What The Best Yeast For Moonshine? - Información de la cerveza

What Distiller’s Yeast Is Best For Different Distillates? – It seems we answer this question multiple times a day. Although distiller’s yeast are normally labeled as being more appropriate for whiskey, rum, vodka or whatever you are making, our experience has shown that one distiller’s strain can make multiple types of quality distillates.

At Wilderness Trail Distillery for example, we use the same yeast strain to make Bourbon whiskies as we do for our rum and vodka.
Ferm Solutions, as well as other companies that supply yeast, have already selected excellent distilling strains; so the slight nuances from one strain to the next are really up to the producer to decide which one is the best for a particular application.

Out of the nine distiller’s yeast strains Ferm Solutions offers, you could pick any one to start with and you would be satisfied with the resulting distillate–no matter which spirit you are making. Then, once you establish a baseline on performance and flavor, you might choose to switch to a different strain and see for yourself what slight changes that will make in your final product. If we were making beer, then there would be a very specific strain we’d use depending on if you wanted an ale, lager, pilsner, or seasonal (a.k.a saison) beer, plus what level of attenuation or flocculation you desired (this just means whether or not yeast cells sink to the bottom or remain colloidal in the beer).

Out of the nine distiller’s strains available from Ferm Solutions, we probably use the FermPro 927 (FP927) the most.
This strain has excellent temperature tolerance and can ferment to completion in as little as two days, producing an award-winning distillate.921, 917, 900, 048 and FP1 are also excellent choices.

Depending on your desired flavors, costs, and process, our experts at Ferm Solutions can walk you through which would be best for your unique distillery’s needs.

Contents

0.1 Does it matter what yeast you use for alcohol?

1 What yeast do distillers use?
2 What pH is Jack Daniels?
3 What yeast is best for Irish whiskey?
- - 3.0.1 Is Jack Daniels a malt or grain?
  - 3.0.2 What yeast do whisky distilleries use?
- 3.1 What yeast do distillers use?
  - 3.1.1 What is the best yeast for distilling fruit?

Does it matter what yeast you use for alcohol?

Dry Active Yeast – Well, part of that packaging process also often includes drying out the yeast. There is no real difference between wet, live yeast and dry active yeast except that dry yeast has undergone a chemical process known as dehydration. In essence, it removes virtually all of the water from the yeast cells, making the yeast go dormant for a longer shelf life and easier shipping and handling.

Most yeast for wine, beer, and bread comes from the same basic strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but there are hundreds of strains within that strain.
So while you can absolutely use dry active yeast for wine, in fact there is dry active yeast made specifically for wine, you likely want to steer clear of dry active yeast made for bread, or baker’s yeast.

You can of course still use bread yeast as all yeast performs the same function – converting sugar to alcohol – but your wine will likely have a much lower alcohol content than normal. The yeast best suited for baking has a lower alcohol tolerance, so it will stop fermenting after alcohol levels reach about 8%.

What yeast do distillers use?

All About Distillers Yeast and Turbo Yeast What is Yeast? Yeast is a single cell organism which multiplies vigorously in the presence of oxygen and then after consuming all the oxygen will convert fermentable sugars into alcohol. Without yeast we could not produce alcoholic beverages or ethanol fuel.

Distillers Yeast Distillers yeast is a particular species of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that has a particularly strong ability to metabolize sugar and produce alcohol as a by-product. Distillers yeast also has a major impact on the flavor of your final spirit. The flavor and aroma of whiskey, rum and moonshine (or lack of such in the case of vodka) are highly influenced by the distillers yeast in the fermentation process and thus choosing the proper yeast has a significant impact of the quality of your distilled spirit.

All distillers yeast is definitely not the same. Distillers Yeast Strains Within the species of Saccharomyces cerevisiae there are many different strains that will have significantly different performance characteristics and produce diverse flavor congeners.

Think of it in the context of humans. We are all a part of the same species (Homo sapiens) but we have great diversity in our species. Each of us is different in many ways. Likewise each strain of distilling yeast is different. For example the distillers yeast strain used in Alcotec 48 products has the capability of fermenting up to a very high alcohol percentage (20+%) while producing very low volatiles.

In contrast ordinary bread yeast strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have the ability to produce maximum CO 2 in order to cause dough to rise, but they typically die off at far lower levels of alcohol while producing high levels of volatiles (bad flavor congeners and other chemical compounds).

