Cleanest Ale Yeast

[JonK331]

What are people's opinions on what is absolutely the cleanest yeast on the market that can ferment at ale temperatures. Dry or liquid, preferable dry.

 

[craven_morhead]

US-05 has been my go-to.

 

[FishinDave07]

I've done US-05 and Nottingham. Both give me clean results.

 

[brrman]

I find US-05 a great yeast. WY1056 tends to be clean for me as well. Water quality will likely come into play though.

 

[Revvy]

My favorite neutral ale yeast hands down is US-05. I use it for probably 99% of my brews.

 

[JonK331]

I love US-05 as well but it seems to act very differently at different temperatures. At 62f it almost seems as clean as a lager yeast. However, at 72f it seems very different. Last year I inadvertantly made an almost Kristal Weisse like beer after fermenting 05 at around 72f. I am very interested in Safale -04 as well. It doesn't seem like a traditional English ALe Yeast to me. In my experience it is also a very clean yeast and flocks out much better than 05. What is also interesting is that Morebeer sells S-05 with some of their Kolsch kits; this confirms that, when fermented at the lowest end of the ale range, S-05 is SUPER CLEAN. Has anyone else experienced this? What I would really like to be able to do is make super clean, crisp lager like ales without having to go down as low into the lager temp range. THese new dry yeasts are really amazing and I think they are more versatile and have more potential than we have yet to realize.

 

[jsullivan02130]

I am currently fermenting 12 lbs. of German Pils with an ale yeast and am keeping it cool, hoping for a clean clear beer (.75 oz Magnum for bittering and 2 oz of Saaz for flavor/aroma).

I chilled the wort to 45 degrees and put it in a water bath, also at 45, before pitching with rehydrated US-05 -- I love Boston water, especially in the winter.

The water bath rose to about 55 in 24 hours and the airlock started bubbling. It is now at 59-60 and I'll keep it there for a few days then slowly raise it up. While I don't have temp control for lagers, I'm expecting to get something clean and crisp for summer drinking.

I will lager this for a few months in the back hall at about 40 to clear it up as much as possible.

 

[permo]

I am %100 sold on nottingham ale yeast fermented 64-68 degrees and not a touch warmer.

However, US-05 is nice too....IMO it is a little less attenuative (close though) and does not clear or floc as well. Good yeast though for sure.

I don't have firsthand experience with it, but Rogue Pacman is allegedly the cleanest.

 

[Teacher]

US-05 for me, though I used to use Notty a lot and liked it. The only problem with it, as indicated above, is that it gets pretty estery at around 70 or higher, whereas I find US-05 a little more tolerant at that spot.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'll add Pacman to the list since nobody else has mentioned it. Fantastic clean fermenting yeast.

 

[david_42]

Ditto on US-05 and Notty below 65F. US-05 up to 75F.

 

[humann_brewing]

US-05 @ 60F internal temp or pacman too

 

[mordantly]

wy1056 is very crisp

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Bread yeast

 

[shortyjacobs]

I find US-05 a great yeast. WY1056 tends to be clean for me as well. Water quality will likely come into play though.

I've *heard* that those are the same strain of yeast....Chico or something....

 

[PiMaxC]

Has anyone attempted to use a champagne yeast?

I have been using that for my Apfelweins so far and it's extremely clean.

I'm curious what it would do in a beer.

 

[evan38109]

Has anyone attempted to use a champagne yeast?

I have been using that for my Apfelweins so far and it's extremely clean.

I'm curious what it would do in a beer.

I just came across this on Wyeast's "New and Notable" section of FAQs at:

http://www.wyeastlab.com/faqs.cfm?website=2&CategoryID=12#r178

I am making a high alcohol Barleywine at 12% and really want to make it as sparkling as champagne at 4 vols or more. I am looking to make the beer in the Champagnois method and disgorge, though it might not be possible. I have heard that dropping a bit of wine yeast (or this one English yeast that can go to 25%abv) into it in order to carb it up. I have heard that the alcohol will prove to be a bit tough on the yeast. What would you advise in order to make the beer sparkling enough and at the same time be able to have the yeast survive? What yeast should I use? I am really looking to be able to make this over the course of a few months, so the starter I think is most important. Do you have any suggestions? Matt

Hi Matt, Thank you for the email. A Champagne strain (Wyeast 4021) will be an excellent choice for bottle conditioning this beer. Additional sugar (dextrose or sucrose) will be required at bottling. Bottle condition with 1-1.5 million cells per ml. Wine strains will readily ferment simple sugars and are alcohol tolerant; however they will struggle with larger malt sugars making Champagne yeast a poor choice for primary fermentation. 1084 Irish Ale will be a nice strain for your primary fermentation. I hope that this helps. Cheers, Greg [emphasis added]​

 

[jaba]

I've actually found wyeast 1007 german ale to be pretty clean, almost lager-like, if you ferment cold, below 60. It does not floc out very well though, so keep that in mind. I made an oktoberfest ale with it, kept it at 59 the whole time and had excellent results.

 

[Pappers_]

I used WLP060 American Ale Blend for a cream ale a year or so ago and thought it came out very clean. Since then I've been using US05 for lighter beers, but have been thinking I should use the WLP060 again.

 

[mymbtheduke]

I use Notty a lot. But S-04 is the cleanest, fastest most attentuative (new word) I have ever seen. I use it on my milds but might try it on a dry stout. It is crazy fast. Great for 1 week beers.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I thought Wyeast 1056, and WLP001 are the same. If so I like WLP001 at ~65° it seems to be clean and crisp for me. Not the greatest flocculation, though.

 

[JonK331]

I agree about the S-04. I think it may be a bit cleaner than the 05. I used the K-97 recently. That one is pretty clean also.

 

[jmo88]

to me s-04 has a distinctive peppery or spicy aroma. It's clean for an English ale yeast but not as clean as 05. 1056 and 001 are a little cleaner than us-05 IMO.

 

[petep1980]

WLP001 seems a little hoppy to be a clean yeast. Even in my starter, which wasn't hopped, it smelled like hops.

 

[gubby]

to me s-04 has a distinctive peppery or spicy aroma. It's clean for an English ale yeast but not as clean as 05. 1056 and 001 are a little cleaner than us-05 IMO.

I agree with this as far as the 1056 and 001 being cleaner than the US-05. I typically get an interesting pale stonefruit/tropical fruit ester from the US-05 at warmer temps. It works well with a fruitier/more citrusy hop character. I just used the s-04 in a split batch of bitter, the other half feremented with WLP007. The 007 has a nice round malt character with a little fruity-ness, where the S-04 has these huge apple notes, almost like apple juice. I'm pretty sure it's not acetaldehyde either since both beers were a 2 week ferment under the same conditions. Maybe it will clean up with a bit more time in the bottle, but it was quite apparent that I like the WLP007 much better.