This Yeast Produces Less Congeners

[ptech]

In your opinion, which yeast produces the least amount of congeners?

1) which brand?
2) which specific type under that brand name?

3) per unit of mash? (e.g. 5 gallon mash compared to a different yeast in a different 5 gallon mash)
4) per unit of ethanol? (e.g. a 6 gallon mash where 2Qts of it is pure ethanol compared to a 5 gallon mash where 2Qts of it is pure ethanol...in question number 4, this example is a yeast that made a 6Gal mash with 8.33% abv compared to a yeast that made a 5 gallon mash with 10.0% abv)

I'd rather use a yeast that only averages 6% ethanol compared to one that yields 15% ethanol if the congeners are less in the 6% yeast.
But I want a pot still with a thumper because I don't want to make neutral spirits. And yes, I know that the reflux stills (neutral) get rid of most (or all) congeners. But I want a yeast that will produce less congeners in my pot still.

thanks so much for your help
pTech

[Usge]

Personally, ptech...I've used a "lot" of different yeasts. And I find plain old bakers yeast to work fine and be less "tweaky" on my flavors. I use Fleischman's Active Dry yeast. And also Red Star Active Yeast pitched at the rate of 1 packet per 5 gals. Some Ale yeasts i've used produced good flavor on corn whiskey (Nottingham Ale Yeast). But, it is also much more expensive and tends to add flavors (ie. congeners...etc.of a certain profile).

EC-1118 is a fairly clean fermenting yeast when it doesnt' go sideways. But, it also leaves a slightly "wine" like note to your ferment as opposed to beer notes. Out of all the yeasts I've used..the one that most fits the description you suggest is bakers yeast (ie., plain old Fleischmans, Red Star, etc). That's just my experience...I'm sure there will be others.

I completely shy away from anything that has the word "turbo" in it. (other than cars or motorcycles). WD whiskey yeast with AG..is a great yeast for corn whiskey. But, its flavor heavy (adds a lot). So long as you are doing a whiskey...it's a good yeast as well.

[Rivver]

I myself have switched almost primarily to bakers yeast. When I first started stillin I tried many different yeasts and many different washes/mashes. But in the end, after some discovery I've found I either prefer a UJ, or AG both of which I've only tried with bakers yeast. I drink a lot of whiskey, and I don't switch around much on what I drink after I find what I like. Bakers yeast seems to give a nice flavor to my whiskey, so that's what I'll stick with. No need to fix what isn't broken.

[Durace11]

Third vote for bakers yeast

I'd say EC-1118, KV1-1116, WLP001 are also all clean fermenters but because bakers yeast is by far the cheapest and easiest to aquire it wins hands down over all other options. I typically keep a few packets of EC-1118 around to restart stuck ferments and use it up when it gets close to it's expiration date.

[rad14701]

Another Fleischmann's user here...

Sounds like you'll need to start doing some experiments and come back with your results... While it sounds interesting it also sounds time consuming... And without expensive test equipment the results would be subject at best...

[ptech]

sounds like Fleischmann's yeast will be my main staple. But after I ferment my first few batches, I'll prolly try some other yeasts.

I've read the following book

and I've also read a lot on the homedistiller.org and this forum and around a bit.

Is there a book out there that discloses the results of yeast comparisons based on controlled scientific measurements. I understand that taste is subjective and some congeners might be desirable for achieving certain flavors and that there's many variables and all that...

...If you were competing for a ten million dollar prize for the guy that ferments a batch of mash with the lowest percentage of congeners per gallon of undistilled mash (every contestant uses the same exact kind of fermenting container and set up), which yeast would you choose for the competition. All other ingredients and recipe are the same for all contestants....contestants can ONLY control the following THREE (3) variables; yeast, temperature and PH....which yeast would you choose for that contest (just for that contest NOT for regular home use).

[BareKnuckles]

I'm a bakers yeast user also.... River said it best."No need to fix what isn't broken.

[ptech]

...If you were competing for a ten million dollar prize

I'd enter the competition with

WLP050 Tennessee Whiskey Yeast (White Labs)

[smokindave]

...If you were competing for a ten million dollar prize

I'd enter the competition with

WLP050 Tennessee Whiskey Yeast (White Labs)

I can't seem to find the WLP050 on the whitelabs site.......all they have is their Whiskey Turbo with AG. I wonder how similar this is to the Prestige WD with AG from Gertstrand AB?

Any one use either of these enough to compare?

SmokinDave

[ptech]

I can't seem to find the WLP050 on the whitelabs site....

http://www.whitelabs.com/distilling/yeast.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

third one down on that link

ptech

[rgarry]

There was a thread about wlp050 back in March. I have been using ev1118 but had a recent batch of Wineo get stuck at 1.030. Pan on running it his weekend but might tried to add some slurry from my UJSSM to see if I can finish it off. After reading some of the mentors using distillers yeast, might switch over.

[Richard7]

To quote Fleischmann's label "When we rise, everybody shines!"

Edit for stupidity! You can see it the next post where I was quoted.

[rgarry]

To quote Fleischmann's label "When we rise, every shines!"

[smokindave]

I can't seem to find the WLP050 on the whitelabs site....

http://www.whitelabs.com/distilling/yeast.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

third one down on that link

ptech

Yeah, I can see that. Try ordering it........its not on their ordering
Software........