The manufacturer of Alcotec also uses strains that produce specific flavor profiles for their whiskey, rum and fruit turbo varieties.
The generic bulk packs of distillers yeast that some retailers sell could actually be any one of a variety of strains but usually is of the type used for making ethanol fuel (a strain with high alcohol tolerance but with little regard for taste).

All yeast should be used promptly once the package is opened as exposure to air will kill the yeast cells within a few weeks of exposure. Turbo Yeast Turbo yeast is a specific blend and quantity of distillers yeast combined with highly complex, chemically defined, macro and micro nutrients designed to maximize the speed and quality of fermentation.

Turbo yeast will perform dramatically better than distillers yeast by itself. Yeast has specific nutritional needs to thrive and perform to its maximum potential. Lack of these nutrients stresses the yeast cells causing them to produce less alcohol and more volatiles. Refined sugar contains only sucrose and none of the nitrogen and vitamin nutrients required to support yeast activity.

Grain and fruit both contain some of these nutrients but not all. The development of yeast nutrition is an advanced science. Hambleton Bard Ltd, the manufacturer of Alcotec turbo yeasts, uses its lab to constantly refine the technology of getting the most out of distillers yeast.

This is not easily duplicated at the distiller or retailer level. Private store mixture turbo yeasts rarely have undergone the development and testing necessary to produce a top quality turbo yeast formula. Large scale distilleries have long understood how to use yeast plus nutrition to achieve desired results.

The availability of Alcotec turbo yeast now gives the hobby and small scale distiller the ability to produce results that often exceed the big distilleries. Turbo Yeast Varieties Turbo yeast is very convenient for hobby and other small batch distillers.

Alcotec 48 – Temperature tolerant high alcohol formulation capable of fermenting a sugar wash to 14% in 48 hours or 20% in 5-6 days. Alcotec 24 – Temperature tolerant yeast capable of 14% in just 24 hours. Alcotec Whiskey Turbo – Single culture whiskey strain plus nutrition plus glucoamylase. Alcotec Rum Turbo – Yeast strain to best promote fine rum flavors plus glucoamylase. Alcotec Vodka Turbo – Very pure fermenting yeast strain plus glucoamylase. Alcotec Fruit Turbo – Yeast strain that retains fruit flavor qualities plus pectinase. Alcotec 200 – Extremely high temperature tolerant yeast strain with ability to be stacked (use of multiple packets) to ferment batches up to 200 liters (53 gallons). Alcotec ReStart – Used to restart stuck fermentations. Has the ability to be added to a ferment that already has 7-8% alcohol present.

You’ll find more detailed descriptions of these products and more in the product section of this web site. Enzymes Used with Turbo Yeast Glucoamylase (often called amyloglucosidase) enzyme is used in some formulations to break long chain sugars into short chain sugars to aid the yeast in its ability to turn these into alcohol.

Glucoamylase is typically used in ferments containing grain but also can be beneficial in breaking down dextrins in ferments containing molasses.
Grain ferments also require treatment with Amylase enzyme prior to fermentation.
Amylase works at a higher temperature than yeast can survive therefore it is always sold separately and is never contained in any turbo yeast package.

Alcotec Fruit Turbo contains Pectinase enzyme which breaks fruit down to aid in its fermentation. Turbo Yeast Packaging In order to maintain its long shelf life turbo yeast packaging needs to be packaged in a relatively thick laminated film with a layer of foil.

The package film must be both a moisture and oxygen barrier and of sufficient strength and weight to resist pin holes that would penetrate the barrier. You will recognize quality packaging by both its feel and a heat formed seal around all four edges. If you see a turbo yeast product packaged in what looks more like a potato chip bag then it is possible that packaging will not protect the yeast for its full shelf life.

If a manufacturer is willing to cut corners in the quality of their packaging to save a few pennies you can imagine what corners they may have cut in the quality of their formula or the quality of the yeast and other contents. Turbo Yeast and the Distilling Community The internet is filled with postings from people who can attest to getting great results using turbo yeast and yet there are many others who claim to have had bad results.

How is it that people using the same products get differing results? The answer is likely stressed yeast.
When yeast is stressed it produces excessive amounts of chemical compounds and flavors that just don’t taste very good.
Any yeast used can be stressed to create taste and smell problems but the question is rarely asked about any yeast other than turbo yeast.

Turbo yeasts also get unfairly dumped into one single category as if all were the same or if all brands were the same. The real culprit is less likely to be the turbo yeast (although there are some cheap poor quality brands out there) and more likely to be the procedures and practices of the individual distillers.

