Organic Nutrients

[UKTony]

Hi All,

I've been reading up on various yeast nutrients and energizers, I won't go into the details, but my wife has a medical condition that means I'd like to use all natural ingredients if at all possible in my batch of mead.

So I'd like to avoid inorganic nitrogens and all the other "usual" DAP style solutions. I was reading about GoFerm and Fermaid O, that seem to hint at being organic.

Can anyone tell me what my alternatives are, or do I just need to stick with the tried and tested.

Cheers

Tony.

 

[Bob1016]

Fermaid O is organic and someone did a test batch with only fermaid O, can't remember though.
Organic raisins can be used, but you might need a lot. I say organic because the regular are treated with SO2, if there's no problem with that then just use regular.
I seem to remember Oskaar mentioning something about blueberries for nutrients. I think there was a thread somewhere in the patrons section about it.
Sorry I can't help more.
Edit: here's something useful! Can't seem to find the blueberry post, sorry.

 

[Marshmallow Blue]

I think you can also use boiled bread yeast as a boost. It may not compare to using actual nutrients, but it will help more than nothing at all.

 

[Medsen Fey]

You could consider bee pollen, though you can't be certain that bees are taking pollen only from "organic fields."

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[TheAlchemist]

I sometimes use boiled lees from previous batches.
Boiled bread yeast, too.
I've used pollen but it may contain bacteria (see Namaste 1717 in the mead log) so I won't be adding any unless the ferment is active.

 

[TheGiantGinger]

Last time I went to pick up some supplies from a home brew store, I ended up in a conversation with the lady there about mead making, the differences in US/Australian recipe requirements and a couple of alternatives to additives.

For nutrients, she suggested either boiled yeast or raisins. Using fresh raisins (not pre-packaged) apparently adds a nice depth to the meads (though I haven't sourced any to try myself) and they can either be added to the mead itself, or boiled for 10 minutes and then just add the liquid.

For malic acid, grated granny smith (and only granny smith) apples would suffice. Though, it would seem this is only necessary for the Australian meads because of the differences in our honey.

For tannic acid, a cup of strong black tea.

 

[Tyronmill]

The black tea is very strong and many people does not like it, but all the ingredients that are added are very helpful for a human body to remain fit.