Has anyone used turbo yeast before for home brewing?

I have done a lot of home brewing but never used this stuff before, for those that do not know it is a strain of yeast that has been developed to work faster and survive in higher alcohol enviroments than ever before, the tech has been around for some time now and is just getting silly so thought I would give it a go.



This is the sales blurb from some of the ones I have just bought.


"Alcotech 48 is a dual turbo yeast. It can ferment 6Kgs/25 litres up to 14% in 48 hours - or 8Kgs/25 litres up to 20% in 5 days.You simply choose how much sugar to add."




"Alcotec 24 is the most extreme yeast you have ever seen. It will ferment 6Kgs of sugar in 25 litres of water, up to 14% in 24 hours. This is not a fermentation, it is an explosion."

As you can see this is not messing about!

After fermentation it is a matter of simply adding liquid activated charcoal, leaving for 24 hours and then adding finings and then syphoning off.

I got a whole heap of sugar(not actually a heap of course) for free and I was at the wholesalers the other day and they had one of the syrup premixers that goes into pubs and resteraunts reduced to a fiver from about 40 quid, the turbo yeast is 3 quid and the charcoal and finings another 3 quid so I recon I can make about 50 litres of 20% Fanta in less than a week and that includes the 2-3 day delivery time.

a reply to: nonspecific
But why would you want a quick turnover? Except if you are brewing for commercial purposes. Home-made wine is a hobby to fill in your time so the slow method works just fine. That is of course you're not a raging alcoholic and you can't wait for your next fix.

My understanding is that turbo yeast is mostly for wine making and more speocifically distilling.

In distilling off flavors derived from fermentation are not a big deal because if you are getting clean runs all flavor should be more or less left behind, I know people who use bakers yeast or just rely on wild/spontaneous fermentation. Some will even still out their spoiled beer batches.. of course that's not legal here and I don't know anything about it.

As they say in the beer world, we Brewers make the wort and prepare the environment, and the yeast makes the beer.

If you have ever done the same recipe with different yeast strains you can see how much of an impact yeast and its environment can have on the final product ...

I suspect you are not here on the US so I don't know what your options are but if you want a fast acting clean beer yeast white labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast would be my recommendation.

With beer though, gererally speaking time is your best friend. The more time and control you have over your fermentation the better.

originally posted by: crayzeed
a reply to: nonspecific
But why would you want a quick turnover? Except if you are brewing for commercial purposes. Home-made wine is a hobby to fill in your time so the slow method works just fine. That is of course you're not a raging alcoholic and you can't wait for your next fix.

I am simply curious as to how it works out, as I said I have done loads of homebrewing and even have a little shed devoted to it now but would like to witness the process at such speed and have never got close to 20%!

I am tempted to try out fractional freezing as well and was thinking about getting it to around 30%, adding some botanicals most likely juniper and cardomon, running it through an activated carbon filter and having my own take on some good old bathtub gin!

originally posted by: SteamyJeans
My understanding is that turbo yeast is mostly for wine making and more speocifically distilling.

In distilling off flavors derived from fermentation are not a big deal because if you are getting clean runs all flavor should be more or less left behind, I know people who use bakers yeast or just rely on wild/spontaneous fermentation. Some will even still out their spoiled beer batches.. of course that's not legal here and I don't know anything about it.

As they say in the beer world, we Brewers make the wort and prepare the environment, and the yeast makes the beer.

If you have ever done the same recipe with different yeast strains you can see how much of an impact yeast and its environment can have on the final product ...

I suspect you are not here on the US so I don't know what your options are but if you want a fast acting clean beer yeast white labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast would be my recommendation.

With beer though, gererally speaking time is your best friend. The more time and control you have over your fermentation the better.

I know a few people that use it for distillation but that's illgal here althogh I think the laws for personal consumption are due to be relaxed.

As to the off flavours that the turbo yeast imparts from what I understand they are mostly from non sugars in the ferment and that is why you add liquid activated charcoal before the finings to remove as much of the impurities as possible.

I'll be curious to hear your results. Have you run this by any of the homebrewing forums out there?

Also, in regards to turbo yeast fermentation, do you control your ferm temps or just let them go?

I suppose with proper controls you could ferment low (probably around 60* F, but would depend on the yeast specs) you might get a fairly clean profile, but it would probably not be the quick overnight turn around you are looking for..

I would assume turbo yeast would raise your temp pretty high, probably up into the 80s... you'll probably end up with a "Belgian style" ale..