Sulphur – It is well known that Sulphur gives a flavor and smell of rotten eggs. This is definitely not a characteristic one seeks in fine handcrafted spirits. Sulphur naturally gets removed from the mash or wash by CO 2, The more vigorous your fermentation is the less sulphur will be present when the fermentation has ended. Sluggish fermentations are often caused by temperature issues. Pitching the turbo yeast before the wash has cooled to the temperature specified on the package or pitching after it has cooled too much both can cause a sluggish start to the fermentation. It is very important to maintain the proper fermentation temperature steady throughout the fermentation. Copper is also great for removing Sulphur. Stills made from all stainless steel have no ability to remove sulphur. Fusel Alcohols – These are the things that cause those wicked hangovers even when you thought that you had not had that much to drink. Again keeping your ferment as close as possible to the recommended temperature will keep these to a minimum. Fusel alcohols can and should be removed during the distillation process by simply cutting the tails. At the end of a run when the distillate starts to become bitter simply stop collecting or collect those tails in a separate container. Tails make a great cleaning solvent but should not be drunk. Phenols – Phenols produce a plastic or medicinal taste. To avoid these start off by not using chlorinated water. You should also make sure all the fermentation equipment is clean and preferably sterilized and use an air lock during fermentation. Wild yeast and bacterial contamination will contribute to phenol production. Acetaldehyde – Has the smell of green apples and also contributes to bad hangovers. Acetaldehyde exists in high concentrations when a mash is not allowed to finish fermentation. Using turbo yeast which typically ferments faster than plain distillers yeast helps reduce the fermentation time needed. Acetaldehyde can also be produced when a wash or mash is aerated in the late stages of the fermentation or if it is allowed to sit for a long period of time (more than a week) after all fermentation is finished. Acetaldehyde has a low boiling point so by properly separating the foreshots and heads you can avoid much of the acetaldehydes in your distillate. Knowing how and when to properly make your cuts is a big part of distilling great spirits.

So in reality turbo yeast is rarely the cause of flavor problems and should instead be seen as what it is – a giant step forward in fermentation technology. Basic Conditions that All Distillers Yeast Needs to Thrive

You might be interested: How Long Is Beer Good In A Kegerator?

Adequate Feed Stock – Ultimately the percentage of alcohol that any strain of distillers yeast can produce (within the limits of the particular strain) is determined by the available fermentable sugars in the wash or mash. Both grains and fruits should be treated with enzymes to release their sugars. While it is impossible because of the many variables involved to provide a rule of thumb on how much alcohol a particular quantity of grain or fruit can potentially produce such is not the case with refined sugar. One pound of sugar added to one gallon of water has the potential of 7% alcohol ABV. Correct and Even Temperature – The correct temperature range for the yeast strain you are using should be printed on the package as is always the case with Alcotec turbo yeasts. It is important to keep the temperature within that range to keep the yeast cells from dying and to prevent them from becoming stressed. Proper pH – The pH of your wash or mash should be between 4.0 and 4.5 prior to fermentation. You can adjust the pH using by using citric acid or fresh lemons. Oxygen – Oxygen is an important component to the beginning of the fermentation process as its presence is required for the yeast to reproduce. When the yeast has consumed the oxygen it will cease to reproduce and begin to create alcohol. You can aerate your wash or mash by stirring it vigorously. Nutrients – Yeast is a living organism and as such requires nutrients to survive. Distillers yeast simply cannot survive on sugar alone. If you were doing a mash of malted grain and were seeking less than 10% alcohol there would be enough nutrients to keep the yeast alive. But if you are like most hobby distillers and want more alcohol from each run you must add nutrients. This is where turbo yeast makes it easy on you as all necessary nutrients in the proper quantities are already included in the package.

Use of Turbo Yeast for Batch Quantities of Differing Size Most turbo yeast is prepackaged for a batch size of 6.6 U.S. gallons (25 Liters). It can be stretched to a batch up to 8 gallons but the fermentation will take longer and result in a proportionally lower alcohol potential.

Conversely using a whole package in a somewhat smaller batch (say 5 gallons) should result in a quicker fermentation but the alcohol percentage cannot exceed the potential of the yeast strain being used. If attempting to use a partial package always reseal the package immediately squeezing out any air from the package and then keep refrigerated.

Use remaining contents within 3 to 4 weeks. History of Turbo Yeast It has not been documented just when mankind learned that nutritional supplementation improved the performance of distillers yeast. However Gert Strand of Sweden is frequently credited with producing the first true turbo yeast sometime in the 1980’s.

