How much difference does yeast make for lagers and ales ?

How much difference does yeast make ?

I know if makes a huge difference with hefes, Belgians and Lambics.

But what about with lagers and ales ?

I've been using dried yeast for my lagers (Morgan lager yeast) and ales (Morgan and Nottingham). So how much cleaner/drier/tasteful would liquid yeasts be for these brews ?

How about fermenting temperature ?

Thanks

I think, at least in the case of 1056/S-56, that there's no difference in dry vs liquid if that's what you're asking. If there's a dry version of the yeast strain you want then I think it's fine and you wouldn't notice any difference if you were to use a liquid yeast.

However, there are obviously many more strains of yeasts in liquid form than in dry so sometimes if you want a particular strain you have to go with liquid.

As far as fermenting temps and characteristics of the yeast goes it should be exactly the same as you're dealing with the same strain of yeast whether it was dry or liquid.

Thats a good question. The ales Ive made with dried yeast seemed to ferment a bit faster than with liquid, with a slightly drier finish. Last year I did a Christmas ale with 7 1/2 lbs DME and 3 lb honey, and it was pretty well done in a week, but took a while to smooth out (coulda been better, but I couldnt stay out of it). Recently, I used the same basic recipe using just 2 lb honey with a liquid yeast (Wyeast West Yorkshire 1469), and it took almost a month to complete. It is still not quite carbonated enough, but seems to be somewhat smoother, due in part to the omission of 1 lb honey. I switched to liquid lager yeast for my Oktoberfest and double bock, and also found that the liquid seems to have a better mouthfeel and overall taste than dried yeast. Thats just my opinion, Ive only been brewing for about 3 years, Im sure this topic will generate plenty of discussion and be interesting to watch

fatboy570 said:

The ales Ive made with dried yeast seemed to ferment a bit faster than with liquid, with a slightly drier finish.

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What size starter are you making for liquid ale yeasts?

fatboy570 said:

The ales Ive made with dried yeast seemed to ferment a bit faster than with liquid, with a slightly drier finish.

Click to expand...

I'm with you. The dry yeast seems to finish fairly quick compared to the liquid stuff. I have used wyeast and white labs and both seem to take a few days more than the Danstar stuff.