Is Turbo yeast nothing more than distillers yeast + yeast nutrient?

[NeverDie]

From what I’ve read... they work fast and taste like crap. Try and let me know.
Cheers

Yes, the results are in, and you were right all along.

 

[NeverDie]

OK, I may need to take back some of what I said. I think my comments may stand for the apple juice that I was testing the "turbo yeast" on: it produces funny smells. However, I'm also testing it on a sugar solution (as per the directions on the package), and on that I'm not getting any funny smells. So, maybe it's fine for that purpose. As a control, I'm doing the same sugar solution test with Preimier Cuvee, which is supposedly a "clean" fermenting yeast.

Also, I'm testing the Premier Cuvee on the same apple juice solution, and it produces similar smells, but just not as intense. It occurs to me now that maybe they aren't as intense simply because the yeast isn't as active? In that turns out to be the case, the the downside to least this particular turbo yeast may not be large, or may not even exist. So, I'll continue the experiment, and time will tell.

 

[AkTom]

Yes, the results are in, and you were right all along.

Tell that to my wife...

 

[Northern_Brewer]

SPL International are close neighbours of Halewood Intl who are best known in the UK for their alcopops and from what I can tell the main driver for turbo yeast was for quickndirty fermention of sugar for use in alcopops rather than blending with (highly taxed) spirits. So it kinda makes sense that they're OK when you're just fermenting simple sugars and don't give it anything too interesting for it to create off-flavours with.

SPL also did some manufacturing for Mangrove Jack and ended up merging with the MJ holding company.

 

[Bilsch]

Why bother brewing with turbo yeast when you can buy paint thinner at the hardware store for $10/gallon ?
It's a lot less work for the same thing.

 

[FatDragon]

OP needs to join r/prisonhooch on Reddit.

 

[NeverDie]

Well, the re-pitch worked, but a couple things:
1. Using just a regular yeast nutrient, the turbo yeast seems to have gone non-turbo. I mean, it is moving along, but not at the rate it was before.
2. It still produces a kind of paint-thinner like odor.

I did try tasting some of what had already previously fermented, and it doesn't taste as bad as it smells, but belching paint thinner vapors kinda takes the fun out of it. I think I'm going to mark this experiment as a FAIL and assume other distiller yeasts are similar.

I do look forward to trying the kveik yeasts though.

Results: the repitched turbo yeast took a 25 BRIX boosted apple juice to an 8 BRIX cider in 45 hours. That's around 10% alcohol if I'm doing the math right. So, even repitched, it's considerably faster than my Premier Cuvee, which took about 5 days to do the same. Both at room temperature (around 70F). The 25 BRIX was arrived at by mixing Member's Mark apple juice (from Sam's club) with two cans of frozen apple juice concentrate. No sugar, per se, was added.

No paint thinner odors or bad tastes this time around with the re-pitched "turbo" yeast and a normal yeast nutrient. Not sure if the paint thinner artifacts, which I commented on in an earlier batch above, were a result of the nutrient that came mixed with the turbo yeast in the original package or the spices in the "spiced" apple juice that I started with previously, or perhaps a combination of both.

I'm going to let it ferment to completion and see what happens.

 

[bracconiere]

Results: the repitched turbo yeast took a 25 BRIX boosted apple juice to an 8 BRIX cider in 45 hours. That's around 10% alcohol if I'm doing the math right. So, even repitched, it's considerably faster than my Premier Cuvee, which took about 5 days to do the same. Both at room temperature (around 70F). The 25 BRIX was arrived at by mixing Member's Mark apple juice (from Sam's club) with two cans of frozen apple juice concentrate. No sugar, per se, was added.

No paint thinner odors or bad tastes this time around with the re-pitched "turbo" yeast and a normal yeast nutrient. Not sure if the paint thinner artifacts, which I commented on in an earlier batch above, were a result of the nutrient that came mixed with the turbo yeast in the original package or the spices in the "spiced" apple juice that I started with previously, or perhaps a combination of both.

I'm going to let it ferment to completion and see what happens.

yeah it will become a 'normal' yeast, but will still be able to ferment to high ABV....and be a bit faster, i think, been a while since i used the stuff myself, haven't done much besides beer at 8% these days...

I forgot about this thread honestly, but i believe i mentioned something about them offering a UREA free turbo now....Wasn't available to me when i was using this stuff, but something to try out...

(and don't take the serious people too seriously, they just don't know how to have fun! )

 

[NeverDie]

yeah it will become a 'normal' yeast, but will still be able to ferment to high ABV....and be a bit faster, i think, been a while since i used the stuff myself, haven't done much besides beer at 8% these days...

I forgot about this thread honestly, but i believe i mentioned something about them offering a UREA free turbo now....Wasn't available to me when i was using this stuff, but something to try out...