However by 1996 competitors had surpassed this product’s quality and he began selling turbo’s manufactured by others. Much of his turbo yeast now comes from Hambleton Bard Ltd, the makers of the Alcotec line of turbo yeasts which have become the dominant brand in most of the world. Prior to now the distribution of Alcotec turbo yeasts has been limited in the USA but is now available for purchase online at very competitive prices from VGR Distributing on this website.

: All About Distillers Yeast and Turbo Yeast

What is the best yeast for distilling fruit?

Home › Blog › Yeast Selection for Fruit Distillates Aug 08, 2017 Many types of orchard fruit are now or soon will be in season, and distillers across North America will be preparing washes. Fermentation is where many congeners are created and fruit flavors enhanced or lost. Here are some yeast strains to consider using for this season’s brandies, schnapps, applejacks, calvados, and more: Pathfinder TY Fruit is a combination of alcohol tolerant, high ester-producing yeast with a complete nutrient package.

It is ideal for fruit-based washes, and performs reliably regardless of the nutrient contribution of the fruit. SafCider is a fructophilic (readily ferments fructose) strain that’s very easy to work with: it’s tolerant of low pH and works across a wide temperature range, plus low nitrogen requirement and it settles readily.

SafCider is an ideal choice for apple or pear substrates, but works quite well in other fruit mashes, including grapes. SafSpirit FD-3 is another fructophilic yeast, a strain with a neutral or mildly estery profile that also features low nitrogen requirements and high resistance to ethanol.

FD-3 is suitable for any kind of fruit distillate, and is excellent for traditional European-style fruit or grape brandies, schnapps, and slivovitz.
Enological strains from Vason are an excellent addition to the fruit distiller’s toolkit when working with many kinds of fruit, and wine grapes in particular.

Regardless of the varietal, style, or harvest conditions there is a strain in the Vason range for your application, and they are especially useful if only a portion of the harvest will be loaded into a still, leaving the rest to be bottled as wine. As always, please contact BSG sales for technical support on fermentation, yeast selection, and other questions.

How much yeast do you use for moonshine?

Types of Yeast to Use in Moonshine – This type of yeast is usually packaged so that one packet is used for 5 gallons of mash. Unless otherwise written on the directions, use one package for 5 gallons of mash. If you are using distillers yeast it is important to first refer to the directions on the package.

Does more yeast mean stronger alcohol?

Adding sugar for high alcohol content – Many high alcohol wine recipes require A LOT of sugar, upwards of 2 to 3 pounds per gallon. This is in addition to the sugar the fruits and berries you use provide naturally. Be careful when adding sugar during fermentation as it can prove quite difficult As you know by now, sugar is what the yeast uses and turns into alcohol.

As said earlier, you can’t simply dump sugar into your batch and expect enormous alcohol percentages.
There is a good reason most wines have somewhat low alcohol content.
Making high alcohol wine is not only difficult, but also more expensive.
You need a lot of sugar and extra ingredients to not ruin your wine.

Making high alcohol wine is a delicate process, here are some bullet points when making high alcohol wine:

Add the extra sugar gradually. Dumping all your sugar at once can outright ruin your batch since your yeast becomes “overloaded” and might die out. Use a hydrometer or similar to monitor the sugar content of your batch during fermentation. Track both sugar and alcohol levels to see if you are on the right trackChange the temperature compared to normal wine brewing. When making high alcohol wine its recommended fermenting at a higher temperature. Keep your wine at 74-78F rather than the normal 70-72F.Adding extra yeast will help your wine reach the high alcohol levels. As mentioned earlier, your yeast can die if it gets overloaded by too much sugar. Adding extra yeast will help your fermenting process and turn more sugar into alcohol.

Experimenting with alcohol percentages is something many homebrewers want to do, but it does take a bit more finesse and time than usual brewing. If you are just starting, diving straight into brewing high alcohol wine is probably something you should save for when you are a bit more seasoned in the craft.

If you want to get into winemaking a good recommendation is to buy a beginner kit, Many beginner kits have all the equipment and ingredients you need, all you have to do is follow the instructions provided. To sum up, sugar does increase the alcohol content, but only when used in the fermenting process.

The process of making your own homemade high alcohol beverages is not easy, and you should understand how to correctly handle the process before diving into it. Start off slow if you are a beginner, and get to know your equipment and how the science behind it all works.

Does yeast make alcohol stronger?

