Cleanest beer yeast

My main dislike of beer is the yeast. I found that out by sampling individual ingredients. I'm coming around, and am enjoying brewing. But I would love to have a beer with no imparted yeast characteristics, as though it was brewed with champagne yeast.

What is the cleanest, most neutral, yeast there is?
What is the Premier Cuvee of beer yeasts?

Before I hit submit, let me say that I'm looking for ale yeasts. I don;t have a way to lager, and can't ferment below 65 or so.

US-o5 and Nottingham are considered the cleanest ale yeasts out there. Us-o5 is the chico strain, so in terms of liquid the cali ale yeast are pretty much the same.

Halbrust said:

My main dislike of beer is the yeast. I found that out by sampling individual ingredients. I'm coming around, and am enjoying brewing. But I would love to have a beer with no imparted yeast characteristics, as though it was brewed with champagne yeast.

What is the cleanest, most neutral, yeast there is?
What is the Premier Cuvee of beer yeasts?

Before I hit submit, let me say that I'm looking for ale yeasts. I don;t have a way to lager, and can't ferment below 65 or so.

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You're going to get yeast flavor no matter the beer you make. It's the defining ingredient in beer because if you don't have it, all you have is barley tea. If I HAD to suggest a clean/dry beer yeast I would say US-05 or WLP007. My first suggestion to you (and I don't mean to be mean) is to mess around with some cider recipes rather than try to get a beer yeast to behave a particular way. I have made several batches of various ciders all of them came out dry and clean with an exception of a few batches that I intentionally wanted to have the yeast profile come through.

Fermentation temperature greatly alters the cleanliness of yeast flavor, despite the strain. Nottingham is clean in the lower 60's but quite the opposite in the high 60's and beyond. If you truly want to minimize the yeast flavors in your beer, start planning for a way to ferment at lower temperatures, or sell your gear and buy beer from brewers who can ferment at lower temperatures.

Also, when you say you cant ferment below 65 or so, I am guessing you are talking about ambient air temp, not wort temp. If that is the case then you may not be giving some great yeast a chance.

Halbrust said:

...and can't ferment below 65 or so.

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How big of a range is your "or so"? Say you're up to 68, 69, and your fermenter's just sitting in the ambient air, which means the wort is probably three or four degrees warmer still during active fermentation, that's the low to mid 70s, which is plenty warm to turn a normally-clean yeast like US-05 into a yeasty estery mess (yeah, I learned this the hard way).

I hate swapping the jugs of ice in my swamp cooler, but it's cheap, it doesn't take up much space, and being able to keep the wort down in the low 60s has been night and day in terms of the quality of beer I'm making. I'd seriously consider at least cheap ghetto temp control if it's at all possible.

Xpertskir said:

Fermentation temperature greatly alters the cleanliness of yeast flavor, despite the strain. Nottingham is clean in the lower 60's but quite the opposite in the high 60's and beyond. If you truly want to minimize the yeast flavors in your beer, start planning for a way to ferment at lower temperatures, or sell your gear and buy beer from brewers who can ferment at lower temperatures.

Also, when you say you cant ferment below 65 or so, I am guessing you are talking about ambient air temp, not wort temp. If that is the case then you may not be giving some great yeast a chance.

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Exactly. Any temperatures above 65 degrees are going to end up with more yeast character than a beer brewed at proper temperatures. If the ambient is 65, the fermentation temperature could easily be 75.

I find that nottingham ale yeast, fermented at 57-59 degrees (fermentation temperature, not ambient) and pacman ale yeast, fermented at 60 degrees are the "cleanest" yeast strains. Once you get above 60 degrees, you start getting some yeast character out of them. Nottingham starts getting fruity at 65-67, and gets weirdly fruity at 68-70, and is positively foul over 72 degrees.

Another thing I've found besides what yooper and others have said is that gravity of a beer comes into play as well. I've found that when making milds and other low grav beers Us-05 is NOT a clean tasting yeast. I love it for most everything else, but in low grav beers it takes on a bit of a peachy flavor, regardless of the temp.

Yooper said:

Exactly. Any temperatures above 65 degrees are going to end up with more yeast character than a beer brewed at proper temperatures. If the ambient is 65, the fermentation temperature could easily be 75.