(and don't take the serious people too seriously, they just don't know how to have fun! )

Aha! The turbo yeast I bought wasn't labeled "Urea Free", so I guess by implication it probably had urea in it. Maybe that's at least partly why the original formulation tasted so weird, versus the re-pitched version which tastes relatively normal.

After this experience I don't think I'll be trusting commercially packaged turbo yeasts, at least as they come packaged with their nutrient accelerators. Maybe the yeast strain is OK (yet to be determined), but without a name for the yeast strain, it's hard to really relate it to anything in the written literature to find out more about its characteristics.

Thanks for the info!

 

[bracconiere]

Aha! The turbo yeast I bought wasn't labeled "Urea Free", so I guess by implication it probably had urea in it. Maybe that's at least partly why the original formulation tasted so weird, versus the re-pitched version which tastes relatively normal.

Thanks for the info!

like i said i've never tried the urea free version because it's new...But i'm guessing being that it's a thing now, it could be the 'bad flavor' that normal turbo has...

give it a try next experiment and let me know!

 

[NeverDie]

like i said i've never tried the urea free version because it's new...But i'm guessing being that it's a thing now, it could be the 'bad flavor' that normal turbo has...

give it a try next experiment and let me know!

I'm a bit concerned now that maybe these formulations are meant purely for distilling and maybe aren't even safe to drink if they aren't removed by distillation. Drinking stuff with mystery ingredients intended for a different purpose seems a bit like drinking fracking water...

https://brewhaus.com/blog/what-is-urea-and-does-it-belong-in-my-turbo-yeast/

With this new information, I think it's just not for me. I'll continue to play with the re-pitched yeast a while longer though.

Again, thanks for bringing urea to my attention.

 

[bracconiere]

I'm a bit concerned now that maybe these formulations are meant purely for distilling and maybe aren't even safe to drink if they aren't removed by distillation. Drinking stuff with mystery ingredients intended for a different purpose seems a bit like drinking fracking water...

https://brewhaus.com/blog/what-is-urea-and-does-it-belong-in-my-turbo-yeast/

With this new information, I think it's just not for me. I'll continue to play with the re-pitched yeast a while longer though.

they still taste bad even after refluxing and pulling 92%....didn't kill me! Hmmm, there seems to be a link in my quote that's not in your post, have to read it....

edit: Read it, lol..you know there's a warning on my oxygen tank that california knows it causes cancer! and i don't plan on stopping breathing!

 

[NeverDie]

they still taste bad even after refluxing and pulling 92%....didn't kill me! Hmmm, there seems to be a link in my quote that's not in your post, have to read it....

edit: Read it, lol..you know there's a warning on my oxygen tank that california knows it causes cancer! and i don't plan on stopping breathing!

I would agree about the California warnings becoming so extreme that they're practically useless. I mean, California labels children's play sand as a possible carcinogen. That makes a mockery of the real threats by throwing them all into one basket.

Anyhow, I try to ask myself whether the upside justifies the risks, and, speaking only for myself, I just can't say yes in this particular instance. I mean, there just isn't a whole lot of upside that I can see to using the manufacturer's mystery formulation, provided that you have the yeast already captured.

 

[bracconiere]

I would agree about the California warnings becoming so extreme that they're practically useless. I mean, California labels children's play sand as a possible carcinogen. That makes a mockery of the real threats by throwing them all into one basket.

Anyhow, I try to ask myself whether the upside justifies the risks, and, speaking only for myself, I just can't say yes in this particular instance. I mean, there just isn't a whole lot of upside that I can see to using the manufacturer's mystery formulation, provided that you have the yeast already captured.

i agree with both statements...the yeast are hardy, and after a couple repitches everything water soluble will be washed off...

if you need a high ABV yeast could do a sacrificial 1 gal batch with the turbo to just collect the yeast...And turbo 'yeast' are better then what they call distiller's in my experience....

 

[NeverDie]

And turbo 'yeast' are better then what they call distiller's in my experience....

Oh, that's something I didn't know. I had thought they were likely the same sort of beast. Well, I'm always pleased when I can learn new things!

 

[bracconiere]

Oh, that's something I didn't know. I had thought they were likely the same sort of beast. Well, I'm always pleased when I can learn new things!

yeah the distiller's stuff they always claim can go to 20+%, but never actually do, but i always could get an easy ferment to 16+% with washed turbo...

 

[NeverDie]

yeah the distiller's stuff they always claim can go to 20+%, but never actually do, but i always could get an easy ferment to 16+% with washed turbo...

I notice that some of the turbo yeast products (e.g. Turbo 8 classic) strongly recommend using an activated charcoal post-fermentation (and they even sell packs to do just that). Well, I just now looked at the adsorption characteristics of activated charcoal (http://ipsystemsusa.com/images/resources/Activated_Carbon_Adsorption_List.pdf), and urea is one of the things it's excellent at adsorbing. However, I couldn't help but notice that (according to that list) activated carbon is also excellent at adsorbing alcohol! Well, if that's true, it kinda defeats the whole goal, eh? Go figure.