Alcohol by Volume (ABV) – ABV is the most common measurement of alcohol content in beer; it simply indicates how much of the total volume of liquid in a beer is made up of alcohol. So what makes a beer have a higher ABV than another beer? The simplest approach to make a higher alcohol beer is to add more sugar during fermentation.

What pH is Jack Daniels?

Deeply Nerdy Stuff About Jack Daniel’s Production – Charcoal, Souring, Fermentation I just attended an amazing talk by Kevin Brent Smith (Micro-Biologist & Distillery Manager – Jack Daniel’s Distillery). I wasn’t planning on doing a blog post about it but I learned so much I wanted to write it down!

Kevin B. Smith authored the chapter on “Yeast practices in the production of American whiskies” in First up, you may want to review my notes on my visit to the distillery from 2012 to, Miscellany

According to Smith, if your fermentation doesn’t finish and you still have sugars in your mash, these can burn and stick in your still, lending off flavors to the final whiskey. Whiskey isn’t made from grain, it’s made from the seeds of grain. (not his point, but my observation) When grinding grains before fermentation, the grinding process can release heat and damage the quality of the grain, but a hammer mill works well and doesn’t have an impact.

Souring In Two Places

“Souring” is not like sourdough starter in that the process’ job is to remain consistency between batches. “Souring” means lowering the pH, making it more sour/acidic. “Sour mash”ing is adding backset (stillage) from the previous distillation run to the next one. The stillage contains lots of dead yeast that is food for the new yeast, but also it is acidic and lowers the pH from about 5.6 to 5.3. They use about 30% backset in each distillation. There is another place where they used soured mash, in the production of “lactic soured yeast mash.” This is used in yeast propagation. Yeast is started from a lab-preserved copy, then propagated in several steps. It grows on a medium for the first couple of rounds, then it’s transferred to a grain mash – the lactic soured yeast mash – to propagate further. In essence, lactic soured yeast mash is propagating yeast with lactic material (lactobacillus; not from the stillage) to lower the pH to about 5.0. Not all distilleries do this, but Smith says it’s a traditional process. All Brown-Forman distilleries use lactic soured yeast mash. This lactic soured yeast mash will have flavor impacts on the whisky.

Enzymes, Fermentation, and Rye Grain

Rather than, or in addition to, using malted barley (whose job in American whiskey is to provide enzymes that break down long chain carbohydrates into fermentable simpler sugars), commercial enzymes (not from the barley) can be added to whiskey. This has become common. Jack Daniel’s does not use commercial enzymes, and in fact most Brown-Forman whiskies do not. This is because commercial enzymes produce less maltose in the conversion process, which they feel leads to less flavor in the whiskey. (However they keep some enzymes around in case of emergencies, for if a batch of mash didn’t convert all the way they could add some enzymes rather than trying to throw away a huge vat of basically sticky grain pudding.) Rye as a grain is notoriously viscous/sticky and tends to gum up the process. At Jack Daniel’s they do use a type of enzyme (different from the standard one for conversion) to help make it less sticky; but not to convert its starches into sugars. Another thing that helps rye not be so sticky is that it is added to the mash later in the process than the corn is. Corn is mashed at a hot temperature which is necessary for gelatinization, but if you leave rye with the hot water for very long it gets stickier. So it’s added just before the malt is added at the end of the mashing process just before fermentation. You can see this on the graph below. After fermentation, their beer is at a pH of 4.6, while companies that don’t use the soured yeast mash have a more acidic 4.0 beer.

Note that the next three charts are the same, with added information each time. Charcoal

Charcoal mellowing (aka the Lincoln Country Process) was needed in the olden days because distillers didn’t have a good handle on consistent fermentation; charcoal filtration was needed to remove some off flavors in whiskey. Running the newly-distilled spirit through charcoal is not a purely subtractive process, which is what I thought until today. Sugar Maple trees are used to make the charcoal because it’s an abundant but not terribly useful wood generally, and it doesn’t impart much flavor. The wood is burned and then the fire put out. The larger pieces of charcoal are broken up and filled into vats. The charcoal production does not make activated charcoal. However the charcoal does do some adsorptive filtration of the whiskey to remove certain components. The additive quality of the charcoal is that minerals in the charcoal are extracted by the whiskey. The whiskey comes off the still at around 5.5 pH, and after charcoal filtration it goes up to a pH of 7.5 – 8.0! So this has lowered the acidity of the whiskey substantially and probably adds to the perceived “mellowness” of the whiskey. FASCINATING. Why is this exciting? Because it makes me think about either running spirits/cocktails through a Brita to raise the pH for certain purposes, and or taking the direct route of “mellowing” spirits (or just de-acidifying them) by adding minerals to them. (I’ve done lots of work on how the minerals in water affects how whiskey tastes, would be curious to try things with just minerals and whiskey.) For example, most spirits are a bit acidic so if we filtered them or added minerals that will raise the pH. Butterfly pea flower tea usually starts out blue in water (neutral pH) but purpleish in spirits. If we want it to start out blue in spirits, maybe we just alter the pH first?

