Yeast Nutrient in Kits?

[Maykalteyt]

Hi folks,

What are your views on using yeast nutrients in kit beers? I've read a few posts saying that it can create off flavours, others swear by it, some swear at it. Does it help get the FG down to a lower level and avoid stuck fermentations? Disolved and added to the FV or added to the yeast starter? Only necessary for high-ABV brews? What experiences have you had using it with kits?

[Simon7]

I used it in some 2 can kits I bought last year. It didn't create any off flavours, but I don't know if it helped at all, the brew might have fermented out on it's own without the help.

I'd now only use it if I started having problems with stuck fermentation, but since I almost always buy Coopers kits now I don't have any trouble.

[brianboru]

+1 coopers is flawless yeast is very robust.....on related topic has anyone used coopers with s04 or danstar etc and noticed much improvement...im thinking of culturing yeast from the coopers commercial pale ale.......to see if it makes a differecne?

[Maykalteyt]

I haven't been able to get my hands on any Coopers kits here in Romania, only Brewferm and Muntons. None of them has stuck so far, but a few of them have finished quite high (1.013ish) rather than the <1.010 suggested in the instructions. They've tasted good, on the whole, but sometimes a little sweet, probably due to unfermented sugars. I was wondering whether a touch of nutrient might help to get it down a few more points.

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

I cant see that a little yest nutrient would hurt the beer.
I use yeast nutrient to help he yeast get going...

Do you re hydrate the yeast or sprinkle on?


Guy

[Maykalteyt]

Hi Guy,

Normally I disolve the yeast in a little warm water about a half hour before pitching. I've just done another batch this morning and disolved it in some warm water with a little sugar in it and a pitch of nutrient. When it came to pitching it, it had already started to bubble a little which I guess is a good thing. I also mixed in a little nutrient into the wort. I'll see in a couple of weeks how the fermentation compares to previous batches.

[Manx Guy]

Hi,
Sounds like you shouldnt have any issues !

Good luck!
Guy

[barl_fire]

When I did two can kits I'd use a teaspoon of Youngs yeast nutrient as a matter of course and it stopped any of the stuck fermentations I'd had previously occuring again, I also noticed that the yeast underwent a greatly reduced lag phase, vigorous fermentation kicking off within a few hours. Never understood why it's frowned on in certain quarters, especially when in all grain brewing it's perfectly normal and integral to the brewing process to add things like gypsum, calcium salts etc for water treatment. With Youngs yeast nutrient all you're doing is adding a little bit of sulphate, phosphate and ammonia salts to the wort, although I can't vouch for any other brands of nutrient that might have a larger cocktail of compounds. These salts are there in such trace amounts that we can't detect them in the taste of the beer but I suspect when a two can kit is used with water from a certain water source there may be a deficit in certain compounds that are essential to yeast metabolism and growth when all those yeast cells have to eat is sugary malt and water.

I find it interesting that my stuck fermentations only ever occurred with premium 2 can kits and never with single can kits. Personally I don't believe Coopers and Muntons are any better or worse than each other, I think it's more an issue with using 2 cans rather than a difference between the companies' practices, and as a stuck ferment is more likely to occur with a 2 can kit than this is obviously going to skew the amount of stuck ferments occurring with a Muntons kit rather than a Coopers kit because since I last looked Coopers don't do 2 can kits and most if not all 2 can kits on the shelf of your average LHBS in the UK are made by Muntons