brewer's yeast

American  

noun

1. a yeast, as of the genus Saccharomyces, suitable for use as a ferment in the manufacture of wine and beer.

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brewer's yeast British  

noun

1. a yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , used in brewing See yeast

2. yeast obtained as a by-product of brewing

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Etymology

Origin of brewer's yeast

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Many of the raw ingredients used to make beer, including barley, wheat and brewer's yeast, contain vitamin B6 and the brewing process doesn't kill it all off, research suggests.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

Our paper explains how a very important chromosome feature -- the centromere -- in brewer's yeast came to be.

From Science Daily • Mar. 10, 2026

Fred Walker, who produced canned foods, hired food technologist Cyril P. Callister to create a homegrown yeast spread using brewer's yeast from the Carlton Brewery.

From Salon • Jul. 10, 2023

Centuries on, geneticists have found that the yeast responsible for fermenting lagers is a hybrid of the traditional brewer’s yeast and another, cold-hardy yeast, Saccharomyces eubayanus.

From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2022

Dussel caught with brewer’s yeast tablets, while we’ve got none.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank