Why not DRINK YEAST?

[StarCityBrewMaster]

Not that I want to really but I see on here all the time not to drink it, to pour slowly, to leave it in the bottle..........

How much more yeast is in home brews in comparison to commercial brews such as: SN pale ale, dead guy ale, blue moon etc.?

I ask because I have never left anything in a bottle of these commercial brands before. I turn the entire bottle up making sure not to leaving much of anything in them. Now if home brew is much more yeast than these then I need to be more cautious but if it's not then I have never experienced any ill effects from this before.

Just curious - thanks!

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Yeast won't hurt you if you drink it, but it may throw off the flavor of the beer.

Homebrew is usually bottle conditioned, meaning the carbonation comes from the yeast fermenting the added sugar at bottling time. Commercial beer us usually bulk carbonated, and then bottled. So you will have more yeast in a bottle of homebrew.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Sierra Nevada is bottle conditioned. Of course, they filter out most of the yeast.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Pouring the yeast into the glass makes the beer look cloudy and changes the flavor. We probably have an order of magnitude more yeast in the bottles than commercial examples.

 

[Special Hops]

While not having any long term health effect. In the short term, too much will give you gas at best or diarrhea at worst.

 

[IceFisherChris]

For some beers it will detract from the taste. I always leave it out of my glass, but I do drink it straight from the bottle!
I think the possible health benefits may be true. I don't get gas from it unless I'm drinking more than a couple.

 

[greenbirds]

I had a hefe on tap once that had been sitting a little bit, so I guess quite a bit of yeast had fallen out as sediment. I'm a grad student, and one of my friends had brought over this freshman kid who gave us his shpiel on yeast consumption. When the keg was about dry, he pulled on that thing until every last bit of yeast sludge was in his glass -- close to a pint's worth. Over the next 30 mins he sipped the whole darn thing down. Wasn't trying to draw attention, just truly thought he was doing his body good. Told him to get out of my house since I didn't want to clean the bathroom the next morning.

 

[Revvy]

The biggest reason we tend to say that, is not because there is any harm in the yeast in the bottles, it's just that for the last 150 years or so americans have been conditioned by the BMC brewers to pretty much know only about fliltered crystal clear light lagers. Until the 80's with the rise of craft breweries and great import availability of beers from around the world, you didn't see many commercial beers with sediment in it.

And if you've only been exposed to BMC's then you're not going to know or understand about bottle conditioned or living beers. Especially also if you've consumed said beers in the bottle.

We get folks like that on here all the time, who think there is something wrong because their beer has sediment in it, or want to filter it out. It's really a culture thing, you don't so much of that in the rest of the beer world.

But in reality, it is one of the best things you can eat. It is full of Vitamin B complex. The Belgians practically worship it, for all it's healthful benefits...

If you are new to homebrewing and/or bottle conditioned beers you may fart a lot, it may even be that way for a year til your gut flora gets used to it, then your stomach will settle back down. Yeast farts are quite common in the beginning. Or some minor GI distress initially.

Some folks dump all the beer in and don't mind that squidge of yeast, others (like me) pour to the shoulder leaving it behind, and some do either depending on style. But really there is nothing wrong with enjoying the yeast with your beer.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I always drink the yeast. Like the Reverend mentioned, I just see it as too healthy to dump.

 

[RDWHAHB]

I don't worry much about it. What comes out, I drink. What stays, I leave. Sometimes if I get a lot, then I get a yeasty flavor. Not usually though.

 

[pimento]

I had a science teacher in HS who used to eat yeast cakes regularly, he said it kept him healthy.

He was spry and fit into his 90s, so maybe it does work.

 

[pkeeler]

For some beers it will detract from the taste. I always leave it out of my glass, but I do drink it straight from the bottle!
I think the possible health benefits may be true. I don't get gas from it unless I'm drinking more than a couple.

+1 I pour into into a glass (all beer tastes better poured out), leave about an inch in the bottle, swirl and drink. It is good for you. I think the talk of GI problems is from unfermented sugars in the beer, not yeast (many, especially extract, based homebrews have large amounts of complex sugars not found in adjunct filled American lagers). I would think the acids of the stomach make quick work of yeast.

 

[WortHog1242]

Great. More beer farts. The wife will be thrilled...

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I would think the acids of the stomach make quick work of yeast.

I have often pondered this but never really questioned it since there are some microorganisms that can survive the caustic soup.

 

[NorCalAngler]

I have often pondered this but never really questioned it since there are some microorganisms that can survive the caustic soup.

I looked into this the other week. From everything I could find on the subject it appears yeast can live within the pH levels of stomach acid.

 

[StAnthonyB]

Not that I want to really but I see on here all the time not to drink it, to pour slowly, to leave it in the bottle..........

How much more yeast is in home brews in comparison to commercial brews such as: SN pale ale, dead guy ale, blue moon etc.?

I ask because I have never left anything in a bottle of these commercial brands before. I turn the entire bottle up making sure not to leaving much of anything in them. Now if home brew is much more yeast than these then I need to be more cautious but if it's not then I have never experienced any ill effects from this before.

Just curious - thanks!

The only REAL reason not to drink too much yeast is that it is a laxative -- pure and simple. Subjective reasons might include the downright nasty taste some yeast strains have. Some strains taste better than others.

 

[houge04]

I would have to agree that the yeast are not giving us beer farts. Whenever I drink a lot of Miller High Life, I'm clearing out rooms all day.

 

[Dave11980]

Your still going to get plenty of yeast in suspension without getting the caked at the bottom of the bottle so I wouldn't say you have to drink it to get the health benefits. Typically even craft brews are filtered and force-carbed so they have little to no yeast in them. Just part of the process of mass production. The only reason to worry on a reasonably fresh beer is flavors but on an old beer you could get autolyzed yeast which is when the cell walls start to break down. This is used as a flavor enhancer in many commercialized foods because it contains MSG (I think) so it might even make your beer taste better, but make you retarded even after you sober up.

 

[ajf]

If you think you might want to drink yeast, try dissolving some Marmite in your beer. It is made from yeast, and it truly delicious (as well as being good for you).

-a.