I jumped on the dry yeast bandwagon a couple years ago. I guess before that I figured if liquid was five times the price it had to be better. WRONG! Now days I only use liquid in hefes.
Bingo, it's all about the yeast. Different strains produce wildly different flavor profiles. Trust me, I've tried a bunch, including ec1118 which made apple champagne, as expected. My personal favorite is nottingham, tart but not too dry.
The kids "played" with one, I've dropped two, and the cat knocked one off the counter. Fishin Dave is right, gravity sees a hydrometer like a tornado sees a trailer park.
I think Jim Koch said,"When 80% of the beer consumed in this country is a light lager from one of three breweries, something is wrong." Made sense to me.