S-04 good or bad.

[stevehaun]

I have had good luck with it if I keep my fermentation temps in the low 60s. That said, I prefer wyeast 1968.

 

[lump42]

I have had good luck with it if I keep my fermentation temps in the low 60s. That said, I prefer wyeast 1968.

I've had good luck too in a cool basement (64F/~18C). I personally prefer 1275.

 

[FVillatoro]

In my experience with this yeast, it ferments VERY vigorously and makes my fermentation chamber turn on more than any yeast I've used so far.

Those without active/adequate fermentation control may get undesired flavors due to the liquid temp getting out of control.

I like it.

 

[SRJHops]

I voted Really Like. I suppose it depends on what type of beer you are making, but it works great for my New England IPA's. It ferments very quickly (less than 12 hours) and flocculates great. With that said, I defer to Northern_Brewer, because I have not used a lot of other yeasts. I also purposely turn up the temps, starting at 67 and finishing at 72 -- I am looking for fruity esters and certainly don't mind some tart flavors for my Citra-based NEIPA's.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

So you are saying that none of the (22 now) that like S-04 have brewed with anything but S-04 and US-05???

Well we don't know either way. But no I wasn't saying that - I wasn't counting votes, just using 10 as a random number of people. But yes, I do weight people's comments by their experience, and that's particularly important with something that's positioned as an easy-to-use product that's suitable for beginners.

And there is nothing in either thread that said it was the best. It was stated that a significant portion of homebrewers do not like it. 14.7% (so far) to me is not very significant.

Now 18.3%; 5% is the usual significance level in science... But just generally 1 in 6 suggests that there's something going on, even if most people are happy enough. And I'd rather tease out the whys and wherefores of the conditions where people are unhappy with it than just breeze on as though everything's OK.

 

[kh54s10]

We can knit pic it. About 2 hours ago it was down to 13.4% don't like. And 18.3 is getting close to where I might say significant.

But then you could look at Really like vs Hate. 12 to 1....

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

In my experience with this yeast, it ferments VERY vigorously and makes my fermentation chamber turn on more than any yeast I've used so far.

Those without active/adequate fermentation control may get undesired flavors due to the liquid temp getting out of control.

I like it.

This is exactly what happened to me. I’ve used it twice for sure and I think that my very first beer kit came with it. On the one that ran away with the exothermic reaction, it got up to 84 degrees and I could taste a lot of hot alcohol flavors. Ironically, I saved one of those beers and it sat in my fridge for 6 months and was delicious. The other time I knowingly used it, I was all over it keeping it cool and I got peach flavors that I didn’t prefer. I use US-05 most often, then Nottingham. I also like Windsor. So for my process which includes manual fermentation control.

Nay

But that doesn’t make it a bad yeast, just not for me right now.

 

[wiggybrewer]

Like some people have mentioned, I've had the best luck with brown ale, porters and stouts at 64 ish. degs. Keep it cool. I say yes.

 

[brownni5]

As a scientist, the references to "statistical" and "significant" and "5%" make me want to scream!

 

[mongoose33]

As a scientist, the references to "statistical" and "significant" and "5%" make me want to scream!

Truth ^

Well we don't know either way. But no I wasn't saying that - I wasn't counting votes, just using 10 as a random number of people. But yes, I do weight people's comments by their experience, and that's particularly important with something that's positioned as an easy-to-use product that's suitable for beginners.

I have to say this: someone's experience isn't probably relevant to whether they like something or not. I don't care for Belgians; that reflect nothing more than what I like...and don't like. Experience has nothing to do with it.

Now 18.3%; 5% is the usual significance level in science... But just generally 1 in 6 suggests that there's something going on, even if most people are happy enough. And I'd rather tease out the whys and wherefores of the conditions where people are unhappy with it than just breeze on as though everything's OK.

Not a proper use of the idea (I'm a scientist too, graduate minor in statistics). A figure of 18.3% has nothing to do with significance in a statistical sense. It just is.

Now, if you're doing hypothesis testing, that's a different story, but I don't recall seeing a null hypothesis, so in the absence of such, it's just a number.

And that said: it's just what people like or don't like. S-04 is what it is. Some like it. Some don't. Kinda like Belgians....

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I only used it once and got an unpleasant flavor I can only describe a bubblegum.
Haven't touched the stuff since.

 

[Dland]

Seems like kind of a silly poll. Have used that yeast, worked fine, but is not for the style of beer I brew normally, so it is not one I keep in stock.

 

[kh54s10]

I started the poll in response to a reply in another thread that said a significant proportion of homebrewers do not like S-04. I had not heard this before so I started the poll to see how many really do not like S-04.

It is now 18.6% that say they don't like S-04 so I guess that is significant.

But then again if you look at Really like VS hate it is 25.9% that really like it and only 1.9% that say they hate it????

I expected fewer to say that they didn't like it.
I never intended for it to be scientifically accurate. I can't control people who say they dislike it only because there is another yeast that they like better. That alone skews the results.

 

[ListerH]

I am happy to use s-04 for ales with a maltier backbone, basically where it's flavor profile doesn't come to the fore. S-05 has a much cleaner finish and is still my go to.

S-04 is extremely consistent, ferments quickly and easily and flocculates high for bottle conditioning.

I rated as "like" as I've not had a bad experience with it and it delivers consistent results without blowing me away.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

As a scientist, the references to "statistical" and "significant" and "5%" make me want to scream!

There seems to be a statistical significance in this data set. The mean median suggests a sigma related corollary causation.

It drives me crazy when people say US-04 and S-05.

 

[AzOr]

I like it. It does what it’s supposed to.

I know I’m not supposed to compare to others, BUT Notty is my go to and it’s one of those items that brew shops are mandated to sell.

It’s like a Swiss Army knife of yeast.

 

[BrewSavage]

I like S-04.

I generally prefer liquid yeast but I keep several packets of S-04 around for those times when I brew at a whim and don't have time to build a a starter or for those times I've made a starter from some old yeast and the starter fails and then it is S-04 to the rescue.

 

[beernutz]

Currently an over 4 to 1 ratio of like to don't like votes. I have read that there are actually two Whitbread strains and this is the less attenuative (not as dry) of the two.

I have used both S-04 and the WLP002 Fuller's yeast in the same brown ale recipe and while I remember them having similar attenuation characteristics their flavor profiles were different. I don't think I preferred one over the other or if I did it wasn't by much.