On the other hand, it does seem to be quite commonly sold to home brewers, for whatever reason, so maybe that list is wrong.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but if first the manufacturer sells you a turbo yeast formula that tastes bad but also offers to sell you activated charcoal to clean it up.... Sounds a bit like a wound and rescue sales tactic, does it not? Not saying it isn't legit, because I honestly don't know, but I'd need to think hard about that one. If absolute speed is the criteria, maybe it's justified.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It's worth remembering that your body produces about an ounce of urea per day and passes it through your kidneys and into your urine, and it's not like your kidneys are known as a particular hotspot of cancer. And in terms of carcinogens, I'd be far more worried about what comes off a barbecue. So worrying about a few ppb in your beer comes under the "normal risks of being alive" for me. Everything in life carries risks, you run a risk every time you cross the road but you accept that risk as being small enough not to worry about even though "You could get run over and DIE!!!!" is an actual risk that could actually happen and in the wrong hands could be hyped up so much that you wouldn't leave the house.

If you want to play with a distilling yeast for brewing, give WLP050 Tennessee a go - it's a POF- yeast (unusually for distilling) with an interesting aroma profile, quite floral.

As I say, turbo yeast are used a lot in alcopops, I don't know what if any treatments they do in relation to this stuff.

 

[NeverDie]

If you want to play with a distilling yeast for brewing, give WLP050 Tennessee a go - it's a POF- yeast (unusually for distilling) with an interesting aroma profile, quite floral.

What's a POF? What kind of floral scent is it?

Tonight was my first exposure to a yeast that has a pleasant smell: the Hothead Kveik. Wow, what a difference between it and all the other yeasts I had tried so far. Smells noticeably fruity, like mango and pineapple. Nothing subtle about it: the scent is strong. I'm impressed.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

POF is the genetic "toolkit" responsible for Phenolic Off Flavours, aka "Belgianness" - so most UK/US yeasts are POF- which is a classic sign of a more domesticated brewery yeast.

Hothead is generally regarded as about the mildest of the kveiks, try Hornindal...

 

[NeverDie]

Hothead is generally regarded as about the mildest of the kveiks, try Hornindal...

What do you mean by "mildest"? In what sense? Also, why Hornindal specifically?


[Edit: Well, looking into it, it seems that Hordindal has a higher flocculation than the Hothead. I presume that probably means the total build time should be less because of less time spent waiting for it to clear (?). On the other thread people are talking about having their beer totally done in as little as 48 to 72 hours.

I'm guessing now that by "mildest" you meant that the Hothead has a lower ABV potential than the Hordindal.

Regarding the Hothead, I split off some of the batch to start a cyser. I'm guessing that the very pleasant Hothead aroma will go very nicely with it. ]

 

[NeverDie]

Conclusion: The repitched turbo yeast did its job and converted a 25 BRIX apple juice + FAJC soution into a 3 BRIX solution in just 3 days. In that sense, I'm impressed. However, now that I've experienced the Hothead Kveik yeast, which smells great , the relatively sour notes of the turbo yeast just don't hold any appeal for me. Therefore, that's the end of my turbo yeast experiments. My curiosity with it has been satisfied.

 

[bracconiere]

Conclusion: The repitched turbo yeast did its job and converted a 25 BRIX apple juice + FAJC soution into a 3 BRIX solution in just 3 days. In that sense, I'm impressed. However, now that I've experienced the Hothead Kveik yeast, which smells great , the relatively sour notes of the turbo yeast just don't hold any appeal for me. Therefore, that's the end of my turbo yeast experiments. My curiosity with it has been satisfied.

and now i have to do some digging and find out what the hell this kveik stuff people are all raving about is!

 

[NeverDie]

and now i have to do some digging and find out what the hell this kveik stuff people are all raving about is!

At least so far the only downside I've noticed has been a much larger foam production than any of the other yeasts. I opted for more headspace as a result, but I guess adding an anti-foaming agent (if there is such a thing) might be another option.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

What do you mean by "mildest"? In what sense? Also, why Hornindal specifically?

Mildest as in "most neutral yeast flavour" - if you like the fruitiness, then Hornindal has more of it.

 

[Wolfbayte]

At least on paper, mead seems like it practically *is* a sugar wash--just using honey instead of table sugar. So, I might try making some of that.

Is it an autumnal mead?

 

[NeverDie]

Is it an autumnal mead?

Presently doing simple cysers for the purpose of comparing different yeasts. I take back what I said in the passage that you quoted: it's far more aromatic and flavorful than a simple sugar wash.

 

[NeverDie]

I was going to recommend Hothead if you want neutral. I like Hornindal a lot for hoppy beers, but not dark beers (I get a caramel kind of note I don’t like).

Thanks for suggesting the hothead yeast! I just today halted a roughly 4 day room temperature fermentation with it using Martinelli's apple juice, and it made a very nice cider, one of my best so far.