northern brewer chocolate milk stout

hey guys, i'm gonna get this extract kit from them and they give you a choice of what yeast to use. They have safale s-04 ale yeast and wyeast 1332 northwest ale. I'd like to go the cheaper route and get the safale, but what would be the differences? Will the wyeast make a big difference in flavor?

I just started that one on Sunday. I used the wyeast. After 20 hours in the carboy it blew its top!! My wife called me at work telling me my beer took a sh** all over the basment.... I thought it was pretty funny myself. So be ready for it. I have no Idea what the different yeasts will do, this is only my second brew, sorry I can't help with your question. good luck

IIOHAB said:

I just started that one on Sunday. I used the wyeast. After 20 hours in the carboy it blew its top!! My wife called me at work telling me my beer took a sh** all over the basment.... I thought it was pretty funny myself. So be ready for it. I have no Idea what the different yeasts will do, this is only my second brew, sorry I can't help with your question. good luck

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alright thanks! you probably should've used a blow off tube

yup should have, but hearing my wife telling me my beer just sh** was pricless!!!

so nobody has any idea what the differences might be between the two yeasts???

They're both similar in behavior (high flocculation meaning a more compacted yeast cake and helps to end up with a clearer beer) and are both happy in similar environments (fermentation temperatures between 65-75 F). The 1332 has a fruitier profile (more esters will be formed at higher fermentation temperatures) whereas S-04 is a cleaner fermenter (less off flavors). 1332 will likely leave your stout a little sweeter than S-04 -- though based on the name of the brew I'm guessing there's lactose in the ingredient list, so the sweetness from that will remain regardless of which yeast you go with (yeast won't metabolize complex sugars like lactose).

It's just a preference, really. So try one out and give it a shot.

My understanding is that you should go with liquid yeast if yeast is a big part of the flavor like it is in hefes and Belgians. In other cases go with dry yeast. I am not sure which to go with in this particular style.

Use the dry. S-04 is great in stouts, and leaves a clean beer where the malts are dominant. You don't need your yeast to be doing anything fancy in this particular beer.

Dry yeast is best starting out.

Liquid yeast need starters, whereas dry yeast do not necessarily.

Do keep an extra packet of dry yeast in your freezer, though... just in case you get dead yeast at some point (more of a concern in the summer).

IIOHAB what size container was it in?

alright thanks guys...I was just wondering if I needed the flavors in the liquid yeast for this particular style. But i'm guessing for a stout, the fruity esters coming from the liquid yeast aren't really necessary correct?? i'll still have a pretty good stout with the S-04 dry yeast?

making starters isn't really a problem for me, i got two belgian 3787 starters both 2L each going right now for a big beer im making tomorrow. 1.095 OG

Safale is good yeast, every kind I've tried or even heard of.

Nottingham is also good for ales, but I've heard that it is temperature sensitive. (I had no issue, but I used a swamp cooler.)

You will hardly ever go wrong with these.

Liquid yeast need starters

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Not the wyeast activator packs. Smack it and you're ready to go

hudsonj6 said:

Not the wyeast activator packs. Smack it and you're ready to go

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uh oh. prepare for an onslaught of proper pitch rate diagrams...

hudsonj6 said:

Not the wyeast activator packs. Smack it and you're ready to go

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just do a little more reading. Some beers need more than 100 billion yeast cells to ferment healthily.

I have two starters going right now and I used 2 wyeast activator packs. My belgian strong dark needs approx. 337 billion yeast cells and these two starters will give me 400 billion if and if those 2 wyeast activator packs had a close to perfect viability which i'm sure they don't since one was produced in sept. and the other in august, dropping the viability dramatically. It's better than no starter though...

alright, so looks like I can't go wrong with the safale then...

jourelemode said:

alright, so looks like I can't go wrong with the safale then...

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Pretty much true.

If it's a really big beer (9+%), use two packs.

MikeRoBrew1, I use a 6.5 gal carboy for primary....

Justibone said:

Pretty much true.

If it's a really big beer (9+%), use two packs.

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naw its only 5%...