Turbo Yeast For Alcohol Moonshine- How and What to Use

First off, to answer the question of what turbo yeast is.  Turbo yeast is a special type of yeast that yields higher alcohol (ABV%) levels and in a shorter period of time.  This is in contrast to normal bakers yeast which isn’t a valid type of yeast to use when producing alcohol or spirits of any kind.

Mile Hi Distilling is home to a number of different turbo yeast distiller yeast for alcohol strains. This article is written to describe the differences to help you pinpoint what kind of distillers alcohol yeast suits you the best, what kind of yeast is used to make moonshine and other spirits, and the processes associated with using them.

Turbo Yeast Varieties

Take a look at the below list to get a general idea of the differences and similarities of available distilling yeasts, the best yeast for alcohol distilling and the best yeast for moonshine:

1. 24-Hour Turbo Yeast will make 14% Alcohol by Volume in 1 day, and up to 20% in 5. This yeast has extra yeast nutrients to help the fermentation process happen quickly. Excellent yeast for moonshine sugar wash.
2. 48-Hour Turbo Yeast will make 14% Alcohol by Volume in 2 days, and up to 20% in 5. This yeast is an excellent yeast for simple sugar wash fermentations.
3. Vodka Turbo Yeast has a low congener profile and a great sugar-to-ethanol conversion rate, making it the best yeast for vodka, high purity neutral spirits or moonshine alcohol.
4. Rum Turbo Yeast uses a special profile designed to bring an aromatic and pleasant taste to your spirit, which is great for something like Rum designed to be sweet. Excellent rum yeast to be used with molasses.  This is the best yeast for rum.
5. Whiskey Turbo Yeast uses a profile designed to work well with malted barley and grains for maximum yield. This yeast works great for single malt whiskey, bourbon, and even corn liquor.
6. Classic 8 Turbo Yeast requires more sugar and water per wash in order to produce a full 20% ABV wash in rapid time. By far one of my favorites and one of our sellers.
7. Heat Wave Turbo Yeast is perfect when fermenting in areas where fermentation temperatures are hotter than normal. Designed to work in temperatures above the 80 Degrees F recommended for other yeasts.
8. Pure Pot Still Turbo Yeast includes pectic enzyme packet inside which will work very well with fruits, making this yeast perfect for brandies, grappas, and ciders. Pectic enzyme helps with speeding up the extraction of fruit sugars in the fermentation process.
9. Triple Distilled Turbo Yeast is designed to produce an ultra-clean fermentation process.
10. Express Turbo Yeast is the fastest yeast available, giving you a sugar wash ready to ferment in one day with estimated ABV ( alcohol by volume ) of up to 14%. You can wait longer estimated 5 days and get up to 18%

To Sum Up

You can choose which alcohol yeast based on personal preference.  Although you should choose Heat Wave turbo yeast for special circumstances. You can really never go wrong with 48-Hour turbo yeast.  Most people choose it when buying yeast here at Mile Hi Distilling.

How to Use Turbo Yeast For Alcohol

There are a couple of things you should know about turbo alcohol yeast. First off, all strains of yeast go dormant when at a certain temperature too cold for them to thrive.  They will become inactive at a certain temperature too hot for them to survive. All our packets of yeast come with instructions on how much water and sugar to use with the yeast.  As well as, what temperature it should stay at while fermenting. You should expect to not have your mash go above 80F (27C) for most of our yeasts.  Don’t dip below 65F (18C).

Another important note is that the whole process of fermentation happens when the yeast runs out of oxygen and needs the dextrin in the sugars in order to keep “surviving”. With this said, make sure when fermenting, your bucket lid stays completely sealed on the bucket, and your airlock is snug and in place. It should take no more than 2 days for your airlock to start bubbling as carbon dioxide releases. If your airlock is not bubbling, something might be wrong with the fermentation.

Step by Step

• Opening up fermentation bucket, and taking the temperature of the wash using a thermometer. Also what temperatures in the room that your fermenter is in. Are you in the zone?
• Stirring mash with a spoon and looking for anything still granulated or undissolved sugar. You must completely dissolve sugars prior to adding yeast.
• Temperatures must not be too hot or too cold prior to adding yeast
• Check the tightness on your lid, you could have a lip seeping in air.

Now, assuming everything is going right, your airlock is bubbling, and the yeast is doing its job, you’ll have an option. You can wait 2 days, and start the distillation at the cost of losing some alcohol by volume or percentage of alcohol in your wash, or you can wait five days and get the most alcohol by volume in your wash which will ultimately get the most out of your moonshine still run.

When using distilling yeast you’ll see instructions on the label like 14% ABV in 2 days, and 20% ABV in 5 days. That’s the great thing about Turbo Yeast if you’re planning to make brandies or other low percentage spirits. It shaves off a fair bit of time and leaves you a lot more productive.

Check out our Distilling Yeast available now at Mile Hi Distilling

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