5 replies to this topic

[Brewer Pete]

Ok, no Fermaid-K or Redstar in the whole country. $40+ to import it so I got a local made one.Bintani Yeast Nutrient: Owner said its like Fermaid-K in ingredients, but might be slightly off on measures.Blended yeast nutrient,- usable nitrogen (ammonia salts and amino acids)- Thamin, folic acid, niacin and calcium pantothena- Yeast hulls (lipids)Dosage: for wine and beer, stir 5 gms / 20 liters into the must or wort before pitching yeast. 10 gms/20 liters can be used for mead.DAP is easy to get here, its just fertilizer.Go-Ferm is a no go, not getting Red Star means STARTUP is a no go as well. or Red Star montrachet yeast as well! grrr!!Thats what I got to work with, any comments?

[Wayne B]

The simple answer is, work with what you have available. Lacking Go-Ferm is not a show stopper, but pay very careful attention to rehydration water temperature to ensure that as many cells as possible make the transition from dry-dormant to active-rehydrated. Use the nutrient that you have available in the same manner as recipes that call for Fermaid-K, and supplement with DAP as indicated. Based on my recent experience with DSM nutrient (from Belgium), the winemaking world is converging on nutrient blends that approximate Fermaid in ingredients and ratios. I wouldn't worry too much about the minor differences between what you have available and Fermaid. Unless your nutrient derives some of its nitrogen from "food grade" urea (an oxymoron in my opinion!!) I think that you're good to go with it.

[Brewer Pete]

Cheers for the reply, I have some requests in to get a DAP equivallency to Fermaid-K answered to see if it's the same amount so no need to adjust recipes that add additional DAP.Shipping from US just got more exhorbetent it seems. Take fermaid-k price and double it, take intl' shipping and double it. That's what I would pay. Last four brew books (small paperbacks) where $47 in shipping alone. No more Amazon orders from the US for a while for me now.The yeast nutrients are perishable items, bintani is store in the yeast fridge along with the liquid yeasts. I'd hate to see what would happen to fermaid-k on months trip trough unconditioned processing warehouses halfway around the world.Local price is ~$6 per 100grams, so about 3 US dollars and change.

[Brewer Pete]

Ok,I got a rough breakdown of the formulation of the local yeast nutrient that is supposed to be like Fermaid-K.I wonder if Michael can comment on it now that there is a breakdown and see if any changes to the hightest FAQs need to be modified to use Bintani version:About 40-50% DAPless than 10% Zincless than 10% Magnesium Sulfatethe remainder is a mix of Vitamin B, Niacin, Riboflavon, Iron, Yeast HullsShould I add the same amount of extra DAP called out in the hightest FAQ or more or less now that we know whats in the local mixture?Cheers,Brewer Pete

[Hightest]

...Should I add the same amount of extra DAP called out in the hightest FAQ or more or less now that we know whats in the local mixture?

I would use the same amounts (by weight) as noted in the SNA FAQ. Your nutrient's DAP contribution is similar to that of Fermaid-K.However, I would be careful about the grade of DAP you're considering... Wayne identified an important term when he mentioned "Food Grade" - consider that to be its level of purity. I would not suggest using a commerical agricultural fertilizer type DAP in any food product as it may contain unknown contaminants acceptable for applying to a ground surface, but not something you would want to ingest - the operative word here is "unknown"... :covreyes:PS, It would be helpful if you added your location to your profile as it's not always obvious to others why this issue is a concern. Personally, I'd like to see this as a required entry field (at least the state/country) for all members - Mod/Admin hint...

Edited by Hightest, 09 April 2009 - 04:57 AM.

[Brewer Pete]

Thanks Michael,That should be enough to run with. Withou the meadmaker book arrived I should have enough gear in place to make a good dent in the 66# of honey sitting in the brew room with a couple basic recipes from the FAQ.Happy news, just found out a coworker in my department is an apiarist and migh offer running 2 hives from my yard and I get to keep 75% of the harvested honey. If I read correctly, could be another 390# to work with.