Liquid yeast vs. dry yeast

[plumber]

I have always used Wyeast for beer and have never tried a dry yeast. I see a lot of post and recipies using dry yeast and was wondering what everyones favorits are. Do I want to try dry or just stick to what I've been using and know?

 

[Fingers]

It's a personal preference thing. Some use dry for every brew, some for select brews. I'm a liquid yeast man, but I'll occasionally drop a pack of Nottingham in an English Ale to save money. You should definitely keep a pack in your fridge in case your liquid doesn't take off and for some reason you can't or won't get more.

 

[menschmaschine]

Depends on what you brew... if it's a lot of American and British ales, there are some fine dry yeasts out there. If you brew belgians or lagers, your choices are much more limited, and in most cases, rightly so.

 

[polarbearbrewing]

personally, if it came down to equivalent types of liquid/dry yeast i see no reason not to use dry yeast...its cheaper and i would make a starter regardless of whether it was dry or liquid unless the recipe specifically says not to

 

[Saccharomyces]

I like SafAle US05 for clean ales. I pitch it straight in since it's an 11G packet, that's about as many viable cells as I would usually pitch from a 750ml liquid yeast starter. Saves time and $$.

- Eric

 

[elkdog]

S-05 and S-04 are my go-to's, the former for American and the latter for English styles. Nottingham is also great, perhaps the most versatile yeast around, and I use it when I can get it, for a nice clean beer.

Dry yeast is also great as a back up. I keep a couple varieties in my fridge, and was really glad for it when I had a brew that didn't start fermenting.

 

[jpsloan]

I love the yeast cake that Notty makes. Those critters just drop right the heck out of there... very courteous! I use Notty and Safale S-05 on the cleaner, lighter beers. Also... I can order a packet online and not sweat the heat in the UPS truck.

I'd still use liquids when I want to do something particular, like a Hefe or a Wit.

 

[EdWort]

I use liquids for Kolsch, and Bavarian Hefe, but Nottingham and Safale-05 for my other beers. Why? Because they are cheaper, convenient as all get out, and they make great beer!

 

[njnear76]

I have used Nottingham for almost every brew I have made. It's a powerful reliable relatively clean yeast.

It also seems somewhat forgiving. I think there was times that fermentation temperature was a little higher (Think 73-74F) than it should, but it had no detectable side effects.
Mike

 

[cubbies]

Dry yeasts and liquid yeasts both have their advantages.

Dry yeast is readily pitchable into wort. Some people suggest re-hydrating it, but I always just dump it in and have <4hour lag times.

Liquid yeast however has a much wider array of styles. There are many liquid yeast styles that don't even exist in the dry yeast market.

That is really the only disadvantage of dry yeast. It used to be thought that there was no way to make dry yeast 100% pure. Meaning that for every 100 million yeast cells, there was a handful of rogue organisms that could potentially ruin a batch of beer. I don't think, if this ever was a problem, that it is a problem now.

My preference is to keep both on hand. I brew mostly English and American style Ales. So I keep about 10 packets of dry yeast on hand. I also buy my grain and hops in bulk, so with dry yeast, if I want to brew on a whim, I can. However, I also brew a number of different ales like Hefeweisen, Kolsch, Altbier, Dubbel etc...these beers require specialized yeast that are only found in the liquid arena. Granted, if I want to brew one of these styles, I have to plan ahead a few days to get a good starter going, but if it were not for these liquid yeasts, I would not be able to brew a proper beer of these styles.

Long story short, if you want to use dry yeast for English and American ales, go right ahead. It is not going to effect anything except the smaller price tag. However, if you plan on brewing more "specialized" beers, you are going to have to use liquid yeast.

 

[Revvy]

Safale US-05 is my favorite go to yest as well...

I just brewed a couple of batches using Danstary Nottingham and Windsor dry yeasts as well...I tend to use mostly dry yeast, but I also wash and re-use my yeasts, iand harvested pacman from bottles of Rogue beer, so the re-used yeast technically are liquids after the first pitch.

 

[zoebisch01]

Dry yeast for the majority of what I do. Including Lagers. Liquid for Hefe, Wit and most Belgian Ales....in other words where the yeast profile is showcased.

