Yeast nutrition

[Jamie02173]

I have recently purchased a bag of nutromix salt as a yeast nutrient. Information online tells me its used for wine brewing and i have used less then a gram in my previous two batches that are still fermenting.
Anyone any experience with this product and will it be ok for making stout, ipa etc.
If not can anyone recommend a reliable yeast nutrient and wether saving dead yeast is reliable also?

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I tend to use Wyeast yeast nutrient, mainly because it's cheaper than White Labs' nutrient. I don't know if it really has an effect on my beer, but it's part of my process now, and it's cheap, so I keep using it. I always get healthy fermentations.

 

[Kickass]

Wyeast is simple and cheap. I’m probably 50/50 on whether or not I remember to use them. Most wort is pretty nutrient rich compared to wine, cider, mead, etc must. Like 3 dog said above, I don’t actually know if they have any measurable or noticeable effect on my beer.

 

[McMullan]

Ideally use a nutrient blend specified for brewing as it supplements what might be missing or at low levels in barley worts. It’s important to help maintain yeast health for repitching mainly. I use either WL or WY brewing blend, which ever’s in stock. For a well prepped, nutritious, wort zinc is the main nutrient to add. It’s cheap and simple just to add 1/2 tsp brewing blend to a standard batch, though.

 

[Jamie02173]

Thanks for the replies might aswel add it anyway as it will be no harm! Do you just add any zinc from the pharmacy or a specific brewing zinc?

 

[McMullan]

I use zinc sulphate tablets, but you only need to add a tiny amount. Just to be clear, the 1/2 tsp is for the yeast nutrient blend, which will have enough zinc included.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Like @McMullan said, just get a beer yeast nutrient, and toss in 1/2 tsp with 10 minutes left in the boil. It has other things in it, but the zinc is really the main thing you care about. Everything else the yeast need is already contained in the grist/wort.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

My understanding is that a fresh pack of yeast, liquid or dry, will have plenty of nutrients needed for fermentation. Also, beer wort has a lot more nutrients than wine, cider, mead, etc. If you are retching yeast, then lack of nutrients, especially zinc, can be an issue. I read that Kveik likes extra nutrient, especially in lower gravity beers. Note that there are a lot of yeast nutrients not targeted for beer, and only a handful of them contain zinc. Avoid the stuff that is just diammonium phosphate & food-grade urea.

I picked up a pack of Wyeast nutrient a few years ago when I was brewing my first Voss Kveik beer. Now I try to remember to add a bit when I add in my Whirlfloc tablet. Like others, I am not positive it makes a difference, but it is cheap insurance. A $4 tube of Wyeast nutrient is enough for 19 batches of beer (at 2.2 grams per 5-gallon batch).

 

[mabrungard]

If you’re starting with a relatively pure water like distilled or RO, including some form of yeast nutrient is important. The main deficiency is the absence of zinc. The need for nutrients is lower if your water source is already mineralized.

 

[McMullan]

Regardless of brewing water source, if the aim is to promote yeast health, e.g., to maintain fermentation performance in subsequent repitchings, it’s good practice to add 1/2 tsp specified brewer’s yeast nutrient blend. What’s the alternative? A complete water analysis then formulate a customised blend of nutrients? That’s very impractical and not cost effective. Brewing isn’t just about water, of course.