What's the Best Yeast Nutrient? Tier List!

[@FusionDeveloper]

The confusion I had in the past with raisins, was thinking sugar was considered a "nutrient".

[@shasboom5807]

I've had the best luck with restarting stalled meads and also avoiding stall with Fermaid O.

[@johndouglas1848]

When I started brewing I used DAP. Simply because a local store suggested it, however my preference is now very much for Fermaid O, no need to step feed or timing... just mix it in well before pitching the yeast. Always works for me, with no off smells or taste it's a great product in my opinion, seems to work better than DAP.

[@ManMadeMead]

I totally agree!

[@buddymc]

Fermaid K is my go-to. I've used it for years and never had an issue with the addition. I agree with your tier list. Do a tier list for yeast, that should stir up a lot of comments.

[@ManMadeMead]

I need to do one! That's a good idea!

[@dominic_a]

Wanna break the internet? Rank bread yeast as #1, then sit back and enjoy.

[@gapey]

I've used LD Carlson's "Yeast Nutrient" which has DAP and food grade urea. I've also used Fermaid K in the past but Fermaid O is what I typically use now.

[@ManMadeMead]

It's a good one too!

[@jamesthomas8481]

Have you used Fermax? And whats the diff?

[@zombieplow]

It almost sounds like Fermaid K is an easy complete package but Fermaid O and DAP are if you want to make specific tweaks.

[@Subbedhunter]

Fermax is what I used for the first 3 years of home brewing. Load all nutrients right into primary, 1tsp-1.5tsp per gallon and I almost never had a stall.

[@VinnyBagODoughnuts]

I am very new to brewing. I've used DAP so far in wines and meads and things seem very hot right out of the gate. I've switched it up to boiled bread yeast in an attempt to mimic yeast hulls or Fermaid O. So far, the fruit wines I've made with that aren't as hot out of primary, but it's a very small sample size. In fact I had a peach wine I would have drank after a week of primary.

[@Vykk_Draygo]

Fermaid O is great. It's not cheap, but if you can get a pound, then it will last for QUITE a while. Considering that most meads only use a few grams per gallon, it's worth the investment!

[@julietardos5044]

When I first started brewing last summer, I didn't use any nutrient, and nothing fermented all the way. And it all ended up tasting a little like cough syrup. Since I started using Fermaid O, it's all fully fermenting and tastes like wine, not medicine. Yay for nutrients! What I've read about fruit is that you can use fruit from one batch of hooch to introduce yeast into a new batch of hooch. So if you have trouble getting yeast, you can try that. I have not tried this myself. YMMV Thanks for the video.

[@Chevsilverado]

From what I’ve heard, raisins contain extremely little nutrient to the point where you’d need many pounds of raisins to actually make any difference.

[@drbell26]

Crazy thing was I used Raisins and yeast hulls and my mead staled out. I decided it was super cloudy and I had some Whirlfloc tabs due to brewing beer. I shaved off a little and added it. While I was waiting for it to clear the fermentation took off again. I doubt whirlfloc has any nutrients, but it was weird how the brew took off again after stalling for 3 weeks.

[@doomsayers]

Sometimes fermentation stalls due to proteins caught in suspension, so the Whirlfloc may be the reason your fermantation took off again by removing some of these proteins!

[@TL50-r9f]

When I made banana wine, step fermentation, with 50:50 skins and fruit using lalvin 72 b (14% abv tolerant) it came out to 18%. So I reckon banana has some nutrients to get 4% over the alcohol tolerance.

[@nickhahn5412]

I used ultra concentrated flavored tea to add caffeine and flavor as well as antioxidants to my wine and beer.

[@massimilianopatriciolarape3684]

Maybe yeast hulls, what yeast is made of, has all that fermaid O has... and u are being "persuade" by marketing haha...

