New Yeast Supplier- anybody heard of "Real Brewer's Yeast"?

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Aa760

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Anybody heard of these guys? I think they are new, and just so happen to be in my hometown. Just curious if I missed them somehow or if they are that brand new. Limited info from their website. Thoughts on info needed from a potential new yeast supplier before letting them inoculate your next batch of wort?

http://www.realbrewersyeast.com/
 
Website has very little info on it.

They need to step it up with info if they want brewers to buy their product.
 
Interesting. Their WHOIS info seems to point to this company, in Oceanside: http://www.recombigene.com/. Both companies have the same contact address.

I'd welcome a new player. We all win when there is competition. I'd love to see the Wyeast/White Labs yeast prices cut in half. The only thing we worry about, though, is pure cultures. From the looks of recombigene, they seem to know how to handle microbes.
 
Nice. Not much info in the website but looking foward for feedback if anyone decided to try it.
Nice info passedpawn. I also will like to see someone else getting into the game.
 
Yeah more competition is a good thing

Another option for different yeasts are Brewlab in the UK, they hold a lot of yeast and will happily culture yeasts that aren't on their list if you ask for yeast for a specific beer. Probably best for UK strains obviously. They are slopes so a starter is always needed.


http://www.brewlab.co.uk/pdf/yeast_service.pdf
 
So, I went ahead and wrote to them- exchanges a couple of emails. At first the info I got back wasn't that helpful, but then he wrote me again and provided something a little more useful. I thought I would share. I am all for a successful yeast supplier in my home town. I think I will give their "1" a shot for an upcoming stout recipe (I like 'em a little drier and clean), and inquire about Saison and Lager Strains for some upcoming brews I have planned.

---------------------------------------------
First Email Inquiry:

Hello-
I am an oceanside homebrewer who just found out about you. When did you open? Who is using your yeast? Is yeast available directly from you (do you have a storefront?). What is the estimated cell count in one of your pitch able 30 ml vials? Are you open to the public? Who in north county carries your yeast?

Excited to see your oceanside address, but looking for more information than I am finding on your website.

Sincerely-

Response 1:
Aaron,

I am gearing up for more stores, but i prefer to sell on my website. you can order and pick up here (will call). 200 million cells per homebrew pitch, but I always recommend a starter for best yeast health.

as far as breweries, i have worked with almost everyone who is making great beer in the oceanside area. i.e. left coast hop juice is made with "The One" (10%)


Re-Request for More Info:
Attenuation? Floculation? Need much more details than are being provided before proceeding. Are you an offshoot of a biotech firm? Work with me here. Will mother earth, hydrobrew or any other local stores have more info? I am used to the depth of information I get from white labs. Like I said, I want to like you, because you are local, but help me out here.

Aaron

Latest Response:
Aaron, I love your thirst for more info. I'll take the time to put more info up there for you guys. I don't have mini ferment data for each strain, but we have brewed with them much. call me about 'em. I have a big collection of other strains as well. As far as yeast characteristics for our four homebrew strains, check out the text in the website. All you questions should be answered save the style chart. Appropriate style data I can put in there. Great suggestion. what other strains would you like to get? Duvel, Achouffe, Cali steam, Budweiser (Czech).

here's my cbc2012 flyer.

(I uploaded it to a google docs link in case people are interested:)
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3X3xx2sUDp5eFZKX19vQWktdVU

http://www.realbrewersyeast.com/
 
Oops! OK- how about now?

I'm in!

Yea, a little more data there. You can see that the labels on their little jars have been cut with scissors.

My thoughts are that they probably know what they are doing (i.e., can handle yeast propagation without contamination), but they're really small and also new to selling retail. I bet their yeast is fine.

