2 yeast for most beers

I live out in the country and have to order all my supplies online. I want to order 2 liquid yeast that I could use for most beers. One for pale ales and ipa's and the other for stouts, porters and brown ales. I plan on making starters and using these over and over. I need to order before hot weather. if you could only have 2 strains to cover most beers what would you choose. Thanks in advance.

 

Maybe 001 and 013?

 

Viability-wise, it'd be easier to maintain US-05 and S04 in the fridge over the long term, if restocking is an infrequent event, and they'd do just fine for the parameters given. Plus they'd be a lot less expensive to purchase, and don't require starters...

Cheers!

 

I would order dry yeast as well; however, if I had to choose two yeasts to use and only two, it would be WY1098 and US-05.

 

This right here.

You could also look into harvesting yeast from commercial beers.

 

Plus one! I use a gram or two from a package to grow what I need for the batch. One package can go a long way. US-05 and S-04 are the same two I would choose as well.

 

Count me in for US-04 and US-05. If not 04, then maybe Nottingham. I used to not like that yeast, but have found the last few batches with it were more my fermentation temps being too high, than the yeast itself. It's growing on me.

 

PacMan (Wyeast 1764) and WLP007

 

If I had to choose liquid, I'd go WY1450 and WY1084 for those styles. For dry, I'd go US-05 and S-04, as others have suggested.

 

I keep Nottingham and 34/70 dry yeast on hand for emergencies.

Run the Notty real cold (with a re-pitch I've gone as low as 60 for 3 days before ramping) for a beer that very clean and "american" (some esters yes, but nothing crazy and nothing that a bunch of hops won't cover anyway). For something more english I start at 65 and immediately start ramping to 68-70.

The 34/70 is a great lager yeast. The first pitch out of the packet can be a bit fruity, but it will lager out in time. Do a small batch of something light and then harvest for repitch.

 

For a British strain I would go with Wyeast1318. I just started freezing and propagating yeast and this is definitely my favorite British strain. I'm not a fan of S-04 or WLP002/WY1968.

For an American strain, you could go with 001/1056/US-05. I've kind of gotten a little bored with it though. I just brewed an IPA with WLP090 and saved yeast for future batches. I can't tell you how it is yet though because I haven't tried it.

If the beers you listed are what you brew most, then I would say go with one American and one British strain. But if you brew Belgians, Saisons, lagers, etc. you might go with an American strain and whichever of those you brew the most of. The American strain could easily cover all of the beers you listed (pale ales, IPA's, stouts, porters, and brown ales).

 

Seems 05 and 04 are popular for the ales, what would you guys pick for lagers? What would be the lager equivalent of US-05/04? for a go to yeast?

 

It seems the consensus was W34/70 over here: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=524449