— Checklist  —

  • 1.  Aerate the mash/wash
  • 2. Check temperature 85F or less … 65F ideal
  • 3. Add Yeast Nutrients (not necessary if using a yeast packet that has both yeast and nutrients, or if using grains)
  • 4. To get your yeast to be fast acting “Turbo Yeast” – add the Diammonium Phosphate nutrient.
  • 5. Make sure the PH is 5.2
  • 6. Put in the correct amount of Yeast, don’t over pitch.

1. Yeast Nutrients

Man cannot live by bread alone [Bible verse]. Yeast cannot live by sugar alone. If Yeast doesn’t have nutrients it will not eat the sugars. Nutrients are essential to the yeast doing it’s fermenting in any sugar added fermentation. Divided application is acceptable; half at the start, and half mid fermentation.

If you are using grains or fruits, there are plenty of nutrients in those food materials themselves. There is no need to add nutrients. You can add nutrients if you like but not necessary.

1 to 1.5 teaspoons of nutrients per gallon of water (as per packet). 4 teaspoons for 3 gallon batch.

2. Turbo – (Diammonium Phosphate, AKA DAP)

Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) is a good source of nitrogen for yeast. The added nitrogen will help the yeast remain very active through the ferment.

Add 1/2 to 3/4 grams per gallon (as written on 1 lb packet)   2 grams or 1/2 teaspoon per 3 gallons batch

Take a temperature reading. The mash should ideally be 74 F to start fermentation … The temperature will rise slightly as fermentation is in process.

3. PH Level – a Must

Check the PH. Don’t be surprised if in a 3 gallon sugar wash you need to put in the juice from several lemons or limes to get a PH of 5.2. Yeast are most productive and don’t produce foul oils at their desired PH of 5.2. Yeast above a PH of 7.2 will become active but other yeasts will start up and compete with your pitched yeast and that means off flavors. At PH 5.2 you create an environment where just your ETOH yeast can thrive.

4. Pitching the Correct Amount of Yeast

Amount

DADY Yeast- add 1 to 2 grams per gallon (per instructions on 1 lb yeast package)

1.5 teaspoon for 3 gallons in the liquid of a wash or mash.

DADY (Distillers Active Dry Yeast) is a specially selected strain of Saccharomyces Cerevisae designed for distillers use in grain mash fermentations for ethanol. DADY will produce maximum alcohol yields under controlled temperatures (less than 90° F/32° C). DADY yeast has been cultured to have a tolerant level up to 18% alcohol.

You should introduce the large pre-pitch starter along with additional yeast needed for the batch. When this is introduced to the main mash or wash it will overwhelm with the production of daughter yeast cells. This rapid population of yeast cells will dominate the batch and exclude any foreign yeast and bacteria that have come from the grains that you have introduced from becoming active.

Over Pitch

If you mistakenly “over-pitch” your yeast- just make sure you have a LOT of copper in the mash to get rid of the extra sulfur compounds when the yeast start eating dead yeast cells to stay alive.

Under Pitch

Under pitching causes a long lag time that can allow a bacterial infection to take hold in the mash. If there is sufficient nutrients the small amount of yeast will take a longer time to make a colony in the initial lag period of fermentation and take two or three times as long to establish the colony. But under–pitching will absolutely work provided there are enough nutrients.