Someone needs to be a guinea pig here :)
 
OK, so I am in for being the guinea pig. I went over and met the guy- nice and seems to know is stuff. Has propogators, shake plates, and a really cool deep freeze full of goodies. He gave me some of his "monk" strain that was extra from the last batch he made up for a local brewer.

http://www.realbrewersyeast.com/shop-for-yeast.html#!/~/product/category=2024501&id=8636544

Here is what I am thinking about doing with it- based on what I have in the freezer and some belgian "research"

I figure if I brew at night, I can get the temp down to 65 in the garage overnight to pitch on the cold side, then move it into the house once fermentation starts, letting fermentation ramp up to the 68-70 temps in the beer closet. How did I do with specialty grains? Base constitution? Anything I may be missing?

Thanks so much!

Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 9.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.4 IBUs
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
5 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 43.5 %
4 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 5 34.8 %
1 lbs Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 6 8.7 %
12.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 7 6.5 %
12.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 8 6.5 %

1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 60.0 mi Hop 9 16.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 10 5.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 2.4 IBUs

2.00 g Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 12 -
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 13 -
1.0 pkg Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) [35.49 Yeast 14 -


Mash In Add 15.38 qt of water at 158.4 F 148.0 F 75 min
Mash Out Add 9.20 qt of water at 206.0 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.32 gal water at 168.0 F
 
Nice. I'm excited to hear how this yeast performs. I would simplify your recipe though. Instead of a Belgian pale ale with spices, I would brew a simple blonde. Maybe some pils, wheat, aromatic, and sugar. One bittering addition, no flavor or aroma and no spices. That way you'll get a clear picture of the yeast profile. Either way keep us updated!
 
I was kind of afraid somebody might say that. I do agree that the spices may make it hard to see what the yeast is actually doing for the beer. With that in mind, I will drop the spices, or perhaps split the batch. For hops, I think I will keep the schedule I have as I just can't resist (hey- being honest here) hopping it up a bit- I do live in San Diego! Thanks for the suggestion- I think I just needed to hear it from somebody else to know that the spices, while interesting, were going to mask my ability to evaluate the yeast.
 
I was kind of afraid somebody might say that. I do agree that the spices may make it hard to see what the yeast is actually doing for the beer. With that in mind, I will drop the spices, or perhaps split the batch. For hops, I think I will keep the schedule I have as I just can't resist (hey- being honest here) hopping it up a bit- I do live in San Diego! Thanks for the suggestion- I think I just needed to hear it from somebody else to know that the spices, while interesting, were going to mask my ability to evaluate the yeast.

Of course, anything you add to the beer is going to further mask the yeast flavor, especially the spices.

One simple test you could do is to split the batch. Use US-05 in one half, your new yeast in the other. US-05 is very clean and does not add much to the flavor.
 
So from the website of the company that seems associated with this yeast supplier, I read some stuff about genetic modification, DNA cloning, etc. This concerns me a bit, I know that the two big guys both stress very much that they don't do any genetic modifications to their strains, but only select cells with certain properties for to get new strains.
Not saying that these guys do it differently or that it has to be a bad thing, just something I would like to know more about before using their products.
 
Yeah, I missed this thread the first time around. I'd be interested in hearing how that Belgian yeast worked out.
 
The yeasts from him worked out really well. I used "the monk" in two batches, the belgian pale and a belgian blonde. He gave me a ton of yeast, so I split the batches to maximize the brew I got from the "gift." Both took off relatively quickly- I realize that can be variable, but I take it to mean that the yeast were healthy. I liked the belgian-y funk I got out of the yeasts, and they dropped both batches down to the 1.012 - 1.015 range. I also used his Pacific Northwest yeast- very clean and an aggressively fermenter, similar to pacman or San Diego super, and a lager yeast from him for a Munich-hellesbock. Success on all fronts, plus his vials, at 125 ml, seem like they have a high enough of a cell count to pitch directly sans starter in a 5-6 gallon batch of modest gravity. If you see his stuff on the shelf, give it a go. I would do the monk again for sure.
 
Just as an aside, I see that they've done some work with Modern Times Brewing on some souring cultures. Hope to see those (or something comparable) for sale soon!
 
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