Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate

[ShootsNRoots]

Dave Miller recommends 11 milligrams of Zinc Sulfate Heptahydrate per 5 gallon batch of beer.

http://brewlikeapro.net/tipsandtechniques.html

My questions are:

1.) Can I substitute Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate for Zinc Sulfate Heptahydate? Can only find the monohydrate powder. (1 water molecule vs. 7 water molecules)

2.) If what Dave says is true, that all other yeast nutrients in beer are a waste of money (DAP, etc...) then buying Zinc Sulfate in bulk would save a lot of money compared to the cost of things like Wyeast nutrient and Servomyces. Are all other yeast nutrients a waste of money?

 

[Hoser_brewing]

In all my readings, I've also seen that only commonly limited nutrient is zinc; between the malt's intrinsic nutrient supply, and what's found in brewing water (or already being dosed to compensate), the yeast have everything else they need. Zinc content in malt is a more variable number, owing much more to agricultural practices and origin, so hard to predict or standardize. As such, that's where am added zinc source is needed. As to whether everything else is a waste of nutrients, it depends whether you're using a high-adjunct (ie. sucrose/dextrose/honey) grain bill - these are deficient in stuff like free amino nitrogen, so need something like DAP to boost. If you're using mostly barley (or wheat or rye), you're likely fine without the other parts of the nutrients.

Zinc sulfate monohydrate (m.w. 179.47) is a fine substitute for the heptahydrate (m.w. 287.53). Just recalculate the addition amount for the lower molecular weight, to ensure you're adding the right amount of zinc; here this would be 6.9 mg / 5 gal. You wrote grams above, make sure you're only adding milligrams. As described in the linked article, make up a stock solution and dose that, and you'll be all set.

 

[BigEd]

Dave Miller recommends 11 grams of Zinc Sulfate Heptahydrate per 5 gallon batch of beer.

That can't be right. Are you sure it's not 11 miligrams? 11 grams would be about two teaspoons.

 

[afr0byte]

That can't be right. Are you sure it's not 11 miligrams? 11 grams would be about two teaspoons.

Yep the article mentions a solution with 11mg total zinc sulfate.

 

[ShootsNRoots]

In all my readings, I've also seen that only commonly limited nutrient is zinc; between the malt's intrinsic nutrient supply, and what's found in brewing water (or already being dosed to compensate), the yeast have everything else they need. Zinc content in malt is a more variable number, owing much more to agricultural practices and origin, so hard to predict or standardize. As such, that's where am added zinc source is needed. As to whether everything else is a waste of nutrients, it depends whether you're using a high-adjunct (ie. sucrose/dextrose/honey) grain bill - these are deficient in stuff like free amino nitrogen, so need something like DAP to boost. If you're using mostly barley (or wheat or rye), you're likely fine without the other parts of the nutrients.

Zinc sulfate monohydrate (m.w. 179.47) is a fine substitute for the heptahydrate (m.w. 287.53). Just recalculate the addition amount for the lower molecular weight, to ensure you're adding the right amount of zinc; here this would be 6.9 mg / 5 gal. You wrote grams above, make sure you're only adding milligrams. As described in the linked article, make up a stock solution and dose that, and you'll be all set.

Thank you for explaining. The OP has been changed to milligrams.