You might be interested: How Many Calories In Miller Light Beer?

Charcoal Practicalities

In olden days, the charcoal vats were used until the charcoal was no longer effective, as measured by taste. Then (I think in the 1980s-ish) they standardized it so that vats were used for 6 months then the charcoal was replaced. However in recent years they did chemical analysis and found that this was excessive, so now they use the charcoal for one year before replacing it. When the whiskey is poured over new charcoal it comes out watery (as the charcoal starts out wet) and they cannot use it until it comes out the bottom of the vat at the same 140 proof that it went in. Also, at the end of the year before they replace the charcoal they run water through it and the resulting water has lots of whiskey in it. So these watery “heads and tails” of the charcoal mellowing process are redistilled. To make sure all the whiskey comes through the process tasting the same, their many different vats are spaced out in the freshness of their charcoal so that there is an average age of 6 months age on the charcoal being used, rather than having all whiskey from one vat change over time and be barrelled tasting different.

Thanks to Jack Daniel’s for a wonderfully nerdy session. : Deeply Nerdy Stuff About Jack Daniel’s Production – Charcoal, Souring, Fermentation

What yeast is best for Irish whiskey?

The most common type of yeast used by distillers is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, known as distiller’s yeast, as its strength is metabolizing sugar and produces alcohol.

Is Jack Daniels a malt or grain?

Is Jack Daniels Single Malt Whisky? If you are new to the world of whisky, you may be a little bit overwhelmed by all of the options that are available to you. From Bourbon to Scotch, there are many different types of whisky. You then have the likes of double and single malt.

It can all get a little bit confusing but don’t panic, as we’ve got the answers for you. Jack Daniels is one of the most well-known whisky brands in the world. But is it a single malt whisky? And, what does that even mean? A lot of people assume that single malt means that the whisky must be the product of a single barrel or batch of whisky.

This is not the case. ‘Single’ actually refers to the product being from a single distillery. In terms of single malt, we are talking about the grain used; the grain needs to be exclusively barley. As a consequence, Jack Daniels is not a single malt, as the process involves using at least 51 percent corn, as well as a mixture of wheat and barley.

Jack Daniels uses charcoal mellowing, which is a process whereby the whisky is drained through 10 feet of maple sugar charcoal. The American White Oak barrels are also new, as American law states they cannot use seasoned ones. A smooth drink with strong hints of vanilla, burnt caramel, and berries, Jack Daniels is a popular choice for many whisky drinkers, but it is not a single malt.

: Is Jack Daniels Single Malt Whisky?

What yeast do whisky distilleries use?

Yeast is one of the three ingredients used to make Scotch whisky, yet its flavour-creating abilities have been underrated for decades. Gavin D. Smith explores how distillers are now playing with uncommon strains to generate exciting new flavours. Depths of possibility: Different yeast strains are opening up a world of flavour in whisky-making (Photo: Jim Beam) There is an old saying in the business that you can’t make good whisky without good wash.

In other words, what happens during mashing and fermentation is crucial to creating quality spirit.
Along with malted barley and water, yeast is the only other ingredient allowed in the production of single malt whisky, and its role is to convert the sugars created during mashing into alcohol, at the same time producing carbon dioxide and heat.

Yeast is a single-celled fungus with many species, but the one relevant to whisky production is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, of which there are many individual strains. For some years now, the Scotch whisky industry has not seemed terribly interested in yeast as a potential flavour contributor to its spirit, seeking only to achieve maximum alcohol yield in the most efficient manner, though more yeast-related work may be going on behind the scenes than we imagine.

The old practice of mixing brewers’ and distillers’ yeast died out almost everywhere some years ago, and today a few standardised strains of distillers’ yeast keep most whisky-makers happy.
Of the established distilleries, Benromach at Forres is thought to be the only one still employing brewers’ yeast.

