S04 vs Irish Ale Yeast

[stagstout]

I am just curious if anyone would know how close these two yeasts are in characteristics or in differences for that matter. I see a lot of reciepes that call out for Irish Ale yeast and was wondering (to save money) if S04 would give me the same profile.

I suspect that it would, but would like to hear other opinions.

 

[Beerrific]

I would say that they are somewhat similar....medium attenuation, will give you some fruity esters. What kind of beer are you making?

 

[menschmaschine]

S-04 is a Whitbread strain. I've never brewed with Irish Ale yeast, but I would think there would be a significant difference.

I tried subbing S-04 for Burton Ale Yeast for the same reason you're looking to... hoping that it would be similar enough to use. No deal, it was a completely different beer (same Ordinary Bitter recipe, only different yeasts). It was good, but not as good.

Give it a shot, though... who knows?... it might turn out great.

 

[stagstout]

I was just noticing that a lot of stout reciepes call out Irish Ale yeast and I have also seen some with S04. Was just curious if one could acheive the same thing using the cheaper S04.

 

[JesseRC]

I've used it twice on stouts, but I also havnt used anything else on stouts. I havnt noticed any esters to say. My ferment temps have been at about 67. It does make a compact cake with no need for secondary. I like it just fine, although the description makes it sounds like it could be used on a variety of ales not just stouts.

 

[Beerrific]

I was just noticing that a lot of stout reciepes call out Irish Ale yeast and I have also seen some with S04. Was just curious if one could acheive the same thing using the cheaper S04.

If you are trying to make a dry Irish stout with dry yeast, my suggestion would be to use Nottingham or even US-05. These will make sure your dry stout comes out dry.

I have used the S-04 in a sweet stout and a porter, and I like it quite a bit in each, but IMO it will not attenuate enough for a dry stout.

 

[menschmaschine]

I made an oatmeal stout with S-04 and it was delicious. The attenuation kinda sucked like Beerific says, but most of that was my fault with mash temps.

 

[Saccharomyces]

The Irish Ale yeast produces a noticeable bit of diacetyl that will be lacking in the S-04 ferment. Other than that I think the flavor profile and attenuation are comparable; I'd consider it a reasonable sub.

 

[JesseRC]

I dont know about flavor profile, but I just checked on my all grain Wheat Stout that i brewed on Sunday with S-04. OG was 1.057, this morning I checked gravity and it was at 1.012. So as for attenuation I think its fine. It was a hell of a fermentation for about 2 days then slowed, but as you can see its already pretty much done. I'll still let her sit for another 3 weeks or so.