On a shelf in my cellar sits a tin in which I have been collecting yeast sachets for decades. The ones on top still bear the old Kitzinger lettering. When someone asks me what became of this company — and I get asked that almost every week — they rarely mean the company's history. They mean: Can I still get my yeast? The honest answer comes in two parts, and it begins in a small Franconian town that was already regulating wine when nobody was yet talking about cultured wine yeast.
Kitzingen: a town that has taken wine seriously since 1482
Kitzingen on the Main is no ordinary address. It was here, in 1482, that the oldest known German wine law was issued — a set of rules on what belongs in wine and what does not, at a time when people elsewhere were still cheerfully adulterating it. For centuries the town lived off the wine trade, with cellars, casks and people who could recognise a spoiled cask by its smell.
Those good four hundred years of practice were the ground on which, in 1897, the pharmacist Paul Arauner built his business, adding a yeast pure-culture facility to it. A pharmacist, not a winegrower — and that was precisely the difference. Arauner thought in terms of purity, dosage and repeatability.
1897: when yeast became shippable
Before that, households had only spontaneous fermentation: whatever wild yeasts lived on the fruit and in the cellar decided the outcome. Sometimes the result was wine, sometimes vinegar, sometimes a sweet, cloudy something that stopped halfway. A cultured wine yeast, by contrast, is a single, selected yeast strain with known properties: it prevails over the wild competition, ferments out reliably and works cleanly.
Arauner's real achievement lay in preservation — he brought these yeasts into a form that survived the journey through the post. What had until then been reserved for wineries was now open to anyone with a glass demijohn and an orchard. Anyone who tears open a 5-gram sachet today is holding the provisional end point of a very long development.
The Kitzinger Wine Book
From 1938 the book was added: a guide for people without a vineyard but with a garden, with more than forty recipes, sugar tables and basic rules on hygiene and sulphiting. More than 750,000 copies were printed over the decades. Its story — and what my own copy has taught me — is told in a separate article; here the focus is on the company behind it.
2024: the end after 127 years
On 31 May 2024 the Arauner company in Kitzingen ceased trading. After 127 years, with no successor in the family. No bang, no scandal — the quiet end of a long-established house, as is happening to many old family businesses at the moment: the generation that could carry on no longer exists, and specialist knowledge built up over a century cannot be handed over in four weeks.
Is the product line being continued?
Yes — and that is part of the honest answer, even if it spoils the nice story of decline. The product line is now continued by another company and sold under the name Joenos (Jordan Craft Wine Service GmbH, Eibelstadt). We source part of our stock from there; that is why some labels in our shop say “Joenos” and others still say “Arauner Kitzingen”. How trademarks, rights and formulations are arranged in detail is not something I can judge, so I make no claims about it. What I can speak to is our own stock: for these items we are the retailer, not the manufacturer. We will not make copies of anything and call them Kitzinger.
So what is running out is not the range but the old label. When a pack with the Kitzinger lettering disappears from the shelf, it will not come back in that form — but the preparation inside it very much will, under a new name.
What this means in practice for hobby winemakers
Viewed soberly, the situation is less dramatic than it sounds — provided you distinguish between the product groups.
| Product group | Situation today | What to look out for |
|---|---|---|
| Cultured wine yeasts (5 g sachets) | Old Arauner sachets are finite; the strains themselves are still being supplied | Check the best-before date, store cool and dry |
| Nutrients (yeast nutrient salt, vitamin B1) | Still available, some under a new name | Dose as directed by the manufacturer — nutrients are subject to legal maximum amounts |
| Enzymes (anti-gelling agent) | Still available; they do not spoil suddenly but do lose activity | Store cool, use up opened bottles promptly |
| Measuring instruments, glassware, accessories | Durable; they do not break just because a company closes | Glass parts break more easily than they sell out — replacements remain available |
| Books and guides | No new edition; only remaining copies and second-hand | The knowledge itself is not lost — it is here on the blog too |
What mattered about Arauner was never the label anyway, but the method: work cleanly, measure instead of guessing, cultured yeast instead of chance, be patient. That method does not die with a company. It works just as it always did, and it works with other suppliers' preparations too.
