Yeast Bomb

[Capt-Cudellez]

There has been a bit of chat recently about yeast nutrients, using tomato paste etc.
The yeast bomb is easy to make with ingredients available from your local shops, so no need to get to a HBS - also it add all the goodies to a plain sugar wash when you are using a non-turbo yeast.

There is nothing new in here - all this info is over on AD for several of the proven recipes.

I use this recipe to make up the nutrient for 2 x 25L wash - if you are doing a single wash half the ingredients - or bottle up the reaming yeast bomb in 2L water bottle - I've kept it for a few weeks, no idea how long this could be stored for.

In to a big pot I put 4L of water and bring to the boil. To this I add

1. 5tbs dried bakers yeast as a source of protein. (you can also get fresh yeast for free from most bakers - store in the freezer till you have enough collected)

2. 1/4tsp Epsom salts for magnesium - BP grade is ideal from the pharmacist, if using the stuff from the garden center - check there is nothing else other than magnesium sulfate in it.

3. 2x B-complex vitamins crushed up, I have also used liquid B-vitamin plant feed with good results.
Ingredients to look out for are
Thiamine mononitrate (B-1)
Niacinamide (B-3)
Calcium D-Pantothenate (B-5)
Riboflavin (B-2)
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (B-6)

4. A high source of nitrogen use
1-1/2 tbs of a 20-0-0 fertiliser (like Ammonium Nitrate)
or 3tbs fertiliser 10-10-10

The first number of 20-0-0 refers to 20% nitrogen, that's why we use twice as much 10-10-10 as we would 20-0-0

Getting hold of high nitrate fertilizer is now quite difficult, due to being used in explosives. So a general feed with a high % of N is your most likely find.

Boil all this up for 15 mins and add 2L to each 25L wash.

[Capt-Cudellez]

A further word on fertiliser.
If you are not comfortable using plant food, you can substitute this for HBS yeast nutrient. The wash will still benefit from the extra protein, magnesium and vitamin B you have added.

Also don't drink the wash is you are adding anything like Epsom salts - this is used as a laxative normally - this wont carry over to the product, and a little taste of the wash is fine.

[billmcc]

great info thanks for taking the time

[Almanac]

This thread should be kept where it can be seen. Yeast Bomb is something every distiller should know how to make.

AM

[YHB]

Capt'n

I have spent all my time reading about building and only skimmed the posts on things such as this.

The term "Yeast Bomb" does that only refer to the yeast you mentioned which would be eventually boiled, rather than the yeast used to carry out the fermentation?

When do you add the fermentable yeast? Do you add it to the bomb and let it start or add it seperatly to the brew?

[Capt-Cudellez]

This is just a nutrient - the boiled yeast adds protein for the pitching yeast to eat later, the boil kills the yeast so it wont add anything to the fermentation - I just use bread yeast for the bomb, but will use good beer or wine yeast when pitching depending on the wash.

Sometimes if I'm doing a grain wash -I just chuck the yeast bomb ingredients in with the grain on the boil - saves messing up 2 pans.

For the fertiliser these days I'm using a high grade Ammonium Sulphate - its quite acidic so no need to add any citric acid if your wash needs some acidity,
its also much easier to get hold of since nitrate based fertilisers are all but impossible to obtain due to there use in home brew explosives.

Its the hands down winner compared to any HBS nutrient that I have tried.

[chill]

This is what I have been using. I make up 4L and use 500ml per 23L wash. It keeps in the fridge for several weeks (have not had it go bad, but I am a busy boy).

20 tsp/100g DAP - cheap and easier for me to find than 20-0-0 fertilizer
2 lbs fresh bakers yeast, as cheap as dried yeast and I reckon it contains more yeast cells
1 tsp Epsom Salts
8 multi-vitamin tablets (stole my wife's)
4 tsp citric acid
Water to 4L

Boil for 15 minutes. If you have an immersion blender that helps to break up the yeast. Cool, bottle, and make your yeasties happy!

Chuck

[biopro]

Hi Chill

Sorry to be a numpty but what is DAP?

