Dry Yeast Only

[joshuansanders]

Hello all,

How many of you use dry yeast exclusive? And which ones do you swear by?
And why do you choose to use dry yeast only?

Thanks HBT
Josh

 

[aiptasia]

I think it depends on what you're trying to accomplish in your beer recipe. I tend to think of what kind of beer I want to taste and design my recipes around that. I've used both dry and liquid yeasts with success and there are good strains out there in both. The only advantage i've found with liquid yeasts is the greater variety of yeast to choose from.

Good dry yeasts i've used are: Safale S04, S05, T-33. Danstar (lallemand): Nottingham, Windsor. Lalvin: EC-1118, D47, pasteur champagne.

I usually don't make a starter because I either forget or just don't take the time (lazy) to make one. I will make up for that by pitching multiple packets or tubes of yeast, which is more expensive but not out of my budget. I do hydrate my dry yeasts before pitching and mix them up into a slurry. I do the same with my liquid yeasts (almost always White Labs yeasts) by warming them up to room temperature and then shaking the hell out of the yeast in the vials back into a slurry. Then I pitch.

 

[kh54s10]

I use dry and liquid.

Why limit yourself to the fewer varieties available in dry.

I always keep some dry yeast on hand for when I don't have time to make a starter or for a spur of the moment brew session.

 

[boydster]

I use both. It just depends on what I want from the beer. Yeast plays a major role in the final product. If I'm making an APA/IPA/IIPA, I tend to use US-05 or Notty because they are cheap, easy to use, and let the hops be the star of the show. For many other styles (and even sometimes for those styles), I often turn to the Wyeast options that my LHBS stocks. I like WL, but I don't mail order yeast very much - especially in the winter in Maine.

 

[mb82]

Primarily I brew with Dry yeast, or washed dry yeast. But there are times I go with the liquid option because dry yeasts just don't give me the flavor I want.

 

[djt17]

Both; typically dry (US-05) for ales & always liquid for lagers.

 

[RmikeVT]

I love US-05 for anything clean. APA, AIPA, Scotch Ale, Red Ale. I just trust the yeast and get good results. It is cheap and easy to use. I was on a notty kick for a while but think I prefer US-05 for the clean beers. I like to use notty when I am trying to turnaround a clean beer in 10-14 days. I think US-05 really benefits from 3-4 week conditioning period to drop the yeast out. I don't have a lot of experience with s-04. I brewed with it three times and 2 times, something went wrong. I decided I realy wanted to get a "go to" dry yeast that accentuated the malty english yeast, so I tried it again and the beer is still conditioning. I do love WLP002 and WLP005, as they always turns out great beer.

Anyway, why would you limit yourself to just one type of yeast. Although, if mangrove jack yeasts ever start getting popular here in the states, they have a great variety of dry yeasts.

 

[Yooper]

While dry yeast is convenient, it only comes in a couple of varieties. While some a pretty darn good, for anything with a lot of character in English ales, liquid is pretty much a necessity just to have the variety.

I think of yeast as something that gives beer much of its flavor and character. It's like seasoning for food, in that way. Dry yeast would be the general "salt and pepper", while some of the hefeweizen yeast strains might be the "oregano" while you're making spaghetti. (Bad analogies, but I think you can understand what I mean!).

For beers with a "clean" flavor, a dry yeast like S05 might be perfect. But if you want a steam beer with that fruity/lager finish, or an English beer with some esters to make it authentic, there just aren't any dry yeast that will do that for you.

 

[masonsjax]

Way too limited with dry only, you gotta have liquid yeast too. All those fantastic bacteria blends from ECY don't come in dry packs. Nuff said.

 

[myelo]

Voted dry yeast only but that's because I'm a newbie and still want to get everything else ironed out before I add another variable with differnt yeasts and starters. So far for bigger beers I just pitch 2 packs to show it who's boss.

But once I get more comfortable I defiitely will start trying liquid yeasts for things like Belgians and English ales.

 

[Beer-lord]

I would never 'stick' myself to one kind of yeast as a homebrewer. I try to get the right yeast for the beer and brewing and if liquid is best, I use liquid. If dry is best, I'll use it.
I always keep some dry around as it last longer than my harvested yeast.

