Yeast nutrient

[chocotaco]

Does anyone put yeast nutrient in their high-gravity all-grain beers?

I have read that it isn't necessary when doing all-grain because enough tasty things come out of the grain that the yeast will be plenty happy.

I have also read that it is necessary or your HG beer won't attenuate properly.

Opinons? My first AG batch (Mash temp 148F, mostly 2-row with a touch of melanoiden and CaraPils with SDSY) is steadily fermenting now and I am debating whether to add some yeast nutrient. I want it to get down to 1.015 like BeerSmith predicted it would (even though the OG was a little higher than estimated; I guess BeerSmith was a bit pessimistic about my BIAB efficiency)

I pitched a whole super-fresh vial of SDSY for a 2-gallon batch (which is the biggest AG I can do with the equipment and time I have) so I'm thinking yeast count shouldn't be a huge issue.

 

[chocotaco]

Should have specified: target OG was 1.086 but came out closer to 1.09+

 

[DocScott]

I find oxygenation a big issue with getting good attenuation out of my high gravity brews. I haven't ventured into yeast nutrients too much, however I'm sure they help.

In regards to your current brew, 1.090 to 1.015 is doable, but I think a lot of aeration and good pitch rate are paramount. It is also easier to finish drier if you add some simple sugars (glucose or sucrose for example) as a small percentage of your grist.

 

[daksin]

I typically toss some bakers yeast into the boil of my high gravity beers. I bought a 1kg brick of yeast that turned out to make awful bread, so now it's yeast food.

 

[jflongo]

I put some yeast nutrient in all of my beers and cider now. If it's a low gravity one, then I just maybe put a teaspoon in. If it's a high gravity or cider, I usually do 1 tsp / gallon. I also usually put a tsp in with a yeast starter as well.