S-04 is probably my favorite Dry Ale yeast because of it's flocculation and compaction. But everything has its purpose. Nottingham for high gravity Ales where you want a clean profile. Windsor is great if you want to keep your final gravity high. One good Ale yeast which, imho doesn't seem to be used that much is S-33. I use this to make my Belgian Pale and when you ramp up the temp (as you would when making say a Tripel, etc) it will give you a very good flavor profile.

 

[Revvy]

One good Ale yeast which, imho doesn't seem to be used that much is S-33. I use this to make my Belgian Pale and when you ramp up the temp (as you would when making say a Tripel, etc) it will give you a very good flavor profile.

Funny, I was wondering if there were any good dry yeasts to use for Tripels. Thanks for the info!

 

[david_42]

My work here is over.

 

[plumber]

Thanks for all the replies. I mostly do American and English ales. I do know for the specialty beers a liquid is a must, it was just for the more common and lighter beers I was wondering about. Guess it is time to try some dry and see what happens.

 

[BearsWickedBrew]

Quick question regarding dry yeasts like Safale US 05...

When ordering a dry yeast online...knowing it will take @ least 5+ days to get delivered, does anybody bother with the "ice pack" option?

I had thought cool temps were more important for liquid yeasts, but I noticed that some people refridgerate their dry yeasts as well.

 

[bob1852]

I've used dry except for one batch, and I was worried about the liquid so much that I pitched some dry with it (it was a really high OG, so I figured it wouldn't hurt).

And, if EdWort and Revvy use mainly dry, so shall I.

 

[McGarnigle]

Quick question regarding dry yeasts like Safale US 05...

When ordering a dry yeast online...knowing it will take @ least 5+ days to get delivered, does anybody bother with the "ice pack" option?

I had thought cool temps were more important for liquid yeasts, but I noticed that some people refridgerate their dry yeasts as well.

It's one thing to refrigerate it, it's another to pay for an ice pack. I'd assumed those were only for liquid, but would be curious to hear otherwise.

 

[s3n8]

Dry yeast for the majority of what I do. Including Lagers. Liquid for Hefe, Wit and most Belgian Ales....in other words where the yeast profile is showcased.

S-04 is probably my favorite Dry Ale yeast because of it's flocculation and compaction. But everything has its purpose. Nottingham for high gravity Ales where you want a clean profile. Windsor is great if you want to keep your final gravity high. One good Ale yeast which, imho doesn't seem to be used that much is S-33. I use this to make my Belgian Pale and when you ramp up the temp (as you would when making say a Tripel, etc) it will give you a very good flavor profile.

My next brew is going to be a fat tire like malty amber. I have a pack of S-33 i bought just to experiment with. OG should be around 1.05, but the spec sheet says "FG = High". I do not want it to finish too high. What kind of attenuation do you get with S-33? I would like something around 65 - 70%.

 

[zoebisch01]

My next brew is going to be a fat tire like malty amber. I have a pack of S-33 i bought just to experiment with. OG should be around 1.05, but the spec sheet says "FG = High". I do not want it to finish too high. What kind of attenuation do you get with S-33? I would like something around 65 - 70%.

It is usually 70% to like the mid 70's iirc. Are you doing AG? If so you can compensate by bolting your mash temp up.

 

[s3n8]

Yes, I am doing all grain. I thought upping the mash temp made it less fermentable? I was planning on mashing around 152.

I would be happy with 70% attenuation, that would put me around 1.013. That seems about right.

 

[brewt00l]

FWIW, my version of the 888 RIS used 2 packs of S33 w/ a fermentation temp right about 68-70. To date, no comments on any belgian-esque flavor profile.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=61881

 

[s3n8]

I don't have any high hopes for recreating a real Belgian flavor profile, just looking at this as more of an experiment, and to try the yeast out on something that it wouldnt be entirely out of place in. Maybe I will try to keep it 70 - 72 to see what happens? Most of my beers have a very neutral yeast flavor (WL-001, Nottingham, S-04, S-05, and one WB-06).

 

[zoebisch01]

FWIW, my version of the 888 RIS used 2 packs of S33 w/ a fermentation temp right about 68-70. To date, no comments on any belgian-esque flavor profile.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=61881

Yeah but that's a RIS not a single malt :fro:. I don't claim that you'll get stuff like say the Ardennes strain, but it will produce a pleasant fruitiness that imo fits for things like some Belgian Ales. I personally have restricted my use to two of my recipes, one a Belgian Pale and the other is something sort of a Dubbel but not exactly. I chose the S-33 because it has a unique characteristic when ramped up into the mid 70's around day 3 or 4 of the ferment.

