Liquid Yeast vs Dry Yeast

[Bstrom3]

I just started extract brewing and had two questions about yeast.

1) Is there a large difference in the finished product when using liquid yeast vs dry yeast? Just wondering if it's worth the extra couple of dollars for liquid yeast.

2) I'm ordering a couple kits and may have to wait a week or two to brew the second kit. Do I need to do anything special to store the yeast (or any other ingredients) so that they do not go bad while I wait to free up space in my fermenter?

 

[marubozo]

You should search here for the liquid vs. dry argument. To sum it up, both make excellent beer. Some people win awards with dry yeast exclusively while others do so with liquid. The real difference comes from the yeast strains available in each form. Dry yeast it somewhat limited whereas you can find a much greater selection of yeast strains in liquid form. So, if your beer calls for a specific yeast or can benefit from a unique yeast characteristic then it might be better to go the liquid route if they have your strain. In the end, either one will work just fine if you treat the yeast properly.

2. Are the kits supplied with dry or liquid yeast? If it's dry, just keep them in a cool dark place or even in the fridge if you want. Pretty hard to mess those packets up unless you subject them to extreme temps. If liquid yeast, you'll certainly want to keep that in the fridge where it's typically good for a couple of months.

 

[Bstrom3]

You should search here for the liquid vs. dry argument. To sum it up, both make excellent beer. Some people win awards with dry yeast exclusively while others do so with liquid. The real difference comes from the yeast strains available in each form. Dry yeast it somewhat limited whereas you can find a much greater selection of yeast strains in liquid form. So, if your beer calls for a specific yeast or can benefit from a unique yeast characteristic then it might be better to go the liquid route if they have your strain. In the end, either one will work just fine if you treat the yeast properly.

2. Are the kits supplied with dry or liquid yeast? If it's dry, just keep them in a cool dark place or even in the fridge if you want. Pretty hard to mess those packets up unless you subject them to extreme temps. If liquid yeast, you'll certainly want to keep that in the fridge where it's typically good for a couple of months.

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at a couple of extract kits from Austin Homebrew Supply (one or two wheats/hefes and maybe a Mexican Amber for the summer). Each kit has the option to chose between a couple of liquid yeasts and a dry yeast.

 

[marubozo]

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at a couple of extract kits from Austin Homebrew Supply (one or two wheats/hefes and maybe a Mexican Amber for the summer). Each kit has the option to chose between a couple of liquid yeasts and a dry yeast.

If you're doing a wheat/hefe then you're typically going to use a liquid yeast if you want to keep it exactly to style. But a lot of people still brew their wheat beers with a dry yeast and have great results.

The bottom line is you can use either and make awesome beer, but if you do choose to use liquid yeast you should treat it properly and go through with making a starter first. If you don't have time to or can't make a starter, you may still end up with better results using a dry yeast.

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

and if you are going to use a dry yeast try out the safale WB-06. As far as i know it is close to actual german authenticity for a hefe as you are going to get with a dry yeast.