The Best Yeast For Distilling Vodka And Neutral Spirits? (Explained!)

Image of diy distilling the best yeast for making vodka and neutral spirits

With more than 1500 varieties of yeast available to choose from, knowing the right type to use in distilling vodka can be baffling. And, because any type of yeast can be used, there is no bad or good option. It all depends on your taste, preference, and budget.

However, some yeast types perform better than others. Vodka is generally regarded as a neutral spirit, so we want to minimize any off-flavors in the final product.

In addition, different yeast strains have different levels of resilience to alcohol. Vodka making is usually all about efficiency – we want to get as much ABV out of our wash as possible. Therefore, it’s important to understand that some yeasts won’t survive and fermentation will halt at a higher alcohol levels.

We recommend the following yeasts when trying to make a good neutral vodka at home:

  1. Best cheap yeast –  Bakers Yeast
  2. Best all round #1 –  Safspirit C-70
  3. Best all round #2 –  Distilamax HT
  4. Best for flavor – Distilamax MW

Read on as we explain why we chose these, and what to look for when deciding for yourself what yeast to use.

Best Value
Red star active dry yeast, value size 1 pack (2 pound ea)
Best Overall
500 g fermentis safspirit usw-6
Red Star Active Dry Yeast, Value Size 1 Pack (2 Pound Ea)
500 g Fermentis SafSpirit USW-6
Best Value
Red star active dry yeast, value size 1 pack (2 pound ea)
Red Star Active Dry Yeast, Value Size 1 Pack (2 Pound Ea)
Best Overall
500 g fermentis safspirit usw-6
500 g Fermentis SafSpirit USW-6

What to look for in yeast?

Choosing the appropriate type of yeast is quite easy when you have an idea of your desired outcome. And for that case, here are three simple questions that you may need to ask yourself before selecting your yeast.

#1. What content of alcohol are you aiming to get and what flavor?

#2. What sugar type are you using in the distillation process? i.e. Molasses, Dextrose, starch converted to grain, or Glucose Syrup.

#3. What temperature level are you using in the fermentation process?


Of course, selecting the best yeast is always dependent on the wash you’ll use in producing your spirit. Some strains are best suited to grain-based washes while others are ideal with fruit or sugar. It is always vital to make up your mind about your desired outcome results before opting for the right yeast strain and wash composition accordingly.

We’re going to assume for making vodka that you are using some type of sugar wash, such as the famous Birdwatchers, TFFV, or one of our sugar wash recipes here.

What ABV and attenuation to aim for

Attenuation is much dependent on your yeast, your wort, the temperature of fermentation, and oxygenation of the wort. Ordinarily, you’ll measure original gravity (OG) and estimate a percentage of apparent attenuation, which allows for the estimation of Final Gravity (FG).

Typically for distilling, we are only interested in high attenuation yeasts, as any residual sugars that are left in the fermentation won’t make it through the distillation.

In terms of a final alcohol percentage, it makes sense to get as much alcohol in as possible as this lets us improve the economy of our process. i.e. we use less space in the fermenter, less power in the still, and faster stripping runs, to get the same amount of final product.

The only caveat is if we push the yeast too hard that off-flavors are produced.

Therefore, we reccomned sticking to the upper limit of the manufactures ABV recommendations, while maintaining the specified fermentation temperatures

Our Top 4 Yeast Recommendations For Making Vodka

Best Cheap Yeast: Bakers Yeast

Using bread yeast (or baker’s yeast) is a perfectly valid option for making vodka washes.

Pros:

  • Cheap: Bakers yeast can be bought in bulk. This means you can pitch large amounts without breaking the bank. We use this one from amazon which is only $7 for a 500gram pouch.
  • Designed for wheat. Many distillers like to get a ‘bready’ note into their final spirit.

Cons:

  • Low alcohol tolerance. Generally, it will be very hard to get a final ferment to above ~12% ABV as this type of yeast isn’t designed to handle high alcohol concentrations. If space is an issue, and you prefer higher ABV washes, then you may be better using one of the commercial distiller’s yeast as outlined below.
Red Star Active Dry Yeast, Value Size 1 Pack (2 Pound Ea)
  • This product is suitable for all types of bread-making applications It is also well suited to even the most extreme climatic conditions.
  • Once opened, Store in an airtight container; for 6 months at room temperature or in the fridge; or for a year or longer in your freezer

Best Overall Vodka Yeast: Safspirit C-70

You can always rely on Safspirit C-70 when youre looking for a good all-round yeast to distill your vodka, neutral or anything where you want a clean fermentation with no funky flavors going on.

