Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi folks
I want to use the best yeast possible for whiskey and rum and confused about the whole yeast thing. Is using bakers yeast actually better or is it because it's cheaper much cheaper than HBS options. Does in taste better to use bakers yeast?
If you did not care about price and only cared about quality would bakers yeast still be the way to go?
Blokes like Doc from dobsons what type of yeast would they use for there whiskey??

Would appreciate if some of the blokes who know there stuff could help me out on these questions.
I understand that bakers yeast creates a smaller yield that don't bother me as I only care about the quality not the quantity and the dollars spent
Seems strange that the cheapest option would be the best option as everything else in life does not work that way normally lol

If ur a bourbon man then I'd go the American whiskey yeast. Ibrew close to u and sell it in 500g packs :handgestures-thumbupleft: I'm not rum drinker but used it for rum as well and mates said it's awesome :dance:

Wobblyboot wrote:If ur a bourbon man then I'd go the American whiskey yeast. Ibrew close to u and sell it in 500g packs :handgestures-thumbupleft: I'm not rum drinker but used it for rum as well and mates said it's awesome :dance:

That's not a turbo yeast is it?
I don't want to use turbo yeast

No safspirits. Pretty sure they make the rum yeast also.

bluc wrote:No safspirits. Pretty sure they make the rum yeast also.

Thanks bluc, is that the shit you would use as well for top shelf stuff ? :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Don't insult me :angry-banghead: I don't think any1 on this forum will point u to a turbo :scared-eek: I buy from them too

I tried it and cant really pick the difference. I stick with bakers for most stuff. Will revisit it when i start all grain..

Wobblyboot wrote:Don't insult me :angry-banghead: I don't think any1 on this forum will point u to a turbo :scared-eek: I buy from them too

I realise you would not be using turbo but I thought you were suggesting I do because in a beginner . I was not sure if all HBS yeast was turbo
Thanks for your help I will order some :handgestures-thumbupleft:

bluc wrote:I tried it and cant really pick the difference. I stick with bakers for most stuff. Will revisit it when i start all grain..

If you could not taste the difference I will use bakers yeast but I will order some of the other and experiment also.
Thanks bro :handgestures-thumbupleft:

copperhead road wrote:

bluc wrote:I tried it and cant really pick the difference. I stick with bakers for most stuff. Will revisit it when i start all grain..

If you could not taste the difference I will use bakers yeast but I will order some of the other and experiment also.
Thanks bro :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I'm thinking that there are differences in flavours otherwise why would there be such a need for such diversity of Yeast strains?!?! I can't answer your question as yet as I've been busting my "B"s to get a repeatable good if not great tasting product before I start to fluff around with changes...

I am considering using the same mash/wash on a 'brown' spirit and then alter the yeasts for a few Gens just to see if I can:
1) get the same repeatability;
2) get the same volume;
3)get the same or BETTER flavour.

otherwise, why do it?

Good luck trying to keep every other parameter constant and only changing the yeast :-B

Having said that, the better the yeast is suited to what you are trying to achieve the better, the Saf Spirit range is quite good :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Smart marketing,"a rare yeast strain from deep within the amazon. Cultured and nurtured by us to bring a crisp and fruity finish" :laughing-rolling: seriously there prob is a difference but I am not refined enough to notice :oops:

I reakon you will get a more repeatable product by controlling fermenter temp than anything else at our level. Once you pin that down start playing with yeast strains..

bluc wrote:I reakon you will get a more repeatable product by controlling fermenter temp than anything else at our level. Once you pin that down start playing with yeast strains..

I concur, Sir! Hence I have procured a secondhand fridge ... shopping for an STC1000 (seems easy enough and good Bang for your Buck). Thinking that it would go well with an aquarium heater, altho I've heard that others are using just a plain desc lamp as a heating source (on the bottom shelf of the fridge and separated with a piece of wood to control the light ~ not sure if the light affect fermentation, tho?)...

Need a big fridge to fit a 200l barrel :laughing-rolling:

I found it's the temps of yeasts that they like better, low for fruit, higher for bourbon or rum :-B I'd be surprised if u make a variety of drinks and don't have a yeast to suit each 1 :wtf:

copperhead road wrote:

Wobblyboot wrote:If ur a bourbon man then I'd go the American whiskey yeast. Ibrew close to u and sell it in 500g packs :handgestures-thumbupleft: I'm not rum drinker but used it for rum as well and mates said it's awesome :dance:

That's not a turbo yeast is it?
I don't want to use turbo yeast

A lot of the yeast mix have good yeast and good nutrients the only problem with turbo mixes is the instructions on how to ferment putting an outrageous amount of sugar to get lots of poor quality from each ferment.

As an all grain beer brewer, I can only add my experience from there (only starting to build my first still atm).
There is such an array of sacc yeast, because of the esters/flavours produced, gotta love those little critters :D

Temperature of ferment is super important, and will add esters to your wash. Higher temps generally add more, lower a lot less.
For repeatability you would certainly have to factor in fermentation temps.

As for strains, each yeast will add its own flavour profile to the wash, I can only imagine the bakers yeast adding a bready flavour profile, and for that reason alone, I'd use something more specific. Having said that, over on the homebrew version of this forum, some have experimented, and the yeast give a fairly clean fermentation, which didn't impart a lot of the bread flavour, though it was noticable.
At this stage I'm not sure what a 'Rum' yeast would add, but I have read of people using beer yeasts, such as a hefeweissen yeast, fermented at 24C+, to extract the banana flavours that are produced. I'm certain this fruitiness would translate into the distillate in some form or another.

For my initiation into this hobby, I'll go with a Rum yeast from the LHBS, but will experiment with beer yeasts at a later stage (have plenty of it after brewing a batch of beer).

Cheers,
Martin

I doubt there is a "best" yeast for a distilled end product even though the marketing people for the many commercial producers would want us to believe their yeast is the best.
Choose a yeast that is suitable for the temperature and time scale of your ferment. There have been some good suggestions here for a suitable yeast so just pick one and run with it :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Beer yeast that impart flavour like Hefeweizen or Coopers do so in the bottle fermentation stage and if you age your product for six months like we should do with bottle fermented beer your yeasties were long dead before racking into the aging vessel :scared-eek:

Agree - not sure there is a 'best'. It'll depend on your tastebuds too -everyone has unique tastes.

I've just done my first all grain with danstar abbaye yeast and reused the trub/spent grain for a sugarhead. I picked it because it's high attenuation, sounded interesting(and on special :D ) I've yet to do the spirit runs, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.