I find that nottingham ale yeast, fermented at 57-59 degrees (fermentation temperature, not ambient) and pacman ale yeast, fermented at 60 degrees are the "cleanest" yeast strains. Once you get above 60 degrees, you start getting some yeast character out of them. Nottingham starts getting fruity at 65-67, and gets weirdly fruity at 68-70, and is positively foul over 72 degrees.

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+ a bunch - ferm. temperature is a big deal and one that is usually learned the hard way.
+ 1 - Pacman, Notty & US05 are as clean as you are going to get as long as you remember the statement above.

I have had really good success with White Labs East Cost ale at 66 degrees very clean

The lowest ambient temperature my house will get is 65 (Southern California). That's 65 during the day, cooler at night.
I can do the swamp cooler thing, I have with meads.

I thought ambient temperature of 65 was OK, because the fermenting ale would stay under 70. I stand corrected.

I dont think I have ever heard someone speak about not liking the yeast characteristics but more just not liking the yeast itself. (mostly referring to naturally carbonated unsettled beer)

I am thinking you are referring to the esters and off flavors, or even the yeast sediment, or cloudiness in the bottles of naturally carbonated beer.

I think to get a beer with minimum noticeable yeast character or evidence, you want to make sure you pitch with enough yeast. If you dont use enough, then the yeast will not be strong enough to finish cleaning up the flavors in the beer. You'd want to follow Jamil's ale yeast fermentation schedule from the yeast book. (65 for first 3 days, 68 from then on until about 20% of the sugar is left, then let warm up to room temp to maximize attenuation. Do not rack until beer has stayed at same gravity for 3 or 4 days to indicate that fermentation is done and beer has been cleaned up.)

Finally, I would recommend cold crashing your beers for a week, then kegging them. Coldcrashing for a week will settle all of the yeast and cloudiness from the keg. Kegging allows you to get a clean beer and not have to use priming sugar. Leave on CO2 for a week to carbonate and enjoy.

It's not bottle conditioning I dislike. BMC has the flavor I don't like, as does quality home brew.

I've learned I like Paulaner hef, and tasted a homerewed saison that wasn't bad. So it looks like maybe I enjoy the esters. The search will continue until I find more beers I like, and then can recreate those tastes. I will try out the yeasts listed above and see what my feeling on these are too.

Halbrust said:

It's not bottle conditioning I dislike. BMC has the flavor I don't like, as does quality home brew.

I've learned I like Paulaner hef, and tasted a homerewed saison that wasn't bad. So it looks like maybe I enjoy the esters. The search will continue until I find more beers I like, and then can recreate those tastes. I will try out the yeasts listed above and see what my feeling on these are too.

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Sounds like you actually prefer beers with lots of yeast-derived flavors. Have you tried any Belgian styles?

Also, what yeasts have you brewed with so far?

Halbrust said:

It's not bottle conditioning I dislike. BMC has the flavor I don't like, as does quality home brew.

I've learned I like Paulaner hef, and tasted a homerewed saison that wasn't bad. So it looks like maybe I enjoy the esters. The search will continue until I find more beers I like, and then can recreate those tastes. I will try out the yeasts listed above and see what my feeling on these are too.

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If you're into the Belgian flavors try wlp500 trappist yeast.

JLem said:

Have you tried any Belgian styles?

Also, what yeasts have you brewed with so far?

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Haven't had a Belgian yet. I have not brewed beer yet. Will be brewing my first batch next month. Done many meads with both ale and wine yeasts.

Halbrust said:

The lowest ambient temperature my house will get is 65 (Southern California). That's 65 during the day, cooler at night.
I can do the swamp cooler thing, I have with meads.

I thought ambient temperature of 65 was OK, because the fermenting ale would stay under 70. I stand corrected.

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65 is ok - it's just not optimal for minimizing esters etc.

I would suggest going out and finding more beers you like - then we can more accurately help you design a beer you will enjoy.

If you are wanting to ferment in the lower 60s, would you pitch in the 70s and bring temp down. Or would you pitch in the lower 60?
Just asking because alot of recipes call for pitching in the 70s

Nikeirons said:

If you are wanting to ferment in the lower 60s, would you pitch in the 70s and bring temp down. Or would you pitch in the lower 60?
Just asking because alot of recipes call for pitching in the 70s

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Pitch at fermentation temperature, or just slightly under. The fermentation itself produces heat and it's easier to allow the wort to rise up to the desired temperature.

Yeast don't like temperature drops.