Brewers Yeast

[Hawk Hawkins]

I read an article recently in a magazine about making apple jack or hard cider.
My question is... Is the brewers yeast capsules you buy in the health and vitaman isle the same stuff as what you would brew beer with?
Hawk

 

[xylaria]

I seriously doubt it. I was under the impression that the capsules are dead yeast or are yeast extract like marmite/vegimite but without salt. You can't eat live yeast as it gives you gut rot and infections, so I can't see how it can be dietary suplament. Ask at a good health food store, most areas have an independent health store where they have a profesional product knowlegde.

 

[gregorach]

You can use ordinary bread yeast, or you can get specialized yeasts from your friendly local homebrew shop if you have one, or from many internet outlets if you don't.

If you do have a friendly local homebrew shop, use 'em. They could probably use the support, and they should be able to provide a wealth of useful advice.

 

[British Red]

If making hard from apples, they naturally contain enough yeast to start the fermentation. Otherwise a good beer yeast from a brew shop - make sure you use the "sinking" type (bottome fermenting) or the cider is more difficult to clear.

Red

 

[Hawk Hawkins]

okay i had read once upon another time about wild berries and grapes having enough yeast to start fermenting...somehow i think i remember there was a way to "collect" the yeasts. so apples are pretty much the same?
this article i read about hard cider had a reply in the next months magazine about freezing the bottled stuff in plastic bottles and pouring off the unfrozen part. the unfrozen stuff was called "apple jack". the water was frozen and separated out of the mix making it a lot more potent. this is something ive never done but ive been intrested in for a little while.

Hawk

 

[Hunter_zero]

I read an article recently in a magazine about making apple jack or hard cider.
My question is... Is the brewers yeast capsules you buy in the health and vitaman isle the same stuff as what you would brew beer with?
Hawk

I've been making wine for about 20 years and all I use is bread making yeast, works 100% of the time. I have tried "specialist yeasts" and have had them fail.
Just go and buy bread yeast for walmart or similar.

John

 

[Hawk Hawkins]

good ...i keep about 10 packs of that stuff , and i usually buy it about everytime i go to the store. so what kinda porportions do you use per ? .
Hawk

 

[Hunter_zero]

freezing the bottled stuff in plastic bottles and pouring off the unfrozen part. the unfrozen stuff was called "apple jack". the water was frozen and separated out of the mix making it a lot more potent. this is something ive never done but ive been intrested in for a little while.

Hawk

I have tried it and it works. Nothing like distilling mind you. The alcohol content was around 30% ! My normal wine is close to 13%.
I once knew a young teenager (cough...cough) who made a small still and distilled larger, was very easy to do and the resultant would light a fire! but tasted very bad
One year, I brewed beer & cider, mixed them and the results were serious brain rot but I guess it did the trick and never hurt me, part from the annoying loss of a left kidney and the twitches but they are getting better noow.

John

 

[Hunter_zero]

good ...i keep about 10 packs of that stuff , and i usually buy it about everytime i go to the store. so what kinda porportions do you use per ? .
Hawk

I use about a table spoon per 5 ltrs of wine.

Boil some water, let it cool and mix some sugar (1/2 cup & three table spoons), let it go lukewarm and mix the yeast. Let it rest for an hour or two in a warm place and pour it in. The first wine I ever made was from potatoes. Just boil up a load of potatoes, mix in sugar, put it in a bucket ( I use demijohns (spelling?)) and mix in the yeast. Let the whole thing ferment out (stop fermenting) filter and drink. Not that nice but you can improve with some dried fruit.

John

 

[ilan]

Bread yeast is low alcohol tollerant so you wont get the full works but it also produces plenty of gas and is difficult to clear ,Wild yeasts can produce good results but rarley often you get a crap brew that just either gives you the trots or a bad head . Get the proper stuff from a home brew shop and make it up in a starter bottle a day or so berfor you need it . With regards to freeze distiling its against the law as is pot distilation tastes bad as well .

 

[British Red]

But Hawk is in the states so it maybe okay

Hawk - I did a whole series of posts on making Wild Wine if it interests you - its in about 8 parts but if you search on "Wild Wine" they should all come up okay - might help a little!

Red

 

[Rebel]

Bread yeast is low alcohol tollerant so you wont get the full works but it also produces plenty of gas and is difficult to clear ,Wild yeasts can produce good results but rarley often you get a crap brew that just either gives you the trots or a bad head . Get the proper stuff from a home brew shop and make it up in a starter bottle a day or so berfor you need it . With regards to freeze distiling its against the law as is pot distilation tastes bad as well .

All true. Wild yeasts are unreliable and you can get a brew with bacteria in it that would give you the runs and a headache (I won't bore you with what happened to my stomach after downing too much of a bad brew).

When I made beer I used proper beer-making yeast but for cider I used wine yeast to get a higher alcohol content (adding sugar to raise the final alcohol level) and give a milder taste. I wasn't going for authentic cider so much as a brew that would appeal to my tastes. Even if you are going authentic AFAIK most people use wine yeast these days.

