I took a homebrew classic and swapped out the yeast to see what would happen

[BrewersJourney]

Link: Homebrewing a Centennial Blonde Lager

One of my favourite parts about this hobby is being able to experiment and tweak recipes and variables! Has anyone else done anything similar to this classic HomeBrewTalk recipe with good results?

 

[gunhaus]

Of course. I have used several yeasts for this brew. I swapped base grain to Marris Otter a couple times. And although in the end I prefer the hops as listed, i have messed with noble hop combo's and english hop combos. Same for Ed Wort's Haus Pale, Cream of Three crops, and a couple of other standards around here. Sometimes this comes about based on ingredients in the larder, sometimes just for the hell of it.

 

[BrewersJourney]

Nice. Did you find the MO change had a noticeable impact on flavour?

 

[gunhaus]

Yup. I brewed a batch with MO/Notty/centennial and cascade, and it was noticeably more "bready" and a bit sweeter. I really prefer the slightly drier beer I get with good old 2-row. But in reality there are not huge differences. I did the same grain bill and yeast again, only with Northdown and EKG, bumped up to like 24-25 IBU, and it became a sort of Blonde Ale/Ordinary Bitter hybrid if you want to look at it that way. (I actually liked that one quite a bit - but still prefer my regular ordinary bitter with MO, DRC, Biscuit, and 34-35 IBU) Blonde ales are pretty forgiving critters. I brewed one with just 8.5 lbs of MO. Notty for yeast, and the centennial/cascade listed for this beer and it was a damn nice beer.

 

[bkboiler]

There's a Homebrew classic recipe that Denny Conn made for his Barrel Aged Porter. It uses a Wyeast Strain *literally* called "Denny's Favorite 50".

Switching it in the recipe seems inconceivable right? well... no LHBS near me sells Wyeast and I've not had great results shipping it during my summer temps in advance of brewing it for my brother in law's fall wedding.

So I believe I subbed White Labs American Ale yeast and used good quality BSG oak and Makers Mark. ... Turned out great even tho I missed my gravity by a LOT!
I learned to RDWHAHB.