Wine yeast instead of beer yeast. OK???

[branding-iron316]

I only had wine yeast yesterday when finishing my wheat beer yesterday. Problem? Will it take longer in the primary? Could I add yeast killer in and add beer yeast? Open to any thoughts..

 

[Polboy]

Wine yeast will leave a lot of sugars behind and most likely you will have to add beer yeast to finish fermentation, what wine strain did you use? maybe you wont have to kill it
http://www.lallemandwine.us/products/yeast_chart.php

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Wine yeast generally only consume simple sugars and do not ferment maltose, so you'll probably end up with a terribly unfermented beer.

Some wine yeast will kill off beer yeast, so depending on the strain used you might not be able to fix the beer.

 

[branding-iron316]

Used lavin k1-1116

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Yeah, that's a strain that produces killer enzymes so unless you are set up to filter you will need to try to knock out the yeast and hope you can pitch a big enough starter to ferment it over any remaining enzyme.

 

[branding-iron316]

What's the end result? Dumped five gallons or a wine taste? Weighing options at this pt.

 

[Delaney]

What's the end result? Dumped five gallons or a wine taste? Weighing options at this pt.

maltose is your main sugar type, so it's not that it's going to have a wine like taste. It's more so that you're beer will not be fully fermented...

I suggest contacting local wine shops and asking them if they have wine filters for rent. A lot of them rent that stuff out. Use a very fine filter and you will be able to filter out the yeast. Not sure if it will change the color of the beer, but I know that with wine the finer filters will strip the color. The cost of the rental would be worth saving the beer.


Don't know too much about the subject other than that. Good luck

 

[amandabab]

Used lavin k1-1116

1116 doesn't play well with others and won't eat maltose.
one of its designing factors was the ability to kill/suppress wild yeast.


maybe add vodka to kill the cloying sweetness and force carb?

 

[branding-iron316]

Any chemical to add to kill the yeast? Yeast stabilizer strong enough?

 

[Delaney]

Any chemical to add to kill the yeast? Yeast stabilizer strong enough?

Yes but if the yeast has already fermented, it may have already produced these killer enzymes...


Another thought is to siphon the beer into your brew kettle, and heat it to a temperature which denatures the killer enzymes. I think it's safe to say that the yeast would also die as a result of this. You might have to aerate it again afterwards prior to pitching beer yeast as heating it would get rid of O2. Not sure how badly this might oxidize the beer or anything like that but at least it would be fermentable with beer yeast....

 

[JLem]

While wine yeasts may not consume the same complex sugars as some beer strains, I am not sure that it cannot ferment maltose. It probably can't ferment malto-triose, but some beer strains can't either. There is a wonderful podcast on using wine yeast for beer on the Brewing Network. Definitely worth a listen to. Just search for "Shea Comfort" and "wine yeast" and you should find it. Highly, highly informative.

Fwiw, I used a wine yeast on a wort mashed at 160F and it took it down to 1.020. So, it did a pretty damn good job given the high mash temp.

 

[branding-iron316]

I wonder if I may luck out here because there is no action yet in the beer and it has been almost a day!

 

[JLem]

I wonder if I may luck out here because there is no action yet in the beer and it has been almost a day!

Be patient with it. When I used wine yeast in a beer it took 3 days before I had any activity. And then it really took off. I was about to give up on it too, but it came through just fine.

 

[branding-iron316]

Thanks JLem!! How did it turn out???

 

[JLem]

Thanks JLem!! How did it turn out???

Well, it was a highly experimental batch that I added Brett to, which is why I mashed so high. I also added cranberries and used a ton of acid malt in the grist. So, i can't really say how the yeast worked from a flavor perspective in the end. My recollection though when I racked it before adding the Brett and cranberries is that it tasted pretty good.

 

[branding-iron316]

I intend to add blueberries to the secondary

 

[JLem]

Btw, here's the link to the podcast I mentioned earlier about using wine yeast in beer. Also has some great info about using oak. Well worth a listen.

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Sunday-Session/The-Sunday-Session-11-23-08-Shea-Comfort

 

[rexbanner]

Btw, here's the link to the podcast I mentioned earlier about using wine yeast in beer. Also has some great info about using oak. Well worth a listen.

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Sunday-Session/The-Sunday-Session-11-23-08-Shea-Comfort

This. Convertase will free up sugars that the wine yeast couldn't normally ferment. You should add a little bit, swirl to rouse the yeast, and check the gravity. If it is still too low, keep adding more. You can bring the gravity all the way down to 1.000 or lower this way.

How much to add? I have no idea, I've never done it before but it's on my list of things to try.

 

[branding-iron316]

We gots bubbling!!!!!

 

[JLem]

We gots bubbling!!!!!

:rockin: