Yeast for yeast fuel

[BarefootFriar]

I read somewhere, I think*, that someone put an envelope of dry bread yeast into his boiling wort. The yeast of course died, but the purpose of doing so was supposedly to give the beer yeast something to eat as it was starting work.

Is there anything to this? I would think adding BrewVint or whatever it's called (yeast fuel) would be as good or better. Is this true? And further, if you do a starter, isn't this superflous?


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*Or, I could just be crazy. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[BeerGrylls]

In my recollection, this is the trick that german and other breweries use as a yeast nutrient and still are able to say that they comply with Reinheitsgebot.

edit: white labs makes a product called servomyces, which I believe is just dead yeast. RHG compliant. The idea is that it provides the zinc needed for yeast cellular division and growth. I imagine the concept is the same, however that product is probably bred for its nutrient characteristics. I don't imagine bread yeast is very far off from it.

 

[BarefootFriar]

Aha! That makes sense.

 

[cpa4ny]

I read somewhere, I think*, that someone put an envelope of dry bread yeast into his boiling wort. The yeast of course died, but the purpose of doing so was supposedly to give the beer yeast something to eat as it was starting work.

Is there anything to this? I would think adding BrewVint or whatever it's called (yeast fuel) would be as good or better. Is this true? And further, if you do a starter, isn't this superflous?

___
*Or, I could just be crazy. Wouldn't be the first time.

That's what Servomyces essentially are. Dead yeast full of nutrients that you add to the wort at the end of the boil. However, considering how much WL charges for Servo, I believe that ANY dead yeast won't do. I sometimes use Servo, sometimes use Wyeast yeast supplement. Haven't noticed too much difference in fermentation when I use either of them. However, if you believe in Rheinheitagebot, Servo is compatible with it.