Dry Yeast Convert!!!!!!

[woodstone]

I don't care what anyone says...dry yeast rules!!!

Although I do wash yeast from batch to batch when I remember, and make starters on occassion, I was tired of spending $$$ on liquid yeast.

Tired of spending $$$, I recently bought a bunch of SafeAle, etc. packets to keep on hand.

I brewed the "house ale" recipie in the recent Northern Homebrewer catalog using BIAB and pitched a SafeAle S-04 English Ale Yeast after proofing it. Mother effer took off and was burping after 3.5 hours and was "boiling" after less than 10 hours!



Me = convert!!!!!!

 

[mfraier]

S-04 and 05 for me any day. I have two batches going right now with 05 and its a terror.

I'm not in this to win metals or prizes, I just enjoy good beer.

I have not tried the lager year but will soon.

No secondary and dry yeast......who'd of thought.

 

[indigi]

+1 to the cheap and easy bandwagon. Unless you're trying to really perfect an English or American recipe, S-04, US-05, and Nottingham are great choices for practically any ales in those styles. They produce great profiles and can all get really clean if you ferment them low. You get proper pitching rates out of the package up to 1.060 or so, and even if you have to buy multiple packs for a big beer, it's still much cheaper than a liquid strain plus DME for a starter. I've switched to using them for practically every beer I brew until I really lock in my grain bill and processes.

If I'm doing Belgian or wheat beers I'll still use White Labs or Wyeast as I find S-33 and S-58 to be ok but not nearly as good as the liquid strains. Dry lager yeasts are practically as expensive as the liquid strains and I've heard bad stories about both kinds, so I always go liquid for lagers.

 

[Calder]

Whatever is your preference. I use liquid exclusively, and re-use it, and keep a sample of the original strain. Probably costs a lot less than $1 per batch including starter wort. And I have many different yeasts to select from. I always have canned starter wort, so it is no hassle to make one when needed, but often, I just re-pitch part of the slurry. If done within a month, you really don't need a starter.

I have several packs of dried yeast; Windsor, Notty, S-04, T-33, and all are rapidly approaching their use by date. To me it almost seems like more effort to use a dry yeast than a liquid, and I know the liquid is going to be chugging away within 12 hours.

 

[indigi]

It's more effort to tear open a packet sprinkle some yeast in warm water than wash and store yeast, can and store wort, and build up a starter every time?

Maybe the cost is less in the long run over a bunch of batches, but to get all the equipment to can and store wort and yeast (not to mention a bunch of liquid strains) is a much bigger initial investment than a $1.45 packet of Notty. I can pick up one of those every couple weeks just from the change I find on the ground.

 

[woodstone]

It's more effort to tear open a packet sprinkle some yeast in warm water than wash and store yeast, can and store wort, and build up a starter every time?

Maybe the cost is less in the long run over a bunch of batches, but to get all the equipment to can and store wort and yeast (not to mention a bunch of liquid strains) is a much bigger initial investment than a $1.45 packet of Notty. I can pick up one of those every couple weeks just from the change I find on the ground.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

Sound like a similar argument not to go all grain. Or why to stick with riding a bus vs buying a car, or moving out of mom's house maybe?

 

[COLObrewer]

Wild yeast is free . . . . . every time.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

Three batches conditioning right now, cooked with wild Newport, NY yeast...

 

[Ben_Persitz]

Sound like a similar argument not to go all grain. Or why to stick with riding a bus vs buying a car, or moving out of mom's house maybe?

How is that?

I've always used liquid yeast and I'm about to try my first beer with dry yeast.

I used S-05 for a pale ale. Excited to try how it tastes.

A lot of pro's and experienced guys use dry yeast..

 

[Christafer11]

I use notty on my red ales boil a small pot of water at the same time I start my water for my brew. Let it set aside to cool add a squeeze of honey and notty, then the notty gets notty in the cup, it will usually rise to the top of a 12oz glass by the time I need to pitch it and starts active fermentation in less than 4hours every time. easy way to cut $8 off a batch it's kinda like a buy 3 get one free program

 

[indigi]

Sound like a similar argument not to go all grain. Or why to stick with riding a bus vs buying a car, or moving out of mom's house maybe?

Not really. All-grain is much less expensive and gives you much more control over your grain bill and fermentability than extract. If you're just brewing a session beer or still trying to figure out exactly what your grain bill should be for a stout or how to hop your IPA, going with US-05 and S-04 is actually a pretty good idea for consistent results and ease of use. I think liquid English and American strains are great, but none of them are so much heads and shoulders above the dry ones that they'll make or break a beer, especially if it's in your first few attempts at a style. With Belgians and wheats, though, you gotta go liquid.

 

[COLObrewer]

Three batches conditioning right now, cooked with wild Newport, NY yeast...

Good man.

 

[petep1980]

Liquid yeast is such a rip off if you don't wash it.

If you wash it, and use a stir plate it's nice having primary fermentations done in 3-4 days.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

Why wash? Slant a sample and have yeast that never gets dirty. Just step a starter up a couple times and you're off to the races.

 

[HerotBrewer]

A lot of pro's and experienced guys use dry yeast..