 

[UberHasselhoff]

I started with liquid yeasts and now use dry yeasts almost exclusively. The posts above are correct that there's more variety in strains of liquid yeasts but there are a number of dry yeast advantages:

1) Dry yeast can be pitched in unaerated wort (Source: http://www.danstaryeast.com/about/frequently-asked-questions). Aerating your wort can be done with splashing, but it's ineffective and inconsistent. You could go buy a fish air pump, but that's an added cost and more of a chance for infection. Also, it is possible to over-aerate your wort. I take a keep it simple approach when brewing.

2) No starter needed -- saves time.

3) More yeasties. In a dry pack, "most dry yeast has an average cell density of 20 billion cells per gram" (from MrMalty.com/pitching). So in a 11.5g pack you're looking at 230 billion cells or so. Liquid yeasts boast 100 billion cells.

4) Half the price of pack/tube of liquid.

Good dry yeast can replace most common strains. I've attached a chart with subs.

What I think it comes down to is personal preference. Back in the earlier days of homebrew, dry yeast wasn't nearly the quality it is today, but things have changed a lot since then. So I say, give it a shot.

View attachment Yeast_Substitutions.pdf

 

[joshuansanders]

Thanks for all the great replys. I have been brewing for 2 years now and i mostly brew APA and AIPA. I have used liquid many times before, done the whole yeast starter with stir plate. I now brew in way that is much less time consuming, and using US-05 is much easier and stress free than trying to get a starter done in time for brew day. I understand the pros and cons of each, Thanks UberHasselhoff for the chart.

Thanks again for the great replys

Josh

 

[Zepth]

So far I've been dry and dry alone. When summer rolls around I'll lose my nice low temps in my ferm room and likely start experimenting with liquids and styles that can take a little warmer.

So far I've taken a little bit of a liking to the polarizing T-58. Mostly in spiced or wheat brews that can take the esters and work with them. I've so far had good results with attenuation and fast fermentation starts. Nottingham has never failed me yet.

I can't yet say about any issues having liquid yeast on account of not using them yet, but I can say that being able to grab a dry pack out of the fridge on brew day is beyond convenient. My work schedule is unpredictable at best, in that I find out what my day is when I arrive that morning. Half the time I brew is after a short day at work. Not knowing when I'm able to brew makes me think that timing a starter just right for a batch is going to become a nightmare real quick.

 

[ShadyBrewer]

All I use is dry because that's all my LHBS carries. I wish I could get my hands on some liquid locally


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[Puddlethumper]

I usually use dry yeast because I don't make a whole bunch of different beers. And since I've only been at this for just over a year, I'm finding the learning curve is still pretty steep. Like another brewer posted above, while I'm working out all the kinks in my procedures and equipment I just don't need another variable.

I've learned to work with Notty, S-04, US-05, BRY-97 and have used T-58 a few times. These are all very dependable strains and I am convinced that a person can produce a pretty decent beer of about any type with one of them. But, as others have said, the liquid yeasts give a lot more choices for the more sophisticated palate. In that regard I have learned that to make a really good smoky Irish red I about have to use White Labs Irish ale yeast.

 

[beerchem]

Usually dry for ale and liquid, with starter for lager. With dry yeast I just let the wort splash into the fermenter. With liquid, I aerate with a long-tube aerater attached to a filter and little vibrator pump.

 

[Blastedbones]

Way too limited with dry only, you gotta have liquid yeast too. All those fantastic bacteria blends from ECY don't come in dry packs. Nuff said.

Fungus, surely!

 

[Blastedbones]

Dry yeast, can leave in the fridge for a year & still works fine . ALWAYS hydrate for a couple of hours before pitching. Safale is my usual brand.
Wyeasts supposed to be better, but../shrug

 

[boydster]

Better is a relative thing... beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Someone might like 1056 better than 05, but you can bet there are others that feel just the opposite. Rehydrating is definitely a good idea, but really 30 minutes is all you need. If circumstances mean it takes a couple hours before you can pitch after rehydrating, it's certainly not the end of the world, but the yeast will have already used up the glycogen and trehalose reserves that are supposed to give them an energy boost during the first few minutes after they are pitched into the wort (see here for reference).