Subcultureoftwo_small
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Baking Yeast vs. Brewing Yeast

I am taking a crack at making dandelion wine. I spent the better part of yesterday picking flower heads and twisting the petals off (my fingernails are stained brown and my thumbs hurt), and I have the cooled brew sitting in the other room. Tomorrow, I add yeast and bottle it.

Here's my question: I have regular baking yeast (instant dry), not special brewing yeast or wine yeast. Is this going to ruin my wine, or just give it a different flavor? I'm not a major wine connoisseur (or even a minor one), so if you don't think I'll be able to tell the difference, that's okay. But if it's going to grow something dark and unnatural, I'd like some advance notice.

Thanks!

Sacrelicious asked in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report

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  • 2008_0522stuff0016_small
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    All cooking yeasts will eat sugars and make CO2 and alcohol, but each strain has different tolerances for temperature/sugar content/alcohol concentration/etc and also impart different flavors. So, if the question is mostly, will my baker's yeast succeed in making hooch, the your answer is yes. If your question is instead, will it taste the same/as good as if I made it with wine yeast, then no, probably not. You'll probably get a cloudy brew, too, as baker's yeast isn't selected for its sedimentation ability.

    Places for more information:

    http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp

    http://www.home-winemaking.com/winemaking-1b.html

    And, if you're still in Idaho, try some of these sites for local supplies:

    http://www.brewcon.com/

    http://makewinemakebeer.com/

    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13176/view=beerfly

    Griffin answered in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report
    3 comments by Sacrelicious, Sacrelicious, and Griffin…
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  • Avatar_default
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    Baking yeast and brewing yeast are cooperatively the same, but have significantly different characteristics. It is recommended to never use baking yeast when brewing.

    I'm a home brewer and buy 99% of my equipment, yeast and ingredients from www.northernbrewer.com Alternatively, there are a couple brew shops in town that can recommend a good wine yeast for you.

    Almost as critical as the yeast is using the proper fermentation vessels with vapor locks, and most important of all is sanitization.

    jfdimarco answered in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report
    2 comments by Sacrelicious and Daniel Schirmer…
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    Re: Ballardgirl's answer

    Don't be too flippant, she's talking about explosions after bottling. Brewers yeast is carefully designed to convert a certain amount of sugar to alcohol. This is measured by comparing specific gravities before and after fermentation.

    Bottles made with bakers yeast can explode because it may continue fermenting after you think it is complete. And it will be more difficult to know when it is complete since bakers strains don't come with any information about alcohol tolerance or conversion capacity.

    Use brewers yeast.

    Danger answered in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report
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    There is a possibility that your wine wl explode if you use regular yeast. That's what happened to us in high school. Best to use brewers.

    ballardgirl answered in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report
    3 comments by Sacrelicious, ToyYodaEcho, and Black Beetles in Amber…
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