Pretty much the only info I can find on DADY is the blurb on seller sites:
"DADY (Distillers Active Dry Yeast) is a specially selected strain of Saccharomyces Cerevisae designed for distillers use in grain mash fermentations for ethanol. DADY will produce maximum alcohol yields under controlled temperatures (less than 90°F/32°C). It has been the choice of many producers in North America for over 20 years. DADY has been used in the manufacture of light spirits and Whiskeys. It is also used on corn mash and syrup fermentations. DADY is recommended for ABV productions lower than 15%."
It really doesn't give much up on flavor profiles, does anyone have anything further on it? Is it STA1 positive? The only thing I can find on temps is the max, nothing on what minimum is, nothing on ideal range.
Says its used for "light spirits and whiskeys" do they mean "light whiskey"?
I know the forum loves it, but I think that's motivated more by price than by quality. Its hard to argue with, its 1/10th the cost of brewers yeast. If you are fermenting on the grain its tough to stomach tossing out a bunch of expensive yeast after every ferment.
This is driven by a recent experience with another distillers product in which I could reliably pick up his bread yeast/DADY combo... I found the flavor profile of the distillate to be a more narrow than what I am accustomed to in ale yeast ferments, even though his cuts are wider and his distillation protocol is a little grungier. His fermented, but undistilled wash had less flavor intensity than an ale yeast as well, even though he ferments on grain and I ferment off, and my ferments end up drier than what I sampled.:)
I think what you’ll find are a lot of anecdotes about using it properly. I have a lot of experience with the stuff. It seems, from what I’ve read on HD, it performs best at 85 degrees to which I agree. It goes much slower when you dip into the 70’s. As a test, I fermented a batch of HBB with US-05 at 72 degrees and another with DADY at 85 degrees. Did cuts on both and compared flavor of the white dog side-by-side. I honestly had a hard time finding a difference between the two. I have noticed I get a subtle grape/cherry ester when using it though, which I quite enjoy. I could best describe its flavor profile as clean, allowing the grist to tell more of the story. If you’re after big esters, this is not great for that.
All that said, there could be pre-cursors to future esters “with oak aging” that are hard to detect in the white dog, which could make a more prominent change with more time. The flavors I seem to get from aging are more on the spice/honey side of things, not very fruity.
All I have used so far is DADY yeast. Ferment at 80 degrees F and generally limit my PABV to 13% or less. It does much better with a pH of 4 or above and will stall around 3.7 in my experience. It performs better using inverted sugar and I have produced some very good bourbon using it. I have made neutral, UJSSM, and Corn/Rye mash. I decided to try some others in the future, out of curiosity, even bread yeasts to compare. I really have nothing negative to report.
Thanks for the feedback so far.
I was able to find a TDS on it (https://socohomebrew.com/content/2370.pdf) it does specify it is designed for light whiskeys.
It also states the rehydration temp to be 104°(40c) which leads me to believe this is a warm fermenter (safspirit M1 for instance calls for rehydration temp of 77-95, and a min ferment temp of 68°):)
Looking at your link, it seems they say it’s designed for light spirits and whiskey, not specifically light whiskey. Not sure how much those semantics matter. When they specify light spirits, I assume they mean vodka.
My main takeaway is it’s been selectively isolated to perform well in grain ferments. That said, I’ve also made clean neutral with sugar “shady’s sugar shine” and had great results and yield.
This has me thinking now… if DADY is designed specifically for ethanol yield and is geared towards fuel too, it’s probably not going to produce much other flavor congeners as that could be considered wasteful in this context. Again, it’s definitely a grain forward flavor from my experience. There is some subtle ester I pick up, but by the time the oak does it’s job, it takes a big back seat.
At this point, I’m getting a little bored using it. I’d love to try something else that creates a more fruity profile with the oak. I’m interested in M1, but have no idea how to get my hands on it on such a small scale. I’m also overdue to try an English ale strain like S04 or WLP007. I’m also considering a strain I use for hazy IPA that’s a total fruit bomb, Imperial A38 Juice.
S04 is my normal strain. Side by side on the same recipe fermented with s04 with DADY I can pick up noticeable differences in both white and aged spirits from my own still. That said I bet I'm no where near optimal temps with my ferments for DADY (even in the summer my ferment area is around 72) and this time of year I'm in the high 60s. Its possible that's why it ferments very neutral for me.Last edited by Ben on Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:55 am, edited 2 times in total.:)
It does, then it doesn't:
"This strain has been used in the fermentation of light whiskeys and neutral spirits."
Rereading it again, I am beginning to believe it is intended for fuel production, and not much else. Possibly corn ethanol.:)
Post time 2022-12-10 16:40:36
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