mossratt263
Member
the title says it all. i am relatively new at this but have made a good 6 or 7 batches using both types of yeast. just curious as to some of the differences between them. care to share?
very cool. have you noticed any particular difference in taste between liquid and dry?
EDIT: unless given a particular style as such a saison dubbel tripel or quad (sry love belgian beers) that there would be no dry equivalent
mossratt263 said:thanks, you guys have been a huge help! i have one more question... is one safer then the other? in the past when i have used dry yeast it just feels more vulnerable to infection when you pitch it and have to leave it for a bit. this has kind of turned me to liquid. thoughts?
Yeast come in two main product forms, dry and liquid. (There is also another form, available as pure cultures on petri dishes or slants, but it is generally used as one would use liquid yeast.) Dry yeast are select, hardy strains that have been dehydrated for storability. There are a lot of yeast cells in a typical 7 gram packet. For best results, it needs to be re-hydrated before it is pitched. For the first-time brewer, a dry ale yeast is highly recommended.
Dry yeast is convenient for the beginning brewer because the packets provide a lot of viable yeast cells, they can be stored for extended periods of time and they can be prepared quickly on brewing day. It is common to use one or two packets (7 - 14 grams) of dried yeast for a typical five gallon batch. This amount of yeast, when properly re-hydrated, provides enough active yeast cells to ensure a strong fermentation. Dry yeast can be stored for extended periods (preferably in the refrigerator) but the packets do degrade with time. This is one of the pitfalls with brewing from the no-name yeast packets taped to the top of a can of malt extract. They are probably more than a year old and may not be very viable. It is better to buy another packet or three of a reputable brewer's yeast that has been kept in the refrigerator at the brewshop. Some leading and reliable brands of dry yeast are DCL Yeast, Yeast Labs (marketed by G.W. Kent, produced by Lallemand of Canada), Cooper's, DanStar (produced by Lallemand), Munton & Fison and Edme.
Dry yeasts are good but the rigor of the dehydration process limits the number of different ale strains that are available and in the case of dry lager yeast, eliminates them almost entirely. A few dry lager yeasts do exist, but popular opinion is that they behave more like ale yeasts than lager. DCL Yeast markets two strains of dry lager yeast, Saflager S-189 and S-23, though only S-23 is currently available in a homebrewing size. The recommended fermentation temperature is 48-59°F. I would advise you to use two packets per 5 gallon batch to be assured of a good pitching rate.
The only thing missing with dry yeast is real individuality, which is where liquid yeasts come in. Many more different strains of yeast are available in liquid form than in dry.
Liquid yeast used to come in 50 ml foil pouches, and did not contain as many yeast cells as in the dry packets. The yeast in these packages needed to be grown in a starter wort to bring the cell counts up to a more useful level. In the past few years, larger 175 ml pouches (Wyeast Labs) and ready-to-pitch tubes (White Labs) have become the most popular forms of liquid yeast packaging and contain enough viable cells to ferment a five gallon batch.
The use of active dried professional yeasts for amateur brewing is a relatively new phenomenon introduced by Lallemand. Now, choose your active dried yeast for brewing with confidence. Ask for Danstar superior quality yeasts at your local retailer.
Liquid has more variety and has less contamination.
Actually this has been proven to be true. Check out Basic Brewing Video a couple years ago. James made some beers using single base malts, dry yeast and no hops and every batch was sour. When he did the test again using liquid yeast the dour note was gone. I'm not saying it will effect most beers though.
Dried yeast companies report a very low contamination rate. (Fermentis yeast, for example, reports less than 5 bacterial cells/mL of wort in adequately pitched wort.) Patterson (of Fermentis,) however, mentions that sometimes the level falls below what can be detected in the lab. And, the experience of many brewers shows that this level does not result in problematic beer.
Revvy, post #14, great post! I just have one question. Where do you find dry US-05 for 2 bucks or less? I really like the stuff for the same reasons as you mentioned. Just haven't found it for less than $4 dollars out here in Ca.. which is weird since it was derived (I believe) from this state. Then again I live in a dairy community and milk isn't cheap even though the pungent smell of dairy cow permeates the air we breath around this valley.
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