House Yeast Strains?? Do you have any??

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hbhudy

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I have been brewing for a few years now and have jumped around to numerous yeast strains, but I wanted to spend the next year or so trying to play around with only a few strains for EVERYTHING.. :O I was thinking about US-05, WYeast Scottish Ale 1728, WYeast Saison 3711, Wyeast Ardennes 3522, and WYeast Weihenstephan 3068.. Granted these 5 yeast strains should give you a fairly large range of beers to produce, but I was just looking to see if anyone has gone through this idea of limiting the strains of yeast to try to see what else they came dream up for new brews..

Has anyone else done this?
 
I've been using the following four Wyeast strains: 1056, 1318 (London Ale III), 1469 (West Yorkshire), 3522 (Ardennes). I have slants of them all, but they're also all excellent top-croppers, so if I plan my brews carefully I only have to grow up yeast every few months. This also means I usually have yeast around to trade with other brewers too, so I get to try out new strains occasionally as well.
 
I stick with S-04 and S-05. $2.25 a pack and very consistent results.

+1

I don't love it, but US-05 is my de-facto house strain. It is just too clean and too convenient for me to go looking at other yeast.

That said, if I were a more patient man, I might very well go with Pacman or Denny's Favorite.

But I ain't got time for that!
 
I've spent the last two years only using 1968 London ESB for practically all my beers except Belgians. I really learned a lot about the strain. While there were definitely some styles where it didn't work as well, it was great to learn how it worked with other ingredients. I highly recommend other brewers doing something like this.

I'm just now starting down a new road of using 1728 Scottish Ale for several beers to see what I can learn.

I freakin hate California Ale yeast and I feel like it's the lazy yeast choice. You can drink this yeast in countless breweries' beers - go for something different as a homebrewer!
 
Lately I've limited my yeast and have been just repitching. I keep brett trois, brett c, saison, jolly pumpkin, and a lambic going. I've just began woking with some spontaneous starters that should make it into the mix soon. Brett trois has become my go to ipa yeast, so glad it's going year round. If it isn't obvious I've given up on the whole 2 sets of equipment thing and just gone wild.
 
I use Wyeast 1335 and 1882-PC for just about all my beers. Occasionally I'll use 1318 or rarely 1728 for a batch. I have a flask with 1882-PC in it that I'll be mixing with a glycerine solution in order to freeze vials of it for use later. That will come in handy if Wyeast doesn't release any in the next quarter, or two. I'll probably do some stepped up starters from either a vial later on, or harvest/wash a yeast cake early on to keep in the fridge. I REALLY like that strain. :D
 
I'm narrowing my yeasts to three; 1056, 2112, and S-23. I know, pretty lame....but I've just come to realize over time that big estery / fruity favors in my beers isn't my thing. I'm thinking of repitching these again and again till they mutate and see what they become.
 
I seem to use London Ale 50% of the time and Pacman 50% of the time. Every once in a while I'll use a Belgian yeast (for Belgians, duh) or maybe a wheat strain. I have s04, s05 and nottingham in the fridge as backups. I like the pacman for clean american styles and pseudo lagers, and I really like wlp013 for a little more estery an ale.
 
Golddiggie said:
mt_rob, check out 1335 "A classic British ale profile with good flocculation and malty flavor characteristics. It will finish crisp, clean and fairly dry."

Thanks for the recommendation, I will give it a try.
 
Thanks for the recommendation, I will give it a try.

No prob... If you ever get the chance to try out 1882-PC, I highly recommend it...

Wyeast 1882-PC Thames Valley II Yeast
Beer Styles: Ordinary and Special Bitters, ESB, Northern English Brown, Robust Porter, Dry Stout, Foreign Extra Stout
Profile: This strain was originally sourced from a now defunct brewery on the banks of the river Thames outside of Oxford, England. Thames Valley II produces crisp, dry beers with a rich malt profile and moderate stone fruit esters. This attenuative strain is also highly flocculent resulting in bright beers not requiring filtration. A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete.
Alc. Tolerance 10% ABV
Flocculation high
Attenuation 72-78%
Temp. Range 60-70°F (15-21°C)

Use it in the lower 1/2 of it's range and the esters are either seriously reduced, or pretty much not there. :rockin:
 
I'm currently giving WLP007 a go as my house yeast. It is fairly versatile as I like it with american and english ales. If this doesn't work then I'll probably move on to Pacman and see how that works for me.
 
I love Thames valley. Similar to a Chico in cleanliness but builds some complex malt structures. I love it in iPa. Also in a bn interview I've heard it is cigar city's house yeast

Ferment at 65 and you are gold. better attenuation than most English yeasts and cleaner too
 
I love Thames valley. Similar to a Chico in cleanliness but builds some complex malt structures. I love it in iPa. Also in a bn interview I've heard it is cigar city's house yeast

Ferment at 65 and you are gold. better attenuation than most English yeasts and cleaner too

IMO, 1882 (Thames Valley II) is so much more than 1275. Better flocculation rated and more malt flavor/character comes through. Just wish it wasn't still a private collection (only) strain. :( I aim to ferment it at <65F.

Looking forward to keeping a bank of the 1882 strain for future use. If they do offer it up again, I'll probably get a few packets and just freeze them up right off the bat (with the correct prep work of course). :rockin:
 
WLP001 and WLP07. I don't drink belgians, so I can make just about anything with those two yeasts.
 
If you were closer, I'd give you one of the vials (once frozen)... :D

AHHH... If you are interested I keep about 10 strains on slants in my fridge if you may want to swap?? of course postage is always a pain and I don't have anything too interesting but..... let me know!
 
1338/011 European ale yeast - good for pseudo lagers, brown ales, many german styles. I have yet to try it with an IPA....
 
I use US-04, and US-05 for most everything, but I use WLP 410 for Wheats and Belgians.

I have tried at least a dozen different liquid strains and I find for my taste US-04/05 is what I'm looking for from a yeast flavor wise. I love not needing a starter for most batches, and its cheaper :bam:
 
Wouldn't say I have a single house strain for either lagers or ales, but I can narrow it down.

Lagers: I love Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager (Saflager W-34/70) and have used it in a wide variety of styles with very good results. Recently used Wyeast 2000 Budvar Lager for the first time (in a Dort that is in the secondary and seems to have tremendous potential) and can see it becoming a mainstay in my brewery.

Ales: Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale might be my favourite, followed closely by the Chico strain. For English strains I've enjoyed beers made with S-04, but I think Wyeast 1968 will be my go-to strain. Planning on doing a few porters and stouts soon so I will have to think about the best strains for those.
 
I've tried probably 30 differen yeasts, but my go-to choices are Pacman, 3711 Saison, Mex Lager (few lagers, however). I'm still looking for my English strain--007 gives too much character for my milds, 002/1968 has been my only infection :( and 1728 Scottish just wasn't up my alley. Trying West Yorkshire (1469) on a Bitter this weekend and want to try TV2. Glad to see a lot of suggestions here!
 

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