[@smntsn]

I have a great, well tested advice: If you will distill it use grape molasses(molasses shouldn't have preservatives in it). 600gr grape molasses in 40 liter sugar wash ferments (0.990fg) in 7 days dry. (with simple bread yeast! not turbo or other bllsht!) Without grape molases it takes 20 days or more or stuck for me (1.085og). I tired dap for 50 batches it works but takes 15 days or more. dap only good to take care of stress and sulphur smell. (grape molasses also take care of stress). I never tried or care about dry grapes. I think they won't work as molasses because they always have to be smashed and also requires time to work and market bought dry grape has lots of bacteria already on it... Thanks for the video.

[@qurpt7319]

If I were to use fermiad-k for a 4 litre batch (1gallon) how much would you recommend putting in and over how many days?

[@ManMadeMead]

It really depends on your yeast and the gravity of the brew... 1 tsp (or like 5 grams) of Fermaid O is generally good for most projects!

[@moh335]

for me, I'm using Fermid O during the Hydration stage and adding the whole amount as recommended of DAP to the fermenter from the beginning!

[@ManMadeMead]

That’s the best way to do it!

[@riukrobu]

I found interesting that you put raisins higher than other fruit. Have you seen yeasts reacting better to raisins than other fruits? Any idea why would that be? I remember I was very surprised at the results of the banana as a clearing agent in that video you made a while ago. Anyway I'd choose fermaid O due to my irrational diffidence toward chemicals which are not found or taken from natural sources. I'm not expert enough to say what's dangerous and what's not so I just end up being suspicious of anything that's not natural even thoug also many poisons are natural so I understand I don't make sense with this. Plus, I do eat candies from time to time, or ice cream or industrialised stuff which contains whatever it can possibly contain, so, I don't make sense again. That's why I say it's irrational, I'm still not gonna use synthetic chemicals in food though, irrational behaviours are tough to mitigate.

[@catherineporter7493]

I want to stagger Fermaid O in my next batch. How do I know when to first put it in? What does "sugar break" mean? I know in other videos you say to stagger at days 2, 4, 6, 8. But is there a sign to tell when the yeast is ready for the nutrients? How much should I use for 1 gallon?

[@ManMadeMead]

You will want to put 1 part in on day 0, another part on day 2, another on day 4 and the final on day 6! Sugar break is simply talking about your gravity change. Let's say your mead starts at 1.100. The 2/3 sugar break (the point where 2/3 of the sugar is left) will be at 1.066. This is when the mead is really rocking and rolling and the yeast need to be properly acclimated and fed. If you feed them up until that point, you will give them a great chance at succeeding! You generally want to give yeast nutrients throughout the first 4 - 6 days. The amount really depends on which kind you're using|!

[@nickwhite9209]

Can I use only a yeast Energizer to speed up my fermentations, or do I also have to add a yeast nutrient with the yeast Energizer to work??

[@ManMadeMead]

Energizer isn't the same thing as nutrient. I would definitely add some nutrient! Energizer is like sugar to yeast. It's nice but it doesn't add any real nutrition.

[@doidletp]

Boiled bakers yeast? Probably on the same level as yeast hulls since that is what it is.

[@UnWorthyDaisy42]

would the jar I kept in my cupboard that expired in 2020 be inactive?

[@jamesthomas8481]

Ok, it's becoming my thing now, how does this work out with KVEIK? I'm using it since it's easier (so they say) for beginners. And nutrients are to be 1.5x the normal amount I understand it. But how does it really stand up to the fermaid O, Fermaid K, Fermax, DAP?

[@ManMadeMead]

I would say that I would still put these nutrients at the same points! You just have add more nutrient for kveik strains like you said!

[@jamesthomas8481]

@@ManMadeMead it is only 2-4 days fermentation according to most. So in a staggering schedule I might be feeding it as often as me. lol . And since everytime I open up the carboy I would take more chances of issues developing. So I am trying out experiments with traditional Mead recipe and 1gal. Bottles. Fast turn over rate with higher abv% to make it worth the small batches. All nuets in at once. I have Fermax, yet no one uses it? Also using DAP but I think I'll switch up to just Fermaid O. Not sure what to add with it.

[@darkreaper1809]

I really enjoy your videos. Personally, I'm not a fan of throwing a bunch of chemicals into my mead. I've had good luck with boiled yeast and raisins (more of a tannin). In the end, I'm happy to have a "clean" product even if fermentations take a bit longer.