 

[zoebisch01]

My next brew is going to be a fat tire like malty amber. I have a pack of S-33 i bought just to experiment with. OG should be around 1.05, but the spec sheet says "FG = High". I do not want it to finish too high. What kind of attenuation do you get with S-33? I would like something around 65 - 70%.

My father said that my Belgian Pale Ale reminded him of Fat Tire.

 

[brewt00l]

Yeah but that's a RIS not a single malt :fro:. I don't claim that you'll get stuff like say the Ardennes strain, but it will produce a pleasant fruitiness that imo fits for things like some Belgian Ales. I personally have restricted my use to two of my recipes, one a Belgian Pale and the other is something sort of a Dubbel but not exactly. I chose the S-33 because it has a unique characteristic when ramped up into the mid 70's around day 3 or 4 of the ferment.

I've used S33 quite a bit in everything from IPAs to porters, stouts and the RIS. Fermented in the low/mid 70s it definitely has a nice fruity ester profile with out a lot of harsh fusels. IMHO it is more that anyone expecting to use S33 and get a nice Belgian style ester/phenol profile is going to be a bit short changed....not that this disagrees with your posts.

My father said that my Belgian Pale Ale reminded him of Fat Tire.

Nice. Though, not exactly a showcase of belgian yeast profile either considering the brewery recs an am ale strain for clones.

 

[zoebisch01]

IMHO it is more that anyone expecting to use S33 and get a nice Belgian style ester/phenol profile is going to be a bit short changed.

Absolutely. There is no equivalent dry strain available to my knowledge that will match any of them. I don't really know how to describe it, the fruitiness of it. I do know it is reportedly the Edme strain, but either way I think it gives a 'soft' fruitiness that is very distinct but in no way will give you some of the awesome things that some of those strains can.

 

[zoebisch01]

Yes, I am doing all grain. I thought upping the mash temp made it less fermentable? I was planning on mashing around 152.

I would be happy with 70% attenuation, that would put me around 1.013. That seems about right.

Ah sorry, I misread your post. I was thinking you wanted it to finish high (because of the 65-70). Yeah I think if you do 151/152 you should be close to what you want.

 

[cheezydemon]

It all comes down to selection. Dry yeast will make beer, no question.

If there were as many dry yeasts available as liquid, dry would probably be better from a storage standpoint.

Until I see an "Irish Ale" dry yeast from a reputable company, I am sure as hell not going to just drop nottingham's in every batch.

Yeast is a huge ingredient. Too many people think that it just converts wort to beer with no thought to what flavors it creates or eliminates.

 

[s3n8]

It all comes down to selection. Dry yeast will make beer, no question.

If there were as many dry yeasts available as liquid, dry would probably be better from a storage standpoint.

Until I see an "Irish Ale" dry yeast from a reputable company, I am sure as hell not going to just drop nottingham's in every batch.

Yeast is a huge ingredient. Too many people think that it just converts wort to beer with no thought to what flavors it creates or eliminates.

I like Nottinghams for what it is, a high attenuation, reliable, clean and neutral yeast. I am at the point where I would like to try a few more different yeasts, and so far, I like S-05 (for the same reason as Nottingham), S-04 seems to be clean and neutral but a higher gravity finish at cooler temps, and banannabomb if you let it get too warm. Jury is still out on WB-06, I think I will go liquid if I ever make another wheat. I have a packet of S-33 next in line to round out my experiment, and I think something like a fat tire would be a good candidate to give it a go. A little fruity character would go well with the style, and wont be overwhelmed by hops.

I don't think anyone will disagree with your statement that there are a lot of styles that require liquid yeasts, I am looking for something to use my S-33 on rather than which yeast to use for a particular recipe.

 

[stevea1210]

Based on what many have commented on here, am I wasting my money when I buy Wyeast 1056, 1272 or wlp001?

Is there an advantage to using a liquid "American ale" yeast, or should I save the $6 and get a dry?

 

[s3n8]

I was under the impression that S-05 was pretty much equivalent to 1056. Maybe even the same strain? Someone who knows more than I do please correct me if I am wrong.

I have only used 001 and 1056 once each. I do not think either one contributes much to the overall profile of the beer, but that is what they are known for. Clean neutral profile.

I like S-05 or Nottingham for a nice clean high attenuation ferment.