How long old sachets really stay good
Dried yeast is surprisingly robust as long as it is kept cool, dry and dark. The printed best-before date is the manufacturer's promise of full fermenting power, not an expiry date — over the years the proportion of living cells simply falls. So give older stock a fair start: stir it into a little lukewarm water, never above 35 °C, let it rehydrate for a quarter of an hour and bring the suspension to the temperature of the must before adding it. The difference should not be more than about ten degrees, otherwise the freshly rehydrated yeast gets a shock.
If fermentation visibly starts within one to two days, all is well. If nothing happens, check the temperature and sulphiting of the must first before sending a second sachet after the first — the right order is in the emergency plan for stalling fermentations. The recommended amount per litre is on the pack, and the manufacturer's instructions apply there, not my rule of thumb.
A second piece of advice, which I gave myself too late: do not empty half the shelf now; think your batches through instead. One all-purpose yeast covers more than three specialists you need once a decade. Which yeast is good for what, I have written up in the yeast compass.
What we have in stock in Aachen
We at Maischewerk are not based in Kitzingen; we ship from Aachen. Our warehouse holds more than 17,000 units from this range — yeasts, nutrients, enzymes, measuring instruments, small parts — of which around 3,000 still carry the old Arauner and Kitzinger label (as of July 2026). No middlemen, no pre-orders: what the shop shows is on the shelf. There is no nostalgia surcharge. These are everyday items, not relics, and anyone who has a piece of company history in their cellar should make wine with it.
Kitzinger yeast trial set, 7 varieties of 5 g each
Seven cultured wine yeasts in single portions — the most honest way to find your own style without buying large packs.
Joenos Kitzinger Steinberg cultured wine yeast, 5 g for 10–50 l
The all-rounder for grape, fruit and berry musts: ferments out reliably and leaves the fruit alone.
Arauner Kitzinger yeast nutrient salt, 10 × 1 g
Nitrogen for the yeast, so that fermentation gets going quickly and does not stop halfway — dose as directed on the pack.
Arauner Kitzinger anti-gelling agent, 50 ml
Enzyme against pectin: a higher juice yield when extracting juice and a wine that clears more easily later on.
Kitzinger acidometer complete set
Titrate total acidity instead of estimating it — the device outlives any company history, as I explain in the article Measure, don't guess.
Frequently asked questions
Does Arauner Kitzingen still exist?
Not the business in Kitzingen — it closed on 31 May 2024 after 127 years. The product line is continued by Jordan Craft Wine Service GmbH in Eibelstadt under the name Joenos. I do not comment on trademark or formulation questions because I am not in a position to judge them.
Can I still buy Kitzinger yeasts and accessories?
Yes. With us, the goods come from our own warehouse in Aachen, some in the old packaging, some under the new name. What runs out in the old packaging will not be reissued — the preparation itself remains available.
How long does wine yeast keep?
Unopened dried yeast keeps well beyond the printed date if stored cool, dry and dark, but it gradually loses fermenting power. If in doubt, let it rehydrate, bring it to the temperature of the must and watch whether fermentation starts within one to two days. The recommended amount per litre is on the pack.
What do I do if my variety is sold out?
Look at the job, not the name: for most batches a good all-purpose or Steinberg yeast is enough, and nutrient salt, enzymes and sulphiting agents are still available. Your wine will be no worse for it. The only thing that makes it worse is sloppy work.
From the cellar, Magnus
Safety note: wear safety goggles and gloves when handling sulphur, acids and enzyme preparations. What to do in the event of contact with skin, eyes or airways is explained on our page Working safely in the cellar.
Related in the shop: Kitzinger Original and Wine & Pure-Culture Yeasts