Dry Yeast or Smack-Packs?

So dry yeast is about 1$ per pack and Wyeast smack packs are about 5$ or 6$ per pack. Is dry yeast either un reliable or just lower quality? I'm assuming if I re-hyrdate the dry yeast and make a start to verify it is a good pack then I shouldn't have any problems, right? The other thing is that Wyeast seems to have more specialized strains. Anyone make a batch with dry yeast and thought it would be better with a more specialized yeast strain?

Nothing wrong with dry yeasts such as Safale or Nottingham (the pre-packaged Munton's generic type stuff is a different story). The big difference is that the liquid yeasts have a lot more variety, as you mentioned. I have never found dry yeasts to be lower quality or unreliable.

it really depends on what you are brewing for yeast choice. Something like Belgian REQUIRES a specialized Belgian strain that you cannot get dry. Something like a Pale Ale, on the other hand, can be made just fine with a package of Notty. It is really up to you to decide if the extra few bucks is worth it

The majority of beers can be made with a good dry yeast. Hefeweizens and belgian beers benefit from specialized strains of liquid yeast, but for most standard ales dry is fine. A popular yeast used by quite a few of us is Danstar Nottingham.

Proofing is up to you, and typically not necessary. I've pitched Nottingham on top of wort, shaken gently and had no issues.

Word is that you should go liquid for lagers also. I've never tried dry lager yeast because of the bad rep, so I can't say for sure.

Anything that just requires a neutral yeast, a good dry yeast is fine. Notty or Safale S-05. If it is something that gets character from the yeast your gonna need the good stuff. I have actually just started an experiment. I do 10 gallon batches and split between 2 fermenters. I'm using different yeast and noting the differences. Wyeast 1056 (I think this is the American ale one), Notty and Safale S-05 are all going to be similar, but I'm going to confirm it. I have a Pale Ale going, half with Notty and Half with S-05. Wyeast 1056 and whichever wins will be next, Then I'm going to move on to something a little more exotic. Trying to perfect my House Pale Ale.

evandam said:

Anything that just requires a neutral yeast, a good dry yeast is fine. Notty or Safale S-05. If it is something that gets character from the yeast your gonna need the good stuff. I have actually just started an experiment. I do 10 gallon batches and split between 2 fermenters. I'm using different yeast and noting the differences. Wyeast 1056 (I think this is the American ale one), Notty and Safale S-05 are all going to be similar, but I'm going to confirm it. I have a Pale Ale going, half with Notty and Half with S-05. Wyeast 1056 and whichever wins will be next, Then I'm going to move on to something a little more exotic. Trying to perfect my House Pale Ale.

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That sounds fantastic. Let me know how it turned out. I originally asked because I am also making a pale ale. I did something very similar to this one.

Tech211 said:

Word is that you should go liquid for lagers also. I've never tried dry lager yeast because of the bad rep, so I can't say for sure.

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S-189 is a great dry lager yeast

I'd try it, but I can't see myself buying yeast in a half-kilo brick.

I've used Saflager S-23 with excellent results, haven't tried Saflager W-34/70 yet.

I notice at least one of the major homebrew suppliers includes Munton's Premium with their kits; and even many of their higher gravity kits. This seems like a credible endorsement of Muntons Gold. On the other hand, Muntons publishes almost zero technical data on their yeasts.

Note that I'm talking about the Muntons Premium Gold. Muntons Standard has a semi-bad rep for low attenuation.

Good dry yeasts like US-05, S-04 and Nottingham are quality products that are usually more reliable than liquid products due to longer shelf life and better tolerances to environmental conditions while stored. They produce good beers, are cheap and easy to use.

However selection is limited compared to the dozens of liquid yeast available and they may not be quite as pure as the liquid strains (I believe this is due to the manufacturing process).

You should not make a starter when using dry yeast and many manufacturers do not even recommend rehydrating prior to pitching. Proper rehydration does help yeast viability and health but improper rehydration can be harmful. Because ideal conditions require a narrow range of water temps and volumes it is safer for the manufacturer to recommend direct pitching.

Craig

McKBrew said:

Proofing is up to you, and typically not necessary. I've pitched Nottingham on top of wort, shaken gently and had no issues.

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Most people will never have a problem with just dropping on top of wort, but I've switched to proofing now. It rehydrates the yeast in water, which according to experts makes them healthier than rehydrating in wort, and can tell you if you've got a bad batch for whatever reason.

One of the big brewcast guys mentioned that even though the yeast instructions for home users don't mentions rehydrating, the same yeast sold to breweries does tell them to rehydrate first.

To me, it takes very little work, and give me piece of mind that the yeast are at their best and are alive.

thanks for the help everyone. I just made Ed's Haus Ale yesterday and so far so good.

Homercidal said:

Most people will never have a problem with just dropping on top of wort, but I've switched to proofing now. It rehydrates the yeast in water, which according to experts makes them healthier than rehydrating in wort, and can tell you if you've got a bad batch for whatever reason.

One of the big brewcast guys mentioned that even though the yeast instructions for home users don't mentions rehydrating, the same yeast sold to breweries does tell them to rehydrate first.

To me, it takes very little work, and give me piece of mind that the yeast are at their best and are alive.

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Plain water or with DME/sugar/nutrients and how much?

I second throwing out the Munton's regular. Used it twice because it came with the MWS kits. For the extra buck and a half there are much better dry yeasts. Have pitched them right on to the wort with no problems and had very vigorous startups made me switch to them rather than liquid, except for the reasons stated above, for most of my brews because I can not guarantee how long from purchase to brewing I will have due to my schedules.