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I am looking to brew some ginger beer and other simple stuff.

I wonder what are the characteristics of baker's yeast? Will they do for a ginger beer? What are the disadvantages?

In Europe we have ("Fala" brand) baker yeast packed in cubes and dry baker yeast ("Dr. Oetker" brand). This stuff is cheap and I can get them in any grocery store. I don't expect wonders but a Champagne/other yeast is so hard to get.

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  • made a typo I meant ginger beer instead of cider beer
    – brodul
    Commented Nov 3, 2013 at 22:24

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EDIT since I made my answer you changed from Cider to Ginger beer***

@brodul I have used bakers yeast with a cider in the past and I found the taste of the brew to be ...yeasty in flavor. It was my first cider that wasn't from a kit so it could have been my error, but since then I have used proper cider/Champaign yeast with much better results.

If you want to make a simple cider then it will work and taste will be ok but for better results I would use brewers yeast.

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  • I've not used it, but I'm guessing bakers yeast doesn't flocculate well, giving an unclear beverage and the yeasty taste. Adding finings, such as isinglass or other clearing agent, or putting it in the fridge for a day may help sediment the yeast.
    – mdma
    Commented Nov 3, 2013 at 22:31
  • @mdma I did have it in the fridge for a week but did not try the finings. It would be interesting to see if it made it better or not. I used baker’s yeast in the first place as a proof of concept to see if it was worth the extra effort in using brewer’s yeast, and techniques. In this case it was so I haven't used baker’s yeast again. Editing my answer was fair enough also :-)
    – WillNZ
    Commented Nov 3, 2013 at 23:35
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    I think you nailed it - there's surely a good reason why homebrewers generally don't use bakers yeast. I've seen tutorials on making homemade ginger beer just recommend baker's yeast - but I imagine that's to make it as easy and accessible as possible, rather than making a good product.
    – mdma
    Commented Nov 3, 2013 at 23:56
  • Sorry for changing my question. What do you think about safbrew s-33?
    – brodul
    Commented Nov 4, 2013 at 20:17
  • I have not tried brewing with that before. I'm sure someone else has and can help. Have you tried searching for that in the forum?
    – WillNZ
    Commented Nov 5, 2013 at 0:07
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I made apple cider (hard cider) using bakers yeast (instant dried). No problems. Fairly high alcohol content. Took about a week for fermentation to stop. It tasted like a potent dry white wine with a hint of apples. It flocculated perfectly and after fermentation the dead yeast sedimented perfectly on the bottom and the remaining hard cider was quite clear. I'm new at this and I am having one issue. Read numerous articles on washing (mainly beer brewing) and saving yeast. All of them are contradictory. I still haven't managed to save any live yeast after fermentation no matter what method I try. I perform the sugar and water test. Nothing. It's like all the yeast dies once fermentation is complete which might be the case since there is lot more sugar in apples than in say hops hence the alcohol might actually be killing all the yeast at the end. Any ideas?

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    You have provided an answer to the question, which is great! You then asked a question about saving/reusing yeast. The "stack exchange" way is to ask these follow-on questions in one or more new, separate questions. There is no good way for us to answer those questions here, associated with your answer.
    – Rob
    Commented May 21, 2019 at 14:21

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