According to distillery manager Keith Cruickshank: ‘We use winter ale-dried yeast from AB Vickers in Burton upon Trent. We mix a small amount of it with the popular Kerry M and MX distillers’ varieties, and it gives us more fruitiness, more apple and pear notes, in the wash. Bubbling away: Yeast produces flavour congeners as well as alcohol during fermentation However, as a new generation of independent whisky-makers appears, focused on the importance of flavour differentiation rather than yield maximisation, yeast is one of the items that is being put under the microscope – quite literally – to explore how the use of different strains can potentially have an influence on ultimate spirit character.

The movement is also supported by some of the established producers, as highlighted by Glenmorangie’s recent release of Allta, a whisky distilled using wild yeast discovered in malting barley fields close to the distillery.
Glenmorangie head of maturing whisky stocks Brendan McCarron says: ‘With Private Edition bottlings we’ve always been innovative, and for this one, Bill Lumsden decided we should have our own bespoke barley strain.

Taking inspiration from winemakers sourcing yeast from grape skins, we scraped ears of malting barley and sent that off to yeast specialist Lallemand to identify the various flora and fauna present. ‘It picked out three yeasts that had alcohol-yielding potential and narrowed it down to one. ‘Wild’ yeast: Glenmorangie Allta was developed using a strain found growing on barley Someone else with a keen interest in yeast in relation to whisky-making is Victoria Muir-Taylor, who rejoices in the title of knowledge transfer partnership associate distiller at the yet-to-be-built Port of Leith distillery in Edinburgh, Muir-Taylor is a graduate of Heriot-Watt University’s’ International Centre for Brewing & Distilling, where she is currently carrying out her research.

She says: ‘It’s a two-year project, and we’re working with strains of brewers’ as well as distillers’ yeast, and exploring mixing strains together to create a bespoke version – or versions – for Leith distillery.
We currently have samples from 13 yeast strains and we are hoping to brew and distil more than 20 yeast strains.

We will continue this work in the lab we’re going to be creating in the new distillery. We also want to be open with our findings and share them with the rest of the industry.’ One working distillery where yeast is taken equally seriously is Dornoch in Sutherland, established in 2016 and presided over by brothers Phil and Simon Thompson.

According to Simon: ‘Yeast can produce more than 200 flavour by-products, some of which are yield-expensive and some yield-cheap.
Modern distillers’ yeasts are all very similar, but there’s vast potential beyond them.
We use brewers’ yeast, and we’ve tried more than 30 different varieties so far.
Most recently, we’ve been using spent brewers’ yeast, which has previously been used in beer-making.

We currently use Cromarty brewery spent yeast – both its “house” yeast and some from its speciality beers. ‘We started propagating our own yeast – keeping back some wort and propagating it from that – but using brewers’ yeast saves lots of time propagating our own, and the Cromarty yeast provides some of our favourite flavours.’ Yeast trials: Victoria Muir-Taylor is conducting a two year-long study into various strains with Heriot-Watt University Thompson says: ‘We’ve never had distillers’ yeast in the building, and modern distillers’ yeast is not like it used to be. What we do is done at the expense of yield. We get a wide range of fermentation times, though we always work with a minimum seven days of fermentation.

Primary fermentation is over after 48 hours, but after that you get bacterial and wild yeast influences.
We have open-top fermenters to encourage that.’ He adds: ‘We’re looking for high levels of complexity, extreme fruit flavours, and especially extreme tropical fruit flavours – we’re always chasing them down.

We’re looking for specific esters that create it. ‘You get huge stewed strawberry and raspberry flavours in a 1960s Springbank. You need folic acid to obtain those flavours, so we work to create folic acid by extra-long fermentation. If we wait long enough, we get those characteristics.’ Distillers in North America and Japan take their yeasts very seriously.

Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, uses five yeast strains and two mash bills to create 10 different spirits.
Various combinations of these are then used to create the different expressions of Four Roses.
From the mid-1960s onwards, some 3,500 different strains of yeast were developed, with around one-tenth of them still being retained by the distillery.

Meanwhile, Wild Turkey’s yeast strain has been in use since 1954, and a number of ‘copies’ are locked away in secure vaults in various undisclosed locations. Maker’s Mark has a closely-guarded ‘heirloom’ house strain that dates back some 150 years, while Jim Beam’s yeast is an 82-year-old secret wild strain, which the eponymous distiller allegedly used to take home every weekend for safe keeping. American approach: Four Roses uses five different yeast strains in its fermentations The new wave of US craft distillers is keen to be innovative with yeast, and Corsair, for example, used Belgian yeast in its Hopmonster American hopped malt whiskey. Japanese whisky producer Nikka employs 10 different yeast strains, according to chief blender Tadashi Sakuma, who explains that, whereas in Scotland distillers have been able to exchange malts from the many distilleries in operation, ‘in Japan, we do not have this culture of exchange nor the number of distilleries that would make that possible’.

