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The other day I was in are local supermarket. I thought i'd take a look at the yeast in the baking dept. I found a large package of Red Star dried yeast and it was of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. Could this be the same type that used in fermenting grains for whiskey ?

it is the same family as ale,whisky,(top fermenting) but many different ones belong to that family.

Then how does someone know if the names are the same, but the familys are different? I would hate to use it then not have it work.

Redfoot, a large percentage of the members here primarily use bakers yeast... Some also use wine, champaign, or distillers yeast...

There are two primary types of yeast used for fermentation, top fermenting and bottom fermenting... Yeast has been discussed here in these forums, on the parent site, and there are several good articles scattered across the internet... After years of studying yeast, on and off, all I know is that I feel like I know very little about yeast as a whole... However, I do feel that I know enough about yeast to keep them happy enough to ferment my washes adequately and relatively quickly... I've always felt that knowing as much as possible about yeast is a prerequisite for any type of fermentation...

I have read so much about yeast that I feel like my head is going to burst, and still I have not seemed to scratched the surface. I'ts like the more I read the dumber it get. I read that EC1118 is the same yeast used in Turbo's. I used it for my wines and netural washes,but never for grains. Although it takes some time to finish I've been happy with the results.I have a plan to use 1118 on my first grain bill but would have to look through my notes to let you know what it is. Any input would be greatly appreaciated.

Redfoot wrote:I read that EC1118 is the same yeast used in Turbo's.

Can you point us to where you read that claim...??? Most turbo yeast manufacturers claim them to be refined strains over multiple generations without mention of any specific starting yeast strain...

+1 on that, I read that turbo's generally have fuel yeasts...

I'll try to find it again, but like I said I've read so much It would be hard just to go directly back to it. Basically what it said, is that Turbos ( maybe not all Turbos) use EC1118 for their basic yeast and are full of ditterent types nutrients.

This may be where I read it. From the Mother Ship, under yeast.


You can make your own Turbo yeasts. Jack wrote ..
Use large amounts of the wine yeasts called "prisse de mousse" (by the Red Star company), or EC-1118 (by the Lavlin company) - these are the yeasts used in the Turbo yeast packs- you just need to buy 100 grams (4 ounces) of it and pitch it all at once to get the turbo yeast performance (this also requires 100 grams of citric acid and about 100grams of yeast nutrient). Both these yeasts are common winemaking yeasts in the U.S

I would expect that Turbo's do use the bayanus strain it produces some of the higher alcohol tolerant yeasts. One of Intec's white wine varieties is tolerant to 18. Fast ferment just chuck in more yeast and nutes, don't think there is much mystery about it.