Thisv yeast is a favorite of most distillers since it is affordable and has a multifunctional strain. That aside, this yeast is well known as the best and high-quality alcohol from all kinds of substrates available. It can reach up to 18 percent alcohol with a neutral profile of spirit.

From their website: “Robust, multipurpose strain and one of the most popular within distillers. Produces very high-quality alcohol from all kinds of substrates, with subtle congeners. Used extensively in the Caribbean and Central America for producing good quality potable alcohol and rums from sugar cane juice or molasses. Very good performance in agave juice (mezcal and tequila). A good option for low and medium gravity grain mash fermentation.”

Why do we like this yeast? Because it’s a great all-purpose strain. We like multitaskers – things that can be used for more than one application. When it comes to yeast, the Safspirit C-70 is exactly that. So, if you don’t have a bag of it already, it’d put it on top of your shopping list as a distiller staple!

Pros:

  • Neutral Flavor Profile.
  • High alcohol tolerance
  • Good attenuation
  • Good multipurpose yeast

Cons:

  • Expensive.
  • Only available in 500gram pouches.
500 g Fermentis SafSpirit USW-6
  • Safspirit Usw-6
  • The performer yeast in all kind of grains or blends of grains
  • 500 Grams
  • Does not contain alcohol

Runner Up: Distilamax HT

If you are looking forward to a crisp and clean yeast for distilling vodka and don’t have the best control over your fermentation, we often go for the Distilamax HT. It is superb at delivering a high-proof wash with a greater clean taste – before it goes in the still! It can handle a high sugar concentration, as well as high temperatures for fast and clean fermentation.

From the manufacturer: “DistilaMax HT is recommended for use in the production of Vodka, neutral spirits and light flavored beverages, due to its low production of higher alcohols, aldehydes and esters.”

HT can happily ferment at temperatures up to 37C. This means, that if you’re at home or on a budget, fermentation can take place without any temperature control.

Pros:

  • Specifically designed for neutral spirits
  • High Temperature, ferments clean up till 37 degrees Celsius
  • Can ferment up to 18% ABV.

Cons:

  • Expensive.
  • Only available in 500gram pouches.

Best For Flavor: Distilamax MW

For a safe neutral/vodka yeast, any of the options above will work great… but safe is boring right?

No neutral spirit is truly neutral, and a little bit of the wash’s flavor will creep through. Take grey goose vodka for example, which exhibits a lovely nutty/bready flavor on the finish.

So we reckon why not pick a yeast that will give you a little extra on the taste buds.

DistilaMax MV was originally selected for its ability to ferment maltose, maltotriose and other sugars of malted barley feedstock.

If you include some malt or wheat in your sugar wash, then this yeast will leverage off that and add that flavor plus some.

It can withstand a wider temperature range between 25C and 33C. Better still, it is well known of a alcohol tolerance of about 15%.

Pros:

  • Can ferment up to 15% ABV
  • Rich in fruity and spicy notes

Cons:

  • Expensive.
  • Only available in 500gram pouches.

FAQs

We realize this is a complex topic, and one fraught with subjectivity and personal preference.

Here are some of the most common questions and answers we get, so you can decide for yourself which yeast is right for your needs.

#1. What temperature conditions do you use in fermenting vodka?

Depending on the type of yeast that you are using you will be required to do your fermentation in different temperatures to achieve the best results.

As a rule of thumb, yeasts will best operate anywhere between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius. Running hotter than this may start producing off flavors, and running too cold may slow down the fermentation to the point where it may stall or not reach the desired attenuation.

#2. What is a good level of yeast attenuation?

Attenuation means how much of the available sugar will the yeast successfully convert into alcohol.

A low attenuating yeast will leave behind residual sugar and sweetness in the final product, while a high attenuating yeast will make a dryer and higher alcohol ferment.

As a general rule for making vodka, we would look for a high attenuating yeast as this means that we can use all the available sugar.