Being new to the forum, is the Yeast Bomb an alternative to the turbo yeast / nutrients? I tried an experiment using yeast from an previous wash and just added sugar - the alcohol yield after stilling was pathetic - only 20%, so defo convert to need for good nutrients. My biochemistry should have taught me that as sugar alone has great calorific but almost zero use for growth without other co-factors.

[chill]

Hi Biopro,

DAP is Diammonium phosphate. Basically high nitrogen fertilizer often used by brewers.

I don't use Turbo Yeasts (did once just to see, never saw a point beyond that) so I can't say if it is a replacement. TPW, yeast bombs, wheat germ, etc. etc. are a way of providing nutrients that yeast needs to thrive. You don't need them with full grain mashes as the grains provide enough. But for washes that are heavily sugar based, the yeast needs some support. I find using the yeast bomb easier than digging about in tomato paste tins and the wash does not have that odd colour and flavour. Tomato paste rum anyone? I don't usually aim for neutral and find that the yeast bomb better suits the washes that I play with.

Chuck

[Old MacDonald]

For the fertiliser these days I'm using a high grade Ammonium Sulphate - its quite acidic so no need to add any citric acid if your wash needs some acidity,
its also much easier to get hold of since nitrate based fertilisers are all but impossible to obtain due to there use in home brew explosives.

Its the hands down winner compared to any HBS nutrient that I have tried.

Hi Capt.,
Thanks for the yeast bomb info!

A couple of Q's regarding the Ammonium Sulphate please...

1] Is the 'Lab Grade' stuff offered on Ebay o.k.? and...

2] Do you use the same quantity as in the original recipe for 20-0-0 fertiliser, i.e. 1.5tbs per 2x25L washes?

Cheers,
Mac

[Phantom]

Just for further info, its not just any yeast nutrient.

A lot of them contain all sorts of stuff which I won't bore you with so no fermaidk (hard to get in the UK anyway) or Tronozymol (easily available).

You want the stuff that looks like white sugar crystals. I can't remember but its either Youngs or Ritchies (and I believe you can get it in Wilkos) and it contains di-ammonium phosphate and another ingredient which I believe is an anti-caking agent (that needs confirmation).

I use this as a replacement for pure DAP in my wines and meads.....

[scarecrow]

Stop boiling the water and adding the vitamins. All you are doing is killing the vitamins. It's counter productive. Add the vitamins after it has cooled down (<35C).
The vitamins are water soluble anyway and without boiling will have a much higher potency.

Also, if you have any grains in your wash, they will supply all the nutrients needed. 1 kg of grain per 20 litre wash is more than adequate. Save your nutrient bomb for another day.

scarecrow

[Capt-Cudellez]

Stop boiling the water and adding the vitamins. All you are doing is killing the vitamins. It's counter productive. Add the vitamins after it has cooled down (<35C).
The vitamins are water soluble anyway and without boiling will have a much higher potency.

SC, do you have a link or reference to back that up? I thought B-vit is quite temperature stable and boiling at 100oC wont impact potency. Albeit the textbook I read this in was to do with maintaining nutrition in cooking vegetables, but I thought it would still apply. B-vit will break down in acid, so some folks redose in a step feed method as the ferment progresses.

If I'm wrong on this, I'll change, but I just smash it up and add to the pot, as the bulking agents dissolve more easily.

+1 on the malt, it does really keep the ferment going.

[scarecrow]

SC, do you have a link or reference to back that up?

This is one site (of thousands):
http://rawforlife.co.uk/howcookingrobs.php

Scroll down to "Destroys or damages vitamins"

Basically, at 47C you will destroy about 30% potency. At 55C you've killed it. Hence I said keep the water to a warm 35C (a smidge below body temperature to be safe).

When I first started stillin' years ago, I too made nutrient bombs. I don't anymore. I used to drop 1 multivitamin, 1 B complex and a teaspoon of Epsom Salts into a litre of warm (35C) water and leave for an hour or so. Give it a final shake and add it to the (20 litre) fermenter.

scarecrow

[Almanac]

Well, that's an eye opener. Certainly caught me in the open with my trousers around my ankles!

Sorry about the imagery but you know what I mean!

AM