General Opinions on Yeast

chemist308 · 01-17-2009, 10:16 PM

I'm curious to know some opinions on different yeast brands and types. Yeasts I've used so far have included Wyeast smack packs of Irish Ale and American Ale types. Recently I tried dry yeasts, and they seems to begin fermentation just as quick. We'll see what fg I get before I decide.

But how do Safale and Nottingham dry yeasts stack up? Who has used these, and how did you rate them? Can anyone compare them the equivalent types of Wyeast smack packs?

nosmatt · 01-17-2009, 10:28 PM

i have only used a few.
us04 used for a porter. very happy
us05 used three times, and ordering more. i like it.
nottingham have used for the last several batches, including tomorrows, and next weekends. love this stuff.
wlp001 liked this as well. but, 7 bucks a vial??? nah?

BrianTheBrewer · 01-17-2009, 10:29 PM

I like Wyeast the best overall. I have used White Labs a few times but like Wyeast better.

Yankeehillbrewer · 01-17-2009, 10:39 PM

I used Dry Yeast on the very first brew that I ever did, and haven't used it since. There's just something about dry yeast that doesn't sit well with me. Liquid yeast just seems to make more sense, it seems more viable, plus there seems to be more variety with liquid yeast and you can tinker with recipes more. Now that I harvest my yeast, I don't see myself buying any type of yeast , but a couple of times a year to try something new.

They each have their followings though, and neither is wrong. Both make beer.

Parker36 · 01-17-2009, 10:42 PM

Nothing wrong with quality dry yeasts - I'm not talking about those crappy Muntons packs, othe ones that come glued to kits, but Danstar and Safale are both very good qaulity yeasts.

Dry yeast ha the advantage of being cheap, easy to pitch, and last a lot longer. Liquid yeasts offer a wider variety of strains.

Don't get confused and think that because liquid yeasts are more expensive and have fancier names that they are better than dry yeasts. They aren't, they are jut different.

78kombi · 01-17-2009, 11:04 PM

once i was off the kits i tried the liquid yeasts, but really theres not enough of a quality difference to keep me buying them , now the price is a big difference.
so i use safale now...one of my main motivations for brewing was to save money.

chemist308 · 01-17-2009, 11:44 PM

I guess I'm also trying to decide whether to prepare to wash these dry yeasts when I bottle tomorrow or whether I should do more batches with Wyeast and wash those...

Everyone talks about liquid vs dry. Isn't the only difference being that dried yeasts are just concentrated, dormant and freeze dried on something like a speed vap?

**Edcculus** · 01-18-2009, 12:36 AM

If you pitched dry yeast, I wouldnt even worry about harvesting. The packets are cheap enough. People tend to harvest/wash liquid yeast, which are a lot more expensive. Washing yeast is a way to get more for your money.

The companies that produce liquid yeast tend to have a much wider variety. If you need a clean fermenting, high attenuative yeast, people could argue all day over WLP 001, Wyeast 1056 vs US-05 and Nottingham. Liquid yeast have an advantage when brewing Belgians, weizens, saison, and other beer where the yeast strain can make or break a beer. The liquid yeast companies also carry lambic blends to make sour beer.

**ajf** · 01-18-2009, 02:27 AM

Dry yeasts have two advantages over liquid:
1. They are much cheaper
2. They have a much higher cell count per package/vial/smack pack.

Liquid yeasts have one advantage over dry.
There are many more varieties available.

To use liquid yeasts, you really need to make a starter to increase the cell count (which makes them even more expensive).

I use liquid most of the time because I can't get my favorite strains in a dry form, but I wash my yeast, so one vial/smack pack produces about 8 - 16 brews.

If I could get a dry yeast that produced the flavor profiles that I like, I would use the that instead instead of the liquid.

-a.

gxm · 01-19-2009, 12:38 AM

I've alternated between liquid and dry, and have been quite happy with both. In my mind there is no quality difference, just different flavor profiles, preparations and cost.

Dry is very nice because there is no pre-brew day prep, and I keep a packet each of S-04, US-05 and Notty in the fridge, always ready.

I've mainly used liquids for Belgians, Weizens, and other funky styles that don't come in dry. If Safale came out with a rockin' Belgian strain in dry, I'd use dry for 90% of my beers.