Fresh Bakers Yeast

[makum101]

Has anyone tried using fresh bakers yeast (comes in a damp block)?
I got talking to someone who used to work in a distillery and he said 25 grams of this in a 25 litre wash would go like the clappers.
I might get some from ebay and give it a try.

[alan]

Hi makum101 I have used the fresh yeast a few times to make wheatgerm wash\"s i normally use 50grm

[Whiskers]

No need to use e bay-Tesco and most other supermarkets sell it fresh-about 20p per 100 grams-just ask at the bakery bit (they don\'t usually have it on display)
How much alcohol would it withstand though? I thought it didnt take much to kill it...

[makum101]

Thanks for the reply guys.
After my chat to the retired distiller he emailed me this in answer to my fresh yeast question. Im a little suprised with the amount. What do you think...

Provided the yeast really is fresh – no more than 12-18 hours old and kept at between +2C and -4C and is bakers yeast, sacchoromyces cerevisiae the usual pitching rate for a distillers wash is 6gms – 7.5gms of solid pressed yeast per litre. This will give a fast fermentation to the attenuation limit (point where all the sugars have been used up and yeast is in decay phase.) However, there are a number of tweaks which will speed up the fermentation. The first is to put the weighed yeast – in the case of your 25 litres it will be approx. 150gms – 187gms (an approximation is fine) into a small container of about 1 litre with 100gms of your sugar dissolved in it. Keep the temperature of this solution at 30C to 35C (about blood heat and wait until it begins to froth (2 – 4 hours). This will have avoided the initial lag phase and will take you straight to the log phase which, as the name implies, indicates that the yeast is reproducing logarithmically. Adjustment of pH (hydrogen ion concentration) and temperature are vital to ensure an even fermentation. If you have them, the addition of nutrients such as maltose and peptone will help reach maximum alcohol. Most of these nutrients are available in malt extract and 25gms, a large tablespoonful will be sufficient. (Later I will explain how you can obtain these nutrients from a cheap bottle of vitamin tablets).

Im an IT support guy and he is fast becomming my fovorite customer !

[Whiskers]

Wow-he is The Oracle isnt he? The thing about nutrients from vitamins sounds interesting. What alcohol level do you think you will achieve with fresh yeast?
The amount he states sounds fine to me and should only cost about 40p. The 25grams for 25 L that you quoted earlier doesnt sound like its enough to me-it would only be a piece about the size of an Oxo cube (or less).