Yeast nutrient and yeast energizer
This is the fruit winemaking season and many online recipies call for one or the other, somtimes both. Why and what is the difference?
All fruit based wines call for addition of yeast nutrient. Because most fruits do not contain the necessary ingredients to promote a healthy fermentation. Yeast nutrient could easily be called yeast food as all it does is help multiply the yeast cells in a juice to allow them to consume the sugar and turn it into alcohol. A good grape juice contains its own naturally occuring nutrients, amino acids, b-vitamins, inorganic nitrogen etc. Cheapo kits will contain yeast nutrient as these kits ($29.95) at ____________ are diluted grape concentrate spiked with sugar. Same alcohol, no taste or aroma.
What about energizer?
Essentially it is yeast nutrients on steroids – the Armold Schwazenegger in a gym. This product contains more amino acids as well as more b-vitamins and other trace elements. It is used mostly for high alcohol wines and mead where the sugar level is high. But mostly it is used for "stuck" fermentations. These are caused by too low or high a fermentation temperature. Or too high sugar or alcohol content where the yeast can't survive. Your hydrometer can send you an SOS. Energizer will feed the remaining yeast cells and probably finish off the wine/mead. Not always.