Best Lager Yeast for German Beers

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

solbes

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
2,981
Reaction score
241
Location
Ramsey & Akeley
I'm almost ready to get started in making lagers at home. I now have the temp controlled fridge, so I'm pumped to finally delve into the other side.

I like to make a variety of beer types and try to keep a "house" yeast for the different types (e.g. 1968 for english, 3787 for belgian, bells strain for american, 3333 for wheat etc). I want to have the same thing for lagers.

I'm looking to brew the following german lager types over the next year or two and I want to find the strain that is versatile to all of them: Vienna, bock, oktoberfest, plus maybe the odd pilsner or helles.

I've heard good things about Bavarian Lager 2206 and Munich Lager 2308. Which is better and why? I'm looking for decent floc so I don't have to lager for 3+ months, and something that keeps the malt clean and in the forefront. TIA!
 
It depends on what you're making- I like the Bohemian lager strain for my Bohemian pilsners, while I like the Munich lager yeast strain for bocks/maibocks.
 
I like WLP838 for a "general " purpose lager strain. There isn't really a best for all German beers.


_
 
I checked into WLP838 a little bit. Seems to floc out nicely and produce clean and malty beer. I'll certainly do a diacetyl rest, so that shouldn't be an issue. Sulfur should disappear with lagering I'm assuming. How long do you lager beers with 838 to get them clear?

Anyone else with experience with these 3 (WY2308, WY2206, and WLP838)?
 
I like 2042 (Danish Lager) for crisper German Pils. I love WLP833 (Bock) for more fuller bodied lagers. I also like to use it for my beers with corn adjuncts as I find it helps to keep the beers from being too thin.

WLP800 for Bohemian Pilsners of course
 
pjj2ba said:
I like 2042 (Danish Lager) for crisper German Pils. I love WLP833 (Bock) for more fuller bodied lagers. I also like to use it for my beers with corn adjuncts as I find it helps to keep the beers from being too thin. WLP800 for Bohemian Pilsners of course

I saw in another thread you had used WLP800 for a German Pilsner. How did that turn out? I am a little worried that the German Pilsner I brewed for a competition will suffer because I used the 800 instead of 830.

Please advise.
 
I saw in another thread you had used WLP800 for a German Pilsner. How did that turn out? I am a little worried that the German Pilsner I brewed for a competition will suffer because I used the 800 instead of 830.

Please advise.

I've switched to 800 for my Ger. Pils. My Ger. Pils made it to the top 10 in the finals of the NHC this year. I recently brewed up two identical batches of Oktoberfest and used 800 for one and 833 for the other. They are not quite ready yet, but the samples I tasted at kegging time were quite different. 833 was nice and round and malty, and 800 was very crisp and clean and had accentuated the hops. We'll see for sure in a couple of weeks
 
Good info thanks! Brings back some good memories :)

Way back when I did go with WY2308 (Munich) in a Vienna Lager. Turned out okay for a first attempt, lots of diacetyl that did get removed with a longer than usual rest. The followup Oktoberfest turned out much better as I pitched a crapload of washed yeast at the proper temp.

Also made a Pilsner and Maibock series from Saflager 34/70 dry yeast. The Maibock was definitely the best of the bunch. That keg was tapped relatively early on a extended family beach house trip in Texas.

Maybe time to try one of these other strains yet this winter.
 
pjj2ba said:
I've switched to 800 for my Ger. Pils. My Ger. Pils made it to the top 10 in the finals of the NHC this year. I recently brewed up two identical batches of Oktoberfest and used 800 for one and 833 for the other. They are not quite ready yet, but the samples I tasted at kegging time were quite different. 833 was nice and round and malty, and 800 was very crisp and clean and had accentuated the hops. We'll see for sure in a couple of weeks

Thanks so much for the info! I'll be sure to post how it turns out...

This is the first time I have used white labs vs. Wyeast and wondered if I need to change my fermentation schedule. I plan on primary fermentation for 14 days at 52F and 14 days at 55F with a two day diacetyl rest at 65F. Transfer to kegs and drop temps 5 degrees a day to 35F for 28 days.

Do you think that is sufficient time for WLP800?
 
pjj2ba said:
I ferment at 50 F, and with a proper pitch, most of my lagers are ready to go into kegs for lagering in 2 weeks, 3 weeks tops. Most of my lagers are around 1.050 SG

Wow, ok.

I used a 3L starter of 1.040 wort and 450 Billion cells (viability of around 363 based on packaging date) and pitched the starter after 24 hours into 10 gallons of 1.052 Pils wort.

Do you think 28 days is long enough for a lager or should I push it to 42? I've been reading that some guys lager for up to 4 months and I'd like to submit this puppy for the competition taking place in the middle of January.

I'll check the FG at 14 days.
 
Wow, ok.

I used a 3L starter of 1.040 wort and 450 Billion cells (viability of around 363 based on packaging date) and pitched the starter after 24 hours into 10 gallons of 1.052 Pils wort.

Do you think 28 days is long enough for a lager or should I push it to 42? I've been reading that some guys lager for up to 4 months and I'd like to submit this puppy for the competition taking place in the middle of January.

I'll check the FG at 14 days.

28 days should be plenty long enough. For the diacetyl rest though you want to do this just before fermentation is complete, more like at 10-14 days and then start to lager after that, as once the diacetyl rest is done, fermentation should be complete. When you check you FG at day 14, let the sample warm up and let it sit for a while to allow any diacetyl to form. Now taste it. If none, the you can skip the diacetyl rest, if you taste it, then do the rest, and then lager

When I brew a lager for a competition, I shoot for the beer being 8-10 weeks old (from brew day). While they will hold their flavor for a while, they really are best fresh
 
pjj2ba said:
28 days should be plenty long enough. For the diacetyl rest though you want to do this just before fermentation is complete, more like at 10-14 days and then start to lager after that, as once the diacetyl rest is done, fermentation should be complete. When you check you FG at day 14, let the sample warm up and let it sit for a while to allow any diacetyl to form. Now taste it. If none, the you can skip the diacetyl rest, if you taste it, then do the rest, and then lager When I brew a lager for a competition, I shoot for the beer being 8-10 weeks old (from brew day). While they will hold their flavor for a while, they really are best fresh

I really appreciate the insight. My Pils will be almost exactly 10 weeks old from the brew date for the competition.
 
If you want your beer to taste like the majority of commercial German lagers, 34/70 or its liquid equivalents is the strain that maybe 90% of breweries use. Personally, I prefer WLP 860.
 
Anybody change their preference for lager yeasts over the years??
I use Imperial L17 Harvest. To me, it provides a really clean, malty backbone to my Bock. The same recipe with 34/70 was not nearly as good. I also did an Oktoberfest with Imperial L2 Fest, it was excellent, but that yeast is not longer being offered, so I'm switching that recipe to L17 Harvest as well. Ed
:mug:
 
As of September 2023, Imperial Yeast has just released their seasonal Pilgrimage (Andechs) Lager L26 - Produces superb all around lager profiles

Other Great Lager Yeasts

- Omega Labs (Ayinger) Lager OYL-111 - Superb yeast which produces a fabulous flavor profile with nice maltiness. This yeast flocculates well.

- Imperial Yeast Global (Weihenstephaner 34/70) Lager L13 - Excellent lager yeast with slow flocculation
 
Back
Top