I think the lesson here is: do what works best/is most convenient for you. It's homebrewing, not rocket science.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I love dry yeast and use S-05 for about 90% of my beers. The only thing I don't use it on is specialty beers such as belgians or saisons which I don't brew often.

APA, IPA, IIPA, Stout, etc all get S-05. Basically I sub it for anything that says "English Ale", "Irish Ale", "American Ale", "California Ale" ..... etc.....

I can't tell the difference in taste between any of the liquid yeasts above and S-05. I have been able to control the attenuation of S-05 pretty well and can usually get my F.G. within a few points of what I'm hoping for by adjusting my mash strategy and temp accordingly.

Not saying it's the same as this but I kind of view it as a primary vs. secondary thing. If I can't taste the difference or see the benefit then I'm not doing the extra work. That being said it boils down to personal preference.

 

[sjlammer]

I can't tell the difference in taste between any of the liquid yeasts above and S-05. I have been able to control the attenuation of S-05 pretty well and can usually get my F.G. within a few points of what I'm hoping for by adjusting my mash strategy and temp accordingly.

What is your strategy for keeping the FG higher? I have had S-05 dry out a 1.060 pale ale that was mashed at 153F down to 1.008

 

[kanzimonson]

I wouldn't measure the success of your yeast by how short your lag time is.

 

[petep1980]

I wouldn't measure the success of your yeast by how short your lag time is.

If I'm doing a Pilsner, my house lager, I want the shortest time possible on the yeast. I have found, at least in my opinion, a drastic diff between a pilsner it has taken me two weeks to get into secondary vs one that has taken me just a week to get to secondary.

By slanting do you mean you just make starters and split that up? That seems like a very good idea actually.

 

[jjones17]

I don't care what anyone says...dry yeast rules!!!

Although I do wash yeast from batch to batch when I remember, and make starters on occassion, I was tired of spending $$$ on liquid yeast.

Tired of spending $$$, I recently bought a bunch of SafeAle, etc. packets to keep on hand.

I brewed the "house ale" recipie in the recent Northern Homebrewer catalog using BIAB and pitched a SafeAle S-04 English Ale Yeast after proofing it. Mother effer took off and was burping after 3.5 hours and was "boiling" after less than 10 hours!



Me = convert!!!!!!

Love your enthusiasm! Do not call yourself a convert just yet.... wait until the beer is finshed before making that call. A nice long conditioning period as well to be sure it is indeed 'done', then decide if you are a convert. I started with dry yeasts, have used s04 a few times. Was never as happy with S-04 as I have been with Wyeast Whitbread - both are supposedly the same strain. I would always opt for the liquid version myself, in my experience. However, I am very pleased with us-05 though, and notty on occasion.

For some reason, I find dry yeast acts very badly if your temps are too high - more badly then liquid, althought that might be my perception.

Glad to hear you tried it though, let us know how the beer tastes in 8 weeks or so lets see if you still like it.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't prefer one or the other in general. I can get liquid yeast for special beers that require a flavor profile only found in liquid strains. Most Pale Ales and such are fine with the Notty or US-05 dry strains. I have consistently gotten fermentation to start in under 8 hours with a proper wort preparation and rehydrating the yeast.

And keeping dry packets in the fridge is MUCH easier than washing and storing yeast. Not to mention the process of building up the starter again before pitching.

Not sure I'd use a dry yeast for lagers... 8/

 

[zgoda]

Not sure I'd use a dry yeast for lagers... 8/

Actually, Saflager W34/70 is one of most versatile and popular lager yeast. This strain comes from Weihenstephan, it's also available in liquid form as WLP German Lager and Wyeast Bohemian Lager. Some say that 95% of commercial lagers in Europe are fermented by W34/70.

I tried also Saflager S-23. Nice and crisp, although somewhat fruity.

And Brewferm Lager. Sturdy and easy going, but really very basic.

I'd say, lager yeast are aplenty, there's no good dry yeast for classic weissbiers, you have to go with WLP300/WY3068 if you want real weizen.

 

[Golddiggie]

While I have two EC-1118 packets in the fridge right now (never know when you'll need some yeast after all) I've been using the liquid Wyeast for my beers since the start. With the last racking off of primary (a porter that was going into secondary after three weeks for some flavor additions) I decided to give washing a try... It's really easy to do (insanely so)... I was able to procure some large jars (two 1/2 gallon, plus one 1 gallon, plus a few more quart sized) to get started. Right now, I have three quart jars with the harvest (off of trub) in the fridge clearing up. I plan to pull one of them out tomorrow, and pitch into a starter for brewing this weekend. I also plan to place the other two harvests of yeast into much smaller jars for storage. Once labeled, it will be easy to pull a few days before brew day, let them warm up, then pitch into a starter (already in the habit of making starters for my brews over 1.060)... If the target brew is under ~1.075 (OG) I'll use a small starter... Bigger beers will get bigger starters.

I really like how much cheaper it is when using washed/harvested yeast. I have two more brews in primary that I'll be harvesting/washing the yeast from. Those three should cover about 80% of what I like to brew. One or two more initial primaries and I'll have everything I shouldl need (except for the odd brewing) for anything I'm making (currently at least)...

 

[iijakii]

I use S05 a lot. I also use liquid yeast a lot. Both can be fantastic depending on your desired results.


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