#3. What is the speed of fermentation?

Different yeast has different speeds of fermentation. One with a higher speed will allow you to maximize the capacity of your distillery.

However, fermenting too fast can start to stress the yeast and introduce off flavors.

Fortunately, for vodka making we use a reflux still which will help remove any bad flavors. As long as we choose a good clean fermenting yeast we can run our ferments quite fast without too much concern.

#4. What kind of flavor does it offer you?

Before settling on any yeast brand, we need to consider what flavors the yeast will introduce to our product. For example, the flavors made by a Belgian Ale yeast will be wildly different from a Champagne yeast.

This is a really important consideration for making rums and whiskeys, however for vodka making we don’t need to worry. Look for a yeast that has a neutral flavor profile.

#5. What level of pH is required?

The level of pH will always limit the growth of microorganisms and lactic acid during fermentation. So you should always be aware of the level of pH needed before settling on any brands.

#6 Can I Use Turbo Yeast ?

You can use whatever yeast you like, but wed recommend avoiding turbo yeast if you can.

Turbo yeast is just a regular yeast strain selected primarily for its high alcohol tolerance. It’s then packaged with a bunch of chemicals and nutrients (think yeast steroids) to make the yeast work as fast and as hard as possible.

Unfortunately, that means turbo yeast also produces:

  • More fusel oils
  • More ethyl acetate
  • More dead yeast cells
  • Many undesired flavor cognigers.

#7 What is the difference between liquid yeast and dried yeast? Which is better?

Dry yeast is cheap, convenient, and highly capable of producing great fermentations. It has a shelf life of up to 3 years and is more tolerant than liquid yeast of warm storage or shipping conditions. It also doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge until use.

However, not all yeast strains can be dried. This means that only a few of the most robust yeast varieties become dried and packaged for your use.

That’s why liquid yeast exist – to give us the choice between over a thousand successfully cultivated yeast varieties – all available on catalogue order. Sure, the price is higher, shipping is a pain, and it needs to be refrigerated until use, but this might be worth it for that special flavor property you are after!

We recommend using dried yeast for distilling. Why? There is enough variety between dried yeast to offer you a good variety for most things you’ll want to make. Factor in the lower price, convenience, and ease of storage and we don’t think it’s worth paying the extra for a liquid variant.

#8 Is it Ok to store Yeast in the freezer?

Yes, freezing dried yeast is fine and will extent the shelf life somewhat. However, you can’t freeze liquid yeast as the freezing of water will rupture the yeast cells, effectively killing them.

Here a rough guide to shelf life’s for both dry and liquid yeast. In general, dried yeast will last the longest and ideally should be stored as cold as possible.

TypeUnrefrigeratedRefrigeratedFrozen
Dry12 months24 months2 years+
LiquidUse Immediately6 monthsNot Possible

2 thoughts on “The Best Yeast For Distilling Vodka And Neutral Spirits? (Explained!)

  1. dan says:

    hi, i live in a dry part of the world so make home spirits to suffice. i typically use bakers yeast 125g brick and a 5 gallon of tap water. 5 kg of white sugar. it foams and ferments for two weeks or so and then i run through a turbo 500 system. it works fine but the finished spirt (92-95%, first run) typically has a chemical smell. this isn’t particularly a huge issue as i throw on wood chips for 6 months or mix the neutral with gin botanicals that neutralizes. but i’m trying to do a rum (replace white sugar with backstrap molasses) and this same process creates a sulfury product. i’m trying distalamax HT yeast (10g per 5 gallon wash) to see if better but was hoping you could advice on my chemical smell on neutral wash. is it too much bakers? is it the yeast it self? i’ve tried primitive cabon filters but doesnt really help. thanks.

    • Avatar photo
      Tristan says:

      Interesting problem. Ok, well let’s try and address the root cause, rather than use filtering or oak to mask the problem. What is your process of making cuts? It sounds like the chemical taste might be from the ethyl acetate and methanol in your foreshots and heads? I assume you are pot distilling your rum wash and taking off product at around 70% ABV? With pot distillation heads and heart blend together much more and you will need to make more generous cuts, and possibly distill 2 or 3 times.. Does this help? Cheers!

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