If you could only have 3 yeasts

[NotSure]

All dry yeasts due to long-life...
US-05 because it's a workhorse for US Styles
Nottingham because it's a workhorse for English Styles
S-189 because if I only had three yeasts, I'd need a lager and S-189 has never given me any trouble.

 

[balrog]

WY1007 - altbiers
WY1450 - pales
GigaYeast021 - perfect light wine ester Kölsch

 

[grampamark]

I live way off the beaten path. Whatever the estimated delivery date is I can add 2 or 3 days. It gets really hot here in the summer and really, really cold in the winter, and freight trucks aren’t climate controlled. So, I use only dry yeast.

If I had to limit myself to 3 yeasts they would be US-05 for ales, 34/70 for lagers, and Munich Classic for wheat beers.

 

[couchsending]

34/70
Vermont
ECY Kolschbier

 

[Qhrumphf]

Some version of Weih. 34/70 for them crispibois.

Some version of Whitbread B because it's versatile enough for both US and UK styles (though my fav for neither)

And then the Weihenstephaner Hefe yeast. Because for Hefe (one of my fav styles) absolutely nothing else will do.

Sorry, Belgium. I love you but you didn't make the cut. Though spontaneous fermentation ain't using yeast now is it?

 

[chessking]

It cant be done.
It goes against the laws of nature. You need at least 1 lager strain, one Belgian, one English and one clean ale. I'm already one over, and haven't got to Heffe, or Saison.

No, sorry, four is the absolute minimum. This is the hill I will die on. I would rather give up beer and start drinking Kombucha, (well, maybe not that far). Any way the four would be:

Chico for clean Ales, Scottish/Irish Ales, or anything else I cant put in a particular box.
Westmalle For Belgians.
Ayinger For Lagers.
Whitbread Dry for English Ales.

With an honorable mention to Weihenstephan, and Fullers.

 

[AzOr]

It's interesting that there's not many picks for kveik strains. I've seen Lutra mentioned but that's it.

On another note- I'm sticking with Notty for its versatility in British and American ales. But also makes a decent cider. Not the best but damn acceptable.

 

[Saunassa]

Dry yeast would be:
Voss for all around, great for cream ales and summertime brewing.
Munich Classic for wheat beers, yum here.
Nottingham since it works and drops clear.

 

[seatazzz]

Happy to see my go-to Notty mentioned several times above. I've never gone wrong with it. For lagers I like S-23, or Diamond; S23 lasts longer through more generations in my experience. The only liquid yeast I like is Imperial Loki; I can only use it in the dead of summer, since I'm dead scared to run my ferment fridge with the heat lamp too long; would rather ferment hot out in the garage or in the house using ambient temperatures when it's already warm outside. Nottingham is the most forgiving yeast I've ever tried, with a huge range and usually ferments clean, and since I tend to re-use slurries it will go for at least 5 generations without throwing nasty esters, as long as I keep it happy.

 

[fragged]

Now thinking a little more, I might sub one out for a hefe yeast. Hate to pick which one, but one would go. I feel like if you give me the rest of my life I'll figure out a way to get it to work in a non- wheated ale. Or to get 3711 to work somewhere it shouldn't.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Interesting thread. My most used strains over the past few years have been:

• WLP001/WY1056/US-05: For making IPAs and APAs.
• WLP013 London Ale: For dark English beers (but might move to London Ale III or Verdant)
• WLP530/WY3787/Westmalle: For various Trappist/Belgian beers.

No, sorry, four is the absolute minimum.

• WLP565/WY3724: I have not settled on the Dupont strain, but it has made some good Saisons for me.

In 2021 I plan to give more dry yeasts a go. The quality and selection is pretty good these days and the long storage and ease of use is really appealing.

 

[Hanglow]

Assuming I could maintain them

Harvey's, for characterful bitters etc
Holts for a cleaner yeast, more hop forward ales
Dupont for saisons.

Would be annoyed I couldn't make weiss beers though

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

For the most part I've already simplified from liquid to dry yeast. I could further simplify to:
1) Nottingham
2) S-189
3) Verdant

And since Nottingham ferments down to 50 degrees F., I could actually drop the S-189 and trim this down to only Nottingham and Verdant, and then introduce Abbaye whereby to further expand my 3 yeast horizons. If then permitted an occasional fourth, it would be Munich Classic. Thus:
1) Nottingham
2) Verdant
3) Abbaye
4) Munich Classic (only if permitted)

Blends of these could also be utilized. Particularly blends of Nottingham and Verdant, whereby to tone down the fruitiness of the Verdant.

 

[BreeBrew]

I just love the dry yeasts of Mangrove Jack's. They always perform well but I have to say I use whatever Beersmith tells me to use, most of the times that is 2 packages on a 5 gallon batch, except for the M12 which I underpitch.
- M12 - Kveik Yeast
- M31 - Belgian Tripel
- M44 - US West Coast

 

[CascadesBrewer]

then introduce Abbaye

Have you used this yeast much? Dave Taylor's chart lists this as the same strain as WLP500 (Chimay). While WLP530 (Westmalle) has been my go to yeast for Trappist styles, the Chimay strain is also a pretty solid one.

Blends of these could also be utilized.

I am curious a bit about this as well. Dry yeast would make blending reasonably cost effective and easy.

 

[duncan.brown]

If I had to pick three, I say:

1. WY1318 London III for my English pub ales.
2. WY2308 Munich is my favorite lager strain, although I'd settle for 34/70.
3. WY1214 Belgian Abbey as it's good in a range of Belgian styles.

