Contents
After buying a distillation column for obtaining alcohol and moonshine, I tried at least a dozen different yeasts. Together with the unit, I was advised to buy several types of Chinese ones, which I didn’t really like.
Over the past year, I have been able to choose those that give at least a few degrees of alcohol. I will warn you in advance – none of the types of yeast that I used give the mash the degree indicated on the package.
The sellers claim that I do not comply with the conditions that they indicate, but I have tried all possible options. I think it’s worth first telling what yeast is, and why they are needed at all.
Story from blog subscriber Vladislav.
What is yeast, types of yeast for moonshine
Yeast is a microorganism that, by eating various types of sugar, produces various types of alcohols, aromatic oils and other organic compounds as its waste products.
The task of moonshiners is precisely to select ethyl alcohol from the waste products of yeast and leave all other harmful impurities in the distillation vat.
Manufacturers advertise their yeast as specially grown, fast-distilling sugars that produce high levels of alcohol.
Yeast are:
- bakery;
- beer;
- wine;
- alcohol.
From what I have tried, any yeast does not differ much from each other in the quality of the mash output. All give approximately 10% alcohol content of the mash, if you fulfill the conditions indicated by the manufacturer on the package.
TOP 3 yeast for home brewing
In fact, almost all yeasts are the same, but they are intended for different purposes:
The Belarusian yeast “Yeast Plant” and Russian “Hmelnye” are also common on the Russian market, which, when used, are several times worse than English ones. I couldn’t manage to make the primary mash more than 6-7 degrees on this yeast, even on pure sugar, not to mention more complex sugars in grain, rice, corn.
Koji yeast is designed to process complex sugars and claims to be able to draw complex sugars from grains.
Chinese Koji
However, in practice, you still have to crush the grain, boil it and pre-treat it with enzymes that break down complex sugars into simpler ones that the yeast can “eat”.
And why is there no Russian yeast in the top
English and Chinese yeasts got into the TOP-3 only because there are a lot of them on our market, and they give alcohol content in the region of 10-12%. It was not possible to get more, however, it is still more than Russian and Belarusian give.
How many and what kind of Russian yeast I have not tried, I could not get more than 7% alcohol in mash, although, as I said, I make mash mainly on sugar.
The biggest problem for growers is to develop a yeast that survives with a lot of alcohol in the wash. After all, for yeast, alcohol is their waste product.
Obviously, in England, production is based on the breeding of special genetically modified yeast that is resistant to the alcohol content in the surrounding liquid.
In Russia, such yeast is not produced, because it is easier to buy ready-made ones, for example, from partners in China, than to engage in research in the field of yeast DNA.
How to use yeast correctly
I will give a few examples that show how much it is worth following the manufacturer’s instructions.
So, most of the time I use Partfinder yeast. The manufacturer claims that in addition to yeast, the package includes enzymes to improve their performance.
Yeast I use in 1 year experience.
It is recommended to prepare clean water, dissolve sugar in it, pour the yeast into a small container with sweetened water and let it “earn” for 15-30 minutes. Yes, after 15 minutes a huge hat of air bubbles grows over the jar.
Then I pour this yeast into a large fermentation tank (plastic bucket), put a “parrot” on top – a special device into which a little water is poured, which, in turn, does not allow oxygen to reach the yeast, since it acts on them sharply negatively.
The main thing is to achieve a rapid growth in the volume of yeast. To do this, I usually heat the water in a plastic bucket to 25-26 degrees and try to maintain this temperature constantly.
I stand the yeast for at least a week, and even better two. Then it turns out alcohol content in the region of 12 degrees. In the last 2-3 days, I add a few tablespoons of sugar to the mash to stir up the dormant yeast a little and mix the mash.
If you follow exactly the instructions on the package, then the mash can be infused for 2 days. But then the alcohol content does not even rise to 8 degrees, although 14 is written on the package.
Several times I tried to make mash with ordinary baker’s fresh yeast. To be honest, despite their cheapness, the degree of mash at the end of the distillation practically did not differ from that where English yeast was used.
However, the smell of bread yeast gets into the moonshine, and not everyone likes it.
What yeast do you use and what tricks do you use to increase alcohol content?