S-23 Lager Yeast Educate Me

[Halfakneecap]

Long story short, i recently tried out S23 after a mate new to brewing tried it and made some fantastic lagers. Ive avoided it for a long time ( brewing since 2004 ) but was amazed at how clean it is. I quite like the mild ester it adds.

My fermenting fridge is dying, so 15c is as cold as it gets, and its worked ridiculously well on a rice lager. Clean, smooth and crystal clear.

Ive used many liquid lager yeast strains but am loving s23 at the moment. Im brewing more lagers because of it.

I dont like 34/70 at all. Just preference.
S189 is great, but too clean in a way.

 

[duelerx]

I liked S-23. I tried stressing it and getting a lot of fruit, but it didn't work. Warm or cold, I've made nice beers with it. I liked it in BoPils, Märzen, Mexican lager and Baltic Porter. I did a large split batch experiment where I intended to use S-23, but forgot to buy it. It's on the list for next year's edition though.

I am intended to brew a Baltic Porter with this yeast, how did it turn out with yours?

 

[Halfakneecap]

I cant speak for baltic porter, but i would be interested to hear results for this yeast in darker beers.

My 2nd rice lager ( same as the first one with S23 ) is done and ready to keg. Samples taste great.

Ive got 10 more packs on the way.


I was supposed to keep the first keg ( only a 9.5L one ) for an upcoming get together, but drank it all. I don't think it lasted 5 weeks. Really impressed, from first pint to the last.

 

[G_robertus]

I am intended to brew a Baltic Porter with this yeast, how did it turn out with yours?

It was quite a dark beer, so any potential yeast character was not as obvious anyway. I didn't notice anything in particular other than a clean beer and decent attenuation given the colour of the beer. I'll have to do more side by sides to tell you what exactly the effect is on malt or hop perception, but this beer was quite malty. This year's Baltic porter with W34/70 was much less malty, though not bad, compared to S-189.

 

[Indian_villager]

S23 has made some fun lagers for me, but then again I was not gunning for clean. I was playing with newer hops like Sasquatch, so I can't exactly tell you which factor was bringing more funk. The issue with this kind of question is that all palettes are different, what is gross for some is tasty for others. Give it a crack and have fun.