Beer yeast tastes stronger than wine yeast and as it multiplies in your brew it will add its own flavour. There are also two basic kinds, top brewing (for ale) and bottom brewing (for lager).

Brewers yeast from health food shops isn't suitable as it is a deactivated yeast. It's very good for you though and is full of B vitamins and can be quite tasty. I used to eat it quite a bit, maybe I should do so again.

 

[British Red]

Thats what Marmite is for mate yum!

 

[Hawk Hawkins]

as far as i know distilling is okay here as long as its kept for personal use and under so many gallons a year. if you sell the stuff you make its bootlegging and then you could get fined big time and probly in bigger trouble. i dunno, but im sure some of my family would have as some of the ones who've long passed on were pretty big into moonshinin' . we all have those rascals in our families though lol .
Red i saw those posts i need to go back and reread 'em as they got me even more intrested
thanks
Hawk

 

[merlin]

Home brew the best reason to go into the woods to find things!!!! every month of the year has something to brew.
Brewers yeast from the health shop does not work, and bakers yeast is easy to use for beginers as it's cheap and has a longer shelf life generaly.
Do not think it is a big deal to brew your own, the powers that be want you to think it is.
all you need to know is
1:- fluid ( any juice, pulp and water in any proportion to start)
2:- sugar ( 1.5lb per gallon as a rough guide)
3:- yeast (whatever you can get your hands on)

Throw it all together and away you go, drink it and the next time you brew it change what you did'nt like (sweeter, drier or the fluid)

Quick starter

1L squash ( any flavour )
1bag of sugar
2teasp of yeast (any)

boil squash to get rid of preservatives ( about five min)
disolve sugar in squash
pour into demijohn top up with cold water
add yeast when warm to touch cover to keep air out (air lock good but not essential clingfilm and elastic band ok)
when it stops bubbling drink.

I may be stating the obvious to some but it may help someone to get started.
There are no limits to what you can ferment, give it a go, and there is no such thing as a home brew expert, you will always learn something new every time you brew.
WARNING once you start you will never stop!!!!!!

 

[ilan]

I think one of the biggest put offs with home brew is that a lot of it tasted well cr*p for a £1 or so you can get a bottle of high alcohol cheap cider which will put you on your back . I think its worth taking a bit of care getting it corect to start acid tannin /fruits and sugar then you get somthing worth drinking . Perhaps you remember those cheap beer kits the beer tasted appely everone added a little extra sugar and it became falling over water with a headach to match .

 

[Rebel]

I agree. I drank a lot of disgusting brews from other people and wasn't sure I wanted to give it a go myself but I just couldn't let all those berries and apples in the hedgerows go to waste.

I armed myself with some good books on the subject. Got the equipment from car boot sales and started out following the recipes to the letter, no short cuts, no skimping or improvising. All my equipment was sterilized correctly too; I guess the fact that I worked in a photographic darkroom for several years helped my approach .

I resisted drinking it until is was completely ready and was surprised by how good it tasted. I didn't get sick or get a hangover either.

After that I was on a roll and produced gallons and gallons of the stuff. I learned to adapt the recipes and made up my own. Some tasted better than others and the stuff I didn't like much, like elderberry wine, I just used in stews instead of regular wine.

 

[Hunter_zero]

Bread yeast is low alcohol tollerant so you wont get the full works but it also produces plenty of gas and is difficult to clear ,Wild yeasts can produce good results but rarley often you get a crap brew that just either gives you the trots or a bad head . Get the proper stuff from a home brew shop and make it up in a starter bottle a day or so berfor you need it . With regards to freeze distiling its against the law as is pot distilation tastes bad as well .

No, not at all.

My brews have a kick. All I use is bread yeast and it work VERY well.
All I can say is give it a go, it's worked VERY well for 20 odd years.

John

 

[Hunter_zero]

I agree. I drank a lot of disgusting brews from other people and wasn't sure I wanted to give it a go myself but I just couldn't let all those berries and apples in the hedgerows go to waste.

.

Biggest secret of wine making is the berries.

Use as much pure juice as you can. For example, blackberry wine (best brew I make). Fill a pan full of berries and simmer. Your looking to put about a pint of water to make a whole demijohn of liquid. The wine is fine after six months and like gold after two years.

John

 

[merlin]

I agree with you all on this, the more care and percision you take the better the brew, it takes practice. Giveing it a go with a simple wine first is a good way to start, if it tastes like s##t throw it on the compost heap or give it to someone for x-mas!!! then you try again, but the next one you make will be better because you now know it's not a dark art and each step is a bit closer to that vintage country wine all youre friends drank like pop at the BBQ!!!
Theres nothing worse than loosing all those wonderfull berries you picked, due to lack of practice, you'll always remember the bad ones as much as the good ones.