Either way, should be some wild fermentation! Dont forgot your blowoff tube!


a reply to: nonspecific

a reply to: nonspecificNaughty, naughty, you have to distill to get gin. I made about 10 gallon of wheat wine and it turned out crap. So, why waste the alcohol. I got a plumber to turn me a coil and used the Missus pressure for a trial run. High octane rocket fuel had nothing on it. I couldn't stand anything that strong so I binned the lot. I just keep to hedgerow wine for now.

Even distillers recomend against using turbos. There are high quality yeasts out there that can eat 13-19% ABV. In three days, with the right nutrient and enzyme blends. The biggest issue will be flavor. Why make something that doesn't taste delicious.

a reply to: nonspecific


If you haven't read some other distilling forums like homedistiller.org (one of many) you should but I figure you already did. Turbo yeast is quick and fast but for the love of spirits not used. Get a decent batch of yeast and reuse it for next runs.

The higher the alcohol fermented, the more stress on the yeast thus fermenting turbo yeast to 14% will produce a lot purer mash than a fermentation to 18% or higher. The more stress, the more by products are produced which yields your volatiles and off flavors and smells.. Too some degree these can be removed with more activated carbon after distillation.


Turbo yeast can be used if you use a reflux column and filter through coal, but in a simple pot still it is not recommended not even when you would do a couple of striping runs for the spirit runs. But it has to do a bit about taste and mostly about the art of distilling. In my opinion it is not needed to rush, especially because i don't really want to produce natural alcohol at all, so i like to get some flavors with my booze.

a reply to: SteamyJeans

I use White Labs too when trying to brew to style. Like the California Steam yeast for a steam beer. Or one of the hefeweizen strains to add at the end. I forget who makes those "slap packs" but I have had good results from those as well.

So, nonsspecific, ale or lager? Are you making a Dopple style or a barleywine? Anyhoo, why try to speed up a process that does not really need it? I say be patient and let nature take her course! If you use a good, liquid yeast I think you will be surprised at how much better your beer will taste. I've had moments where I thought nothing was going on only to find a blown fermentation lock the next morning! No turbo was necessary!

And if you are careful enough you can always save some of the yeast from the initial fermentation for the next batch (I pour off the top, dark stuff, and use the middle part in a sterile mason jar where I have kept it for up to two weeks with no problem. It was just an American Ale yeast that I found pleasant).

Has anybody gone to their local brewery and gotten fresh yeast from the brew master? I always mean to but have yet to. So that is always an option.

Keep us informed if you go the turbo route!

Safale 05 and 04 are the only dry yeast I use. And I use them often.

Belgians and anything else In my experience there Is just no other way But good healthy liquid yeast . Lots of variety as well. White labs and Wyeast are the 2 big ones.

I'm About to release a Belgian Tripel pitched with wlp570 Belgian Golden Ale and I'm pretty stoked! First time with that one at the brewpub.

Anywho, Happy brewing everyone !

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

As a beer brewer, I've never used it, but I've been interested of late in trying to make some mead. I've always understood the turbo yeast varieties were used for meads and wines.

Not an expert on turbo yeast though...still learning the mead thing. Have yet to try making it.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
As a beer brewer, I've never used it, but I've been interested of late in trying to make some mead. I've always understood the turbo yeast varieties were used for meads and wines.

Not an expert on turbo yeast though...still learning the mead thing. Have yet to try making it.

I have made mead a few times in the past as a mate used to have bee's but homey is pretty expensive so only when it is free!

He gave me a gallon tub if what he called black honey, I think it was left in the hive or something and then left for about 5 years in the tub, it had started naturally fermenting so I just added loads to some water and banged it in a demijohn, it took a loooong time to ferment but even fresh out of the demijohn I tasted some as I was bottling up and it was amazing and got better the longer it was left(not very lolg).

originally posted by: crayzeed
a reply to: nonspecificNaughty, naughty, you have to distill to get gin. I made about 10 gallon of wheat wine and it turned out crap. So, why waste the alcohol. I got a plumber to turn me a coil and used the Missus pressure for a trial run. High octane rocket fuel had nothing on it. I couldn't stand anything that strong so I binned the lot. I just keep to hedgerow wine for now.

Distillation without a licence is illigal in the UK

As I said I was going to see if I could get it to around 30% with fractional freezing and then add some botanicals to make a gin like substance and then just add slightly less tonic...