He adds: ‘Therefore, we have been developing ways to produce various different types of whisky in-house, including the development of our own yeast strains.’ Port of Leith’s Muir-Taylor reckons: ‘The Scotch whisky industry has been somewhat conservative and maintained a traditional stance when it comes to whisky fermentation.

But that’s not to say it hasn’t thought about or researched it. Quite the contrary. I think it is just a bit more reserved about disclosing it.’ It may only be a single-celled fungus, but perhaps yeast is about to become the next big beast in Scotch whisky flavour diversification.

What yeast do distillers use?

Distillers Yeast Distillers yeast is a particular species of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that has a particularly strong ability to metabolize sugar and produce alcohol as a by-product. Distillers yeast also has a major impact on the flavor of your final spirit. The flavor and aroma of whiskey, rum and moonshine (or lack of such in the case of vodka) are highly influenced by the distillers yeast in the fermentation process and thus choosing the proper yeast has a significant impact of the quality of your distilled spirit.

The manufacturer of Alcotec also uses strains that produce specific flavor profiles for their whiskey, rum and fruit turbo varieties.
The generic bulk packs of distillers yeast that some retailers sell could actually be any one of a variety of strains but usually is of the type used for making ethanol fuel (a strain with high alcohol tolerance but with little regard for taste).

You might be interested: How Long After Taking Metformin Can You Drink Alcohol?

Turbo yeast will perform dramatically better than distillers yeast by itself.
Yeast has specific nutritional needs to thrive and perform to its maximum potential.
Lack of these nutrients stresses the yeast cells causing them to produce less alcohol and more volatiles.
Refined sugar contains only sucrose and none of the nitrogen and vitamin nutrients required to support yeast activity.

This is not easily duplicated at the distiller or retailer level. Private store mixture turbo yeasts rarely have undergone the development and testing necessary to produce a top quality turbo yeast formula. Large scale distilleries have long understood how to use yeast plus nutrition to achieve desired results.

Glucoamylase is typically used in ferments containing grain but also can be beneficial in breaking down dextrins in ferments containing molasses. Grain ferments also require treatment with Amylase enzyme prior to fermentation. Amylase works at a higher temperature than yeast can survive therefore it is always sold separately and is never contained in any turbo yeast package.

The package film must be both a moisture and oxygen barrier and of sufficient strength and weight to resist pin holes that would penetrate the barrier. You will recognize quality packaging by both its feel and a heat formed seal around all four edges. If you see a turbo yeast product packaged in what looks more like a potato chip bag then it is possible that packaging will not protect the yeast for its full shelf life.

How is it that people using the same products get differing results? The answer is likely stressed yeast.
When yeast is stressed it produces excessive amounts of chemical compounds and flavors that just don’t taste very good.
Any yeast used can be stressed to create taste and smell problems but the question is rarely asked about any yeast other than turbo yeast.

Conversely using a whole package in a somewhat smaller batch (say 5 gallons) should result in a quicker fermentation but the alcohol percentage cannot exceed the potential of the yeast strain being used.
If attempting to use a partial package always reseal the package immediately squeezing out any air from the package and then keep refrigerated.

However by 1996 competitors had surpassed this product’s quality and he began selling turbo’s manufactured by others.
Much of his turbo yeast now comes from Hambleton Bard Ltd, the makers of the Alcotec line of turbo yeasts which have become the dominant brand in most of the world.
Prior to now the distribution of Alcotec turbo yeasts has been limited in the USA but is now available for purchase online at very competitive prices from VGR Distributing on this website.

: All About Distillers Yeast and Turbo Yeast

What is the best yeast for distilling fruit?

It is ideal for fruit-based washes, and performs reliably regardless of the nutrient contribution of the fruit. SafCider is a fructophilic (readily ferments fructose) strain that’s very easy to work with: it’s tolerant of low pH and works across a wide temperature range, plus low nitrogen requirement and it settles readily.

FD-3 is suitable for any kind of fruit distillate, and is excellent for traditional European-style fruit or grape brandies, schnapps, and slivovitz.
Enological strains from Vason are an excellent addition to the fruit distiller’s toolkit when working with many kinds of fruit, and wine grapes in particular.

Gaspar Aparicio