yeast nutrients

[rrussell]

A couple of my kits have come up a little shy of the usual .995 ending sg and I notice some of Georges kits he is doing are also doing the same. I would like to be sure my future kits don't do this. Would adding yeast nutrients help and at what stage would I add it. Thanks for any suggestions. Also I have checked my hydrometer and it tests out ok.

 

[Wade E]

Ron, not every wine will go down that far as there are different factors that will stop the yeast from fermenting extremely dry like that and even with the same yeast in the same batch split into 2 carboys will give you a different reading. Adding nutrient may help out this out though but youll never know for sure. I say give it a try as MM products have been adding this to some of their upper products. i would probably add it around an SG of 1.025 just to try and help it finish up.

Edited by: wade

 

[smurfe]

Nutrient won't hurt and can help at times. I would say that the viability of the yeast is probably the culprit. The fresher the yeast the better. As yeast cells die off the attenuation will drop or be less efficient. Making a starter always helps as well particularly if the yeast is on the older side. I use nutrient on most all of my beers when I make a starter. I never use it on kit wines. I use it on every country wine or mead.

 

[rrussell]

thanks, I have an all juice Amerone and Pinot Noir delivering tomorrow and I will see if they include some.

 

[Joseph1]

Ron, in reviewing George’s Wine MakingLog the Mosti Mondiale Meglioli and the Chilean fresh juices had the yeast nutrient added and I believe that almost all the reds ended with a specific gravity of 0.994 or 0.995. This ending SG is not necessarily an indication of unfermented sugars remaining in the wine. Higher end kits typically contain more total dissolved solids in the juice and consequently more dissolved solids in the wine.<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

If the All-Juice kits do not have the nutrient and you have some and want to add it, the addition would be made at Step 2. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient in cold water until dissolved, and then stir into the wine in the primary before transferring to secondary.

I do not believe the addition of yeast nutrient to the Mosti Mondiale productis absolutely essential; rather it is one part of an insurance policy for a complete fermentation. The other part of the insurance policy is the mixing in the primary to resuspend the sediment before transfer to secondary. This mixing adds a little oxygen and some nutrients from the dead yeast cells. This makes for healthy yeast that will complete the fermentation.

 

[rrussell]

thanks for the imput. I may by some nutrient with my next order. I see there are 2 types. What is the main difference and is one better than the other? Thanks in advance for the info.

 

[Wade E]

Do you mean by 2 types nutrient and energizer? They are a littl e different and I use both on every fruit wine.

 

[rrussell]

under nutrients in georges catalogue there is Fermax which has about 4 ingredients and then he has another one that does not have a brand name which has different ingredients.