Substitute of yeast nutrient?

Happy Memorial Day all,

I'm brewing today, and I forgot to get the yeast nutrient (bru vigor). The homebrew store is closed, so is there something I can use instead of the yeast nutrient? I've never made a batch without the stuff, so how will fermentation be affected without it?

It will be fine without it. I've only used it a few times and really didn't see a reason for me to ever buy anymore. Maybe for starters/slanting I might pick some up, but only if I have trouble propagating up.

If you are boiling you can add any dry yeast to the boil, including bread yeast. It is the same as using yeast hulls. Yeast are cannibals and they will go for the dead yeast first. I have an outdated jar of baker's yeast that I use on higher grav brews for the same reason.

Revvy said:

If you are boiling you can add any dry yeast to the boil, including bread yeast. It is the same as using yeast hulls. Yeast are cannibals and they will go for the dead yeast first. I have an outdated jar of baker's yeast that I use on higher grav brews for the same reason.

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Good to know!

If you use bread yeast make sure they are not viable. Boil them. I use grape nuts it work great, take one cup and add water boil for a couple of min in a microwave, then cool and strain add only the liquid to the fermenter. It will take off like a rocket ship.

Wait wait wait. REALLY?! I've got like a pound of bakers yeast, plus some yeast from canned extracts sitting around.

They are so going in the next boil.

Revvy said:

If you are boiling you can add any dry yeast to the boil, including bread yeast. It is the same as using yeast hulls. Yeast are cannibals and they will go for the dead yeast first. I have an outdated jar of baker's yeast that I use on higher grav brews for the same reason.

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Thread ZOMBIE!

Awesome news Revvy. When are you writing that book?

I can learn so much more from reading HBT than I could from most books.

I've used brewer's yeast, the nutritional supplement, after all its just dead yeast. I haven't seen it in the states but vegemite might work too.

yodalegomaster said:

If you use bread yeast make sure they are not viable. Boil them. I use grape nuts it work great, take one cup and add water boil for a couple of min in a microwave, then cool and strain add only the liquid to the fermenter. It will take off like a rocket ship.

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I might use this in the cider I'm making.

How much would you want to add for a five-gallon batch of beer? (I'm assuming I could use the same amount in the cider?).

Next time when you bottle a brew you could let the slurry decant in the fridge, and then pour it in some ice cube trays and freeze it. It makes an awesome yeast nutrient.

Just throw a 2-3 cubes in the wort at the next boil.

Revvy said:

If you are boiling you can add any dry yeast to the boil, including bread yeast. It is the same as using yeast hulls. Yeast are cannibals and they will go for the dead yeast first. I have an outdated jar of baker's yeast that I use on higher grav brews for the same reason.

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How much dead yeast would I use for a thirty gallon mash

Deadconfederate said:

How much dead yeast would I use for a thirty gallon mash

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How much do I use for a thirty gallon mash?

Dead yeast for nutrient sounds awesome, but this thread just won't die! Zombiethread!

I know the thread suggests that dead, boiled yeast could be used as nutrient, but I seem to recall Chris White sharing on TBN that it wasn't really recommended. I'll pull out my YEast book and see if I can confirm that.

I came up blank on the Chris White reference - he recommends a proprietary White Labs nutrient, and remains understandably silent on any other nutrient.

I use the Wyeast nutrient, which is used at 1/2 tsp per 5 gallons. If I were guessing about how much boiled yeast to use, I'd start with that amount.