performace of yeast. Making a starter is good to ensure viability and cell growth, but the health of your yeast through proper nutrition is CRUCIAL for making good beer. I'd rather spent a few bucks on nutrients to ensure my yeast has the essensials for health and perform to their full potential. Use the nutrients in your starters as well!!!!

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Don't yeast feed off of dead yeast cells for these same nutrients? (Thought I read that somewhere but could be wrong...). I pitch a big stir plat starter thats done at least 4 days prior to pitching. My assumption has been that there is enough dead cells for these nutrients since they've already went through one fermentation cycle. Am I daft here? I've got some yeast nutrient that was given to me and haven't noticed any difference in a batch of Arrogant Bastard Clone that I've done with and without nutrient.

makomachine said:

Don't yeast feed off of dead yeast cells for these same nutrients? (Thought I read that somewhere but could be wrong...). I pitch a big stir plat starter thats done at least 4 days prior to pitching. My assumption has been that there is enough dead cells for these nutrients since they've already went through one fermentation cycle. Am I daft here? I've got some yeast nutrient that was given to me and haven't noticed any difference in a batch of Arrogant Bastard Clone that I've done with and without nutrient.

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No, yeast are not cannibals, lol. Like I said, it's good to make a starter to ensure viability and cell growth, but the cells also need to be healthy. That's why you oxiginate and feed nutrients. A starter alone can make a fine beer, but the insurance and better flavor you get with healty yeasties is worth the low cost of the nutrients. The thing you have to remember is that yeast is a living thing. It doesn't make alcohol through a series of chemical reactions, but as a by-product of comsuming the sugars in wort, which if healthy, yeast will do this more efficiently. Yeast takes the minerals and vitimans from the wort and manufacture the enzymes necessary for growth and healthy fermentation. The wort alone does not contain all the necessary minerals needed. You may not see the effects of nutrients without a control, but if you do a side by side, you will see and taste a difference.

hoppheadIPA said:

No, yeast are not cannibals, lol. Like I said, it's good to make a starter to ensure viability and cell growth, but the cells also need to be healthy. That's why you oxiginate and feed nutrients. A starter alone can make a fine beer, but the insurance and better flavor you get with healty yeasties is worth the low cost of the nutrients. The thing you have to remember is that yeast is a living thing. It doesn't make alcohol through a series of chemical reactions, but as a by-product of comsuming the sugars in wort, which if healthy, yeast will do this more efficiently. Yeast takes the minerals and vitimans from the wort and manufacture the enzymes necessary for growth and healthy fermentation. The wort alone does not contain all the necessary minerals needed. You may not see the effects of nutrients without a control, but if you do a side by side, you will see and taste a difference.

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many yeast nutrients do contain dead yeast cells - the healthy yeast feed off the nutrients in the membranes of the dead cells

terrapinj said:

many yeast nutrients do contain dead yeast cells - the healthy yeast feed off the nutrients in the membranes of the dead cells

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If your yeast wasn't fed the proper nutrition in the 1st place, the dead cells won't have it to begin with. Why not just add the nutrient to ensure your yeasties have everything they need.