What yeast strains should I buy?

Hello,
In my area there is only dry yeast available (Fermentis safebrew S-04;US-05;S-33 , muntons gold)
my father is flying to Phoenix, Arizona next month, and I thought I should order some yeast and send it to his hotel.
I want to buy some packs of Wyeast (I don't want to make him carry these test tubes of white labs with him)

1) I found the store www.homebrewers.com in AZ. does anybody has experience with this store or a recommendation on a good online store that ships to AZ ?

the more important question:
2) what strains should I buy (ale only)? I think safebrew S-04;US-05 are pretty nice for a clean, standard flavor. so I want some Belgian and wheat strains. about 3 to 6 packs that will give me enough diversity for the next year or two (I'm guessing until then a brewshop near my town will start distributing Wyeast/white labs).

thanks a lot

I'm confused, why can't you just get yeast shipped to your house?

Anyway, assuming there's a reason you need hand-delivered yeast and you can't get liquid yeast locally, I'd say the numero uno must-have is a vial or two of hefeweizen yeast. Simply put, there is no comparison between the liquid and dry version of hefe strains. If you want to brew hefes, you need the liquid yeast. I know it's more of a summer thing, but if your time table requires you to think forward that far, then by all means get a liquid hefe strain.

Belgian strains too.

And maybe a high gravity ale yeast.

Basically, what I'm saying here, is that anything that ferments "clean" or whatever should be skipped. I recommend you get the freakiest yeasts you can lay your hands on. In general, these will be the ones that have no dry counterpart. These are the ones you want your dad to bring home.

And have you considered culturing yeasts? If you have to go through this much trouble just to get liquid yeasts, I would DEFINITELY be getting the necessary equipment to start culturing the yeasts myself. Just my $0.02.

thanks for the quick response:

1) I can't ship yeast to my home because I leave in Israel, and most won't ship that far.

2)I will do some slants of each strain I'll buy

3)I know I want some hefe and Belgian !
could you be more specific ? could you give some serial numbers?

I only know these yeast strains by what I've read about them, and by tasting the alleged sources (though they have many other factors of brewing techniques)

I was thinking maybe some of these: (or others)

1214 Belgian ale (Chimay)
1388 Belgian Strong ale (Duvel)
3522 Belgian Ardennes (Achouffe)
3638 Bavarian Wheat Yeast (Weihenstephan 175)
3787 Trappish High Gravity (Westmalle)
1762 Abbey II (Rochefort)
3463 Forbidden Fruit wheat (Hoegaarden Verboden Vrucht)

The White Labs tubes are nearly indestructible plastic and considerably smaller than the smack packs, so they are probably easier to transport than the Wyeast packs.
As for yeast, what types of beers do you want to brew? I would get a couple Belgians, a couple of English Ale yeasts and probably a Hefe. Basically varieties that have significant yeast character. Nottingham and US-05 have the dry clean styles covered and S-04 is not a bad English yeast but there are several liquid yeasts that clear better than the S-04 will similar profiles and I don't think there is a dry yeast that does a good job with Belgians. If you lager then there may be something there you want. And ofcourse if you have an interest in sour beer then get one of the blends.
Craig

could someone recommend specific names?
and in the field of American/English/Irish ales , is there one or to strains that is considered exceptional ?
and whats German ale yeast like? (I don't think I know what this style is)

ohad said:

could someone recommend specific names?
and in the field of American/English/Irish ales , is there one or to strains that is considered exceptional ?
and whats German ale yeast like? (I don't think I know what this style is)

Click to expand...

I really enjoyed my Wyeast 3942 Belgian Wheat. Great ester characteristics all around.

www.homebrewers.com is in In Flagstaff, AZ about 2 hours away. You could do the shipping thing, however I believe there are a total of 3 homebrew shops in the Phoenix area. Depending on where he's staying in Phoenix, it might actually be easier to him to swing by one of the shops with a list. I know what ale's ya is in glendale and stocks all white labs strains. Not sure about the other 2 shops, but I'm sure someone on here would know.

www.whitelabs.com

WLP002 English Ale Yeast
WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast
WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast
WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast
US-05
Nottingham

Those are all the yeast I have on hand right now.
I can kind of brew whatever I want with those.
Personally I love US-05 unless the beer needs a yeast character.

Yes I believe WLP300 is *the* hefeweizen yeast... the one that is used in nearly every award-winning hefeweizen. That yeast, I think, is a no-brainer.

Get a belgian strain (sorry, I have no specific suggestion there I think I used 575 or something like that and was happy with the results for stronger beers).

WLP002 produces a very clear beer with a slightly higher FG and some nice English character. Its great for any of the lower gravity English styles like Milds, Browns, and Bitters.
I've had good luck with WLP500 for Belgians but I would use WLP575 if my HBS stocked it.
WLP400 is good for Belgian Wits (and doesn't make a bad abbey ale either).

Craig

ohad said:

could someone recommend specific names?
and in the field of American/English/Irish ales , is there one or to strains that is considered exceptional ?
and whats German ale yeast like? (I don't think I know what this style is)

Click to expand...

I can recommend WLP007 (Dry English Ale) and WLP023 (Burton Ale) for English style ales. I use WLP007 in my porter and sometimes in my IPA's and have had great results.

thanks for your advice, everyone!

note: I'm not going to buy white labs because I can see my father's bag going through X-ray, and the security guy seeing a rack of test-tubs... not nice...

so how about this (the list of Wyeast, with its white labs counterpart by http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm):

1) 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen Yeast WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
2) 1214 Belgian Ale Yeast WLP500 Trappist ale
3) 3944 Belgian Witbier Yeast WLP400 BelgianWit Ale Yeast
4) 3522 Belgian Ardennes Yeast WLP550 Belgian Ale Yeast
5) 1968 London ESB Ale Yeast WLP002 English Ale Yeast
6) maybe a lager yeast.... I know nothing about these... any recommendations?

so I have 2 Belgians, Wit, Hefe, English and a lager...

COOL !!!!!!!!

I would definatley stock up on the S-05 that stuff is great and CAN be taken down to 48 degrees with no problem, I love it and I use it for everything.

I have s-05 available at my HBS.
48F ? that 8.8C... its really cold for an ale...
are you sure? (although it has nothing to do with this thread)

I swear by the white labs irish ale yeast. I am not sure of the #. It is a monster as far as fermentation. It doesn't leave beers too dry, but it can be used to ferment fairly big beers down to a nice FG.

It is my goto yeast.

Why can't he pick the yeast up and overnight it to you via fedex?