Due to lockdown ,I am unable to get hold of any brewers yeast. And since this is my first attempt at brewing beer,I wanted to know if I can get anything remotely drinkable with bakers yeast. Taste is not the absolute priority right now as long as the drink is not dangerous for me in someway.
I am planning to make the wort from whole grain and then pitch bakers yeast but I’ve read that the strain in bakers yeast die at 3% alcohol. So would the beer have 3% alcohol after 2 weeks ?
Yes, you can absolutely use bakers yeast for beer brewing.
In Finland bakers yeast is a must for brewing historical Sahti beer. I have experimented a few batches with bakers yeast, both dry and fresh and it seems to have relatively high alcohol tolerance with lots of banana like aroma. Apparent attenuation were quite high.
Remember to use actual yeast, as I have noticed some baking powder is labeled as "instant yeast" etc. those products won't contain actual yeast, so they won't work with brewing.
If you use bread yeast to make beer, you will still get beer, but I would expect it to taste like bread. I have done this a couple of times and the results are indeed bready. But you might find something you can enjoy. I did drink it all, so it wasn't horrible.
I am not sure of the 3% for it to quit fermenting. Actually I do not believe this is true. But I am sure it depends which brand you use. I don't know if there are good sources out there telling you which brand does what. So it's anybody's guess, and worth experimenting with different brands if you are interested.
Good luck! Cheers!