[@pachko5418]

Have you ever tried bee pollen as a yeast nutrient? To me it sounds like it has all necessary components for a strong, natural nutrition

[@ManMadeMead]

I haven't tried it before!

[@claytonsmoking]

Is there a taste difference between the fermaids and DAP? I have only used fermaid O so i place fernaid O as a S tier

[@ManMadeMead]

I don’t believe there is a taste difference between them!

[@tobyduncan6150]

How many of these have you tried in a batch?

[@ManMadeMead]

I've used all except for tea!

[@chiruboy23]

Can we use been pollens as yeast nutrient? Have you ever tried it?

[@purplefariefire]

is fermaid k the best stand alone? or should I not just rely on one nutrient?

[@ManMadeMead]

It can definitely be a stand alone nutrient!

[@monkeyboy8me]

What is yeast energizer then?

[@vance7354]

Pretty Easy S rank- Dap,Fermaid O and K, LD Carlson's "Yeast Nutrient" , LD Carlson Yeast Energizer C Rank- Yeast Hulls. D rank(IE Not a Nutrient) Fruit skins, Raisins and Tea(tho tea does provide Tannin)

[@theghostofsw6276]

Have you ever tried testing out the old timer method of using raisins, AND dry toast? For some reason they (old timers) did quite well at fermenting things that seem to stall out for most "modern" men. I can't remember seeing an old recipe calling for DAP in a mead, or flower wine.

[@sasukedemon888888888]

Raisins aren't really effective. They add some extra sugar, but not a ton of necessary nutrients. Yeast hulls are quite effective. However I suspect most old timers never added any yeast nutrient, and often assumed a stall was completion then took steps to stop it from starting again. Or dealt with it starting up again during aging.

[@DrLextor]

How about best yeast for each mead type(trad, hydromel, metheglin etc) list?

[@ManMadeMead]

That's a good idea!

[@FusionDeveloper]

Great

[@Dave_en]

So basically lab synthesized nutrients are stronger. Oraganics are somewhat weaker. Basically I don't go beyond 12% ABV, so I use yeast hulls and raisins for nutrients, fruit skins for better colour and flavour, tea is kept optional for adding tannins. If I were to use commercial nutrients, I would add them sparingly just like I do it for fertilizers on plants.

[@Vykk_Draygo]

The real issue is that yeast assimilable nitrogen sources are specifically found in amino acids. You won't really get that from fruits in any significant way. Beer doesn't need YAN supplementation because the mashing process produces an abundance of amino nitrogen sources (grains have a lot of protein). Yeast can also assimilate nitrogen from ammonia (such as with DAP), but only up to a certain point. So, as an illustration, 100 grams of raisins has 3.1 grams of protein. 100 grams of barley has 12-13 grams of protein. For a 1 gallon batch of beer, between 5% and 6% ABV, you need 2 lbs of barley. Assuming a 100% conversion rate (which isn't the case, obviously), you get 108 grams of protein from that simple barley mash. 2lbs of raisin, again assuming 100% protein yield, would be 28 grams of protein. It's not an effective nutrient. That said, this is highly simplified, and not all proteins are assimilable by yeast, but it works as a comparison as to why even fruited meads require nutrient supplementation. And let's be real, most people only put a few grams of raisins in their must, not 100 grams, and certainly not 2 lbs. It does nothing at the level most people use. So I wouldn't say it's organic vs lab. Honey and fruit just don't contain a lot of protein. Yeast hulls should be sufficient to reduce yeast stress, at least.

[@Dave_en]

@@Vykk_Draygo we use germinated wheat too which is believed to increase the total alcohol. I'm afraid that DAP may cause adverse health effects. If I get fermaid O, then I may try it.👍

[@Vykk_Draygo]

@@Dave_en i haven't added wheat to my mead. I'll look into that! Yeah, I don't touch DAP either. Fermaid O is great, but it's expensive. Fortunately, a little lasts a good long while! Honestly, I think one is better off investing in better honey, than Fermaid O, all things considered. Yeast hulls are sufficient, if not ideal. 🍯🥂