Making brewer's yeast supplement power or tablets

[monotious]

Hi,

I have been taking brewers' yeast supplement tablets for a while now, and wondered if this is exactly the same stuff that gets left at the bottom of the fermenter after brewing.

I did some google searches and there was nothing that said in precise terms that "the sediment in the fermenter after brewing is the same thing as brewers' yeast that you find in health supplement stores", and that is my question.

So the last batch of beer I did, after bottling, I collected what's left at the bottom (instead of throwing it out like I usually do) and boiled it in a pot for 30 minutes or so in an attempt 1) to deactivate the yeast and 2) to reduce the liquid (which I grew impatient of and stuck in the fridge before it completely reduced).

Is consuming this thing the same as taking the brewers' yeast tablets? Has anyone done this? I know that the sediment contains nutrients and all, but don't know if this is exactly the same thing or a close enough substitute, or whether there is something different about the commercially produced brewers' yeast supplements.

If it is, I think one thing I can try to make this more like commercially purchased brewers' yeast supplement is basically to put it in the oven to evaporate all liquid and grind what's left into powder. But I'd do this only if what I now have stuck into my fridge is indeed the same stuff as what comes in tablets and powder forms.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Schreiner]

My guess is the beneficial nutrients in your tablets are also in your sediment after fermentation. Looking at a couple of supplements on amazon, they say that it is good for it's probiotic properties, which if you boil the sediment, that would denature that benefit. I would guess you tablets are peletized dry yeast. Not sure if boiling would denature the vitamin (B specifically) content.

If you're drinking enough unfiltered homebrew, you shouldn't really need to take a supplement like this, in my estimation.

 

[John Eberly]

Who knows what is in a "brewer's yeast supplement"? Supplements are unregulated and untested.

Some Belgian beers are still served with the lees/dregs poured into a shot glass - claimed to be "full of vitamins".

If you are experiencing some noticeable benefits from the supplements you could discontinue them and drink a shot of yeast every day and see how you feel. I'm thinking you should be careful to keep hops and trub out of your fermenter if you're only after the yeast cake.

Seems like it's so subjective though that you can't be sure of anything..

 

[monotious]

Thank you both.

http://superhumancoach.com/pros-and-cons-of-brewers-yeast/

says "It is important to understand however that the yeast used for brewing is live while the brewer’s yeast commonly known as a nutritional supplement is deactivated. That means the microorganisms have been killed off through pasteurization or drying but the proteins, vitamins and minerals are still there."

I would assume that consuming large amount of living brewers' yeast may carry the risk of gases or yeast infection.

That said, I think it was not the right thing to boil it, because it also says "It is often advised that brewer’s yeast be added at the end or after the food is cooked so that the heat doesn’t wipe out the B vitamins."

So going back to the excerpt from the article I quoted above, it might be best to pasteurize the sediment if I intend to kill the yeast and preserve vitamin B (among other nutrients in the sediment that may also be susceptible to heat). And I learned that there are a number of different types of vitamin Bs, with vitamin B-12 being resistant to heat but not B-6 or niacin, if I am reading right.

I guess I will try using my sous vide machine to pasteurize the sediment from my next batch of beer....