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“Understanding the Role of Yeast in Baking and Fermentation”
Just like the title. My name and the post says it all. I’ve read about turbo yeast and then saw recipes saying bakers yeast. I of course jumped in and bought some yeast that marketed for wine making called Lalvin ec-1118 but I’m just starting out with a simple sugar wash. The package calls to rehydrate but the recipe says dry. Am I overthinking? I went ahead and mixed in my first batch dry buy want the feedback from you guys. Plus advice on temperature. Remember I’m American and we use stupid units of measuring
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8 Replies
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That’s a nice yeast, but overkill for a sugar wash. Bakers yeast works just fine for a sugar wash. A few years ago I used to be able to buy 2 lbs of Fleischmann’s dry yeast for $5-$6. Now a days it’s at least twice that price. Anyways … hydrating dry yeast is good for the yeast. I’ve read that dry pitching can kill off approx 1/2 of the yeast, but I’m not sure if that is completely accurate. I always hydrate dry yeast because it’s simple to do and isn’t a real inconvenience.I’d follow the instructions on fermentation temp too. Too high of a temp can stress the yeast and produce off flavors.4″ VM Build
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“Explain yeast to me”Yeast is bull frog tough. Given half a chance it will convert sugar into alcohol and fart Co2.Having said that, it often amazes me how folks manage to create an environment that isn’t yeast friendly. Long story short, figure out what the yeast needs and avoid stressing it unless there’s a reason for a specific recipe.
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1118 will get the job done. It has a wide range of temps but can be slow fermenting when cool.You can sprinkle it on top the wash or stir it in.Best is to rehydrate it with blood temp water and let it set for 10 or 15 minutes before pitching it into a wash. This way a higher percentage of the yeast survives.My preference is to use bakers yeast and a lot of it.
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I love yeast and my yeast knows this and loves me back, and I believe this circle of love and trust is conducive to happy ferments. And happy ferments just leads to what some people call positive outcomes and even more love. I know it’s silly but I believe yeast – like a dog – can smell fear. Don’t be afraid. I particularly like baker’s yeast for my rums.I can’t sing, but I sing.
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I guess you are learning AN.Yeast is a way to convert fermentables to a more desirable product. That might be beer, wine, sake or any other number of fermented drinks ( foods as well , but let’s not go there for now ) yeast has been specifically cultured to develop types that have specific distinct attributes in beer making.. these are subtle and unique to regions and styles. This is true in wine as well, but there are strains that are much more tolerant of things that would kill beer yeast… tolerant of Ph and alcohol, tannins and acids etc… in commercial distilling of spirits there are yeasts that are like nothing else.. but those are rare and uncommon.. and there are other yeast like processes that act like yeast but do things yeast can not if you want to get way out in left field…But I don’t think that is what you want to know is it? You can select yeast based on end product, fermentables,temperatures etc. Yeast for our needs is as simple and inexpensive as it gets…. the trick to distilling is not to be greedy! You are going to distill. What you distill will taste like what you ferment. If you ferment a stressed out soup of yeast at the limit of its ability that is shitting the bed creating unwanted fermentation byproducts… they will flavour your end product, and in a sour mash it will add character, a rum as well… but a sugar wash or any light white spirit will be really hard to clean up.Do you want a higher alcohol strip that tastes like ass… or to make good spirits? Read the tried and true recipes, they are all reasonably low % and well balanced to feed the yeast. It is that simple. Do 10 or 20 of those and you will start to see why turbo yeast and super high gravity brewing is not your goal… why yeast is not going to fix a bad wash and why there are so many guys who tried to brew a 12% light beer when they were younger and never stuck with homebrewing. This hobby takes a bit of work if you really want to do it.Most yeast also has information that defines its attributes and best applications, as well as things like temp., pitching rates and Ph.Does that help at all?
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Yeast tips… (1) use plenty – follow a calculator and err on side of more is better. Here is a good one: https://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php I assume dry yeast is about 10 billion cells per gram so long as reasonably fresh.(2) make sure your wash is oxygenated when you pitch. Heating water during mash drives off oxygen. Do some splashing or aerating once you get the wash down to room temperature and before you pitch the yeast.(3) control pitch and fermentation temperature to something reasonable for the specific yeast strain you are using. Try to control the temperature of the wash, not the room. Yes you may have to heat or cool the wash by heating or cooling the room but it is the temperature of the wash that you need to be controlling.(4) hydrating dry yeast can’t hurt so long as you don’t hydrate in distilled water (I’m skeptical it is actually helpful but usually do it anyway – I believe the yeast manufacturers provide hydrating instructions for breweries that need their yeast in liquid form in order to pump it into the fermentor)
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An efficient way to get up to speed on yeast is to read through brewers’ sites. Yeast type, requirements, performance, growth stages, starters, etc. They cover ’em all.“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”- W.C. Fields My EZ Solder Shotgun My Steam Rig and Manometer
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One of the best yeast tips I can suggest if you do a lot of fermenting is to buy yourself an inexpensive stir plate and flask ifyou are using small expensive specialty yeasts. If you have ever brewed with liquid yeast cultures vs dry you will know. A mag plate and flask will allow you to rehydrate, aerate and grow the pitch volume, and a basic setup will put you out about $40. If you are a beer maker it will really pay for itself by quickly establishing a fermentation during that high risk phase. I usually will start it the night before or morning of a brew day.American newbie, you are better off focusing on tried and true recipes at this point, you can buy a brick of bakers yeast for what many specialties will cost and get better bang for your buck.
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