2565, 1056, and 1099 would all be close runners up.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Have you used this yeast much? Dave Taylor's chart lists this as the same strain as WLP500 (Chimay). While WLP530 (Westmalle) has been my go to yeast for Trappist styles, the Chimay strain is also a pretty solid one.

I have not. But in an email conversation with a technician at Lallemand it was all but confirmed that Abbaye is from the Chimay strain. Albeit that within the same back and forth email conversation it was expressed that all of the claimed to be 'Chimay' strain yeasts (liquid and Abbaye) will reveal some level of slight genetic variations that (if you really want to be persnickety) make them technically different. So beware of their being called fully the same. But then even Chimay yeast cultured from the Monastery itself must mildly yet continuously change genetically somewhat with the passing of time and generations.

I've successfully used blends of Windsor and Nottingham a few times in the past.

Once when I found myself with only one pack of W-34/70 dry yeast for a Vienna Lager I tossed in a pack of Nottingham along with the W-34/70 and fermented at 53-54 F. In the end that one turned out to be as clean as expected, and I didn't detect anything unusual from the use of the Nottingham. I've yet to attempt Nottingham alone at 52-54 degrees F. for a Lager though.

 

[Ironkeybrewing]

my 3 would be
us-05
us-04
and 34/70 for lagers

I also just got some kveik lutra and im hoping to try it very soon

 

[AzOr]

It cant be done.
It goes against the laws of nature. You need at least 1 lager strain, one Belgian, one English and one clean ale. I'm already one over, and haven't got to Heffe, or Saison.

No, sorry, four is the absolute minimum. This is the hill I will die on. I would rather give up beer and start drinking Kombucha, (well, maybe not that far). Any way the four would be:

Chico for clean Ales, Scottish/Irish Ales, or anything else I cant put in a particular box.
Westmalle For Belgians.
Ayinger For Lagers.
Whitbread Dry for English Ales.

With an honorable mention to Weihenstephan, and Fullers.

Agreed. Choosing only 3 yeast varieties is barbaric.

Please, for the love of God, nobody ask the question, "pick only 3 hops". I will fight you.

 

[HopsAreGood]

my 3 would be
us-05
us-04
and 34/70 for lagers

I also just got some kveik lutra and im hoping to try it very soon

Sorry to be a stickler but why do people always call S-04 “us-04”? I mean, obviously it’s because the fermentis Chico strain is “us-05” but there is nothing US about S-04. It’s 1 million percent English.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Agreed. Choosing only 3 yeast varieties is barbaric.

Please, for the love of God, nobody ask the question, "pick only 3 hops". I will fight you.

Check the related threads below...

 

[monkeymath]

Please, for the love of God, nobody ask the question, "pick only 3 hops". I will fight you.

Much much easier than 3 yeasts.

I could brew basically everything I want using Mittelfrüh and East Kent Goldings alone.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Much much easier than 3 yeasts.

Same for me. EKG, Citra and Cascade would be my three (with EKG covering more than half). Tettnang close behind.

 

[NotSure]

Sorry to be a stickler but why do people always call S-04 “us-04”? I mean, obviously it’s because the fermentis Chico strain is “us-05” but there is nothing US about S-04. It’s 1 million percent English.

View attachment 730296

Speaking as a dual citizen. This is very un-American.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

For the case of 3 hops I might get by with these for the bulk of my brewing:
Magnum
Cascade
Saaz

 

[Kerry]

This is very tough.

I'd have to go dry and then:

US-05 for most any ale I brew.
34/70 for most any lager I brew.

and then flip a coin between 380/3068 and Abbaye/Belle Saison

 

[Kerry]

For the case of 3 hops I might get by with these for the bulk of my brewing:
Magnum
Cascade
Saaz

Mine as well

 

[Shermwormbrew]

34/70 All day for lagers
1318 for English Ales and Hazy Bois
Wyeast 2565 Kölsch strain for Kölsch and kettle sours

 

[kpsalerno]

I like it, nice and simple, I don't wash my saved yeast anymore, but I could still re-pitch a few times. Do you prefer Nottingham over S-O4?

S-04 was the first yeast I used, I made 70 batches with it over the course of seven years until I finally realized it attenuates too high (74% - 80% with temperature control in dedicated fridge, depending on recipe and mash process) always resulting in drier ales than I was intending. Re-pitching got slightly lower AA, but still not what I wanted. Call me stubborn, but for many years of spontaneous brew days relying on the long shelf life of dry yeast, I didn't consider liquid yeast until I got into saving and repitching.

I recently switched to WLP002 for english style ales and on its first run with a grist of 93% pale malt mashed single infusion at 150F and 7% invert suger added in the boil, fermented at 64F for seven days and 70F for three, I got 72% attenuation, exactly what I was aiming for (the invert pushed it up from 70% and I intentionally mashed low for this particular beer). The result was a slightly sweeter beer with more depth and aroma compared to what I would have gotten with S-04 that I know from experience would have fermented to at least 77% or higher with this recipe.

If you compare S-04 to an equivalent liquid yeast strain, it is categorized as a dry (as in high attenuation up to 80+%) Whitbread strain, while they offer a different Whitbread strain that attenuates lower like Fuller's strain I'm using, so there might be a misconception that S-04 is a general purpose English strain when it is probably more suited to styles you want to dry out, not so good for a style like bitter.

Long reply, but basically agreeing with the gentleman who pointed you towards Nottingham over S-04 as I believe Nottingham has a lower AA range. Also further proof for me S-04 is too high of an attenuator for most low gravity English styles, look for example how popular it is in NEIPA, an American style.

 

[soccerdad]

Two small half loops turn 3 to 8. Perfect!