Singing the praises of dry yeast

[BeerPressure]

kicking myself right now for getting liquid yeast in two kits i just ordered from austin. probably too hot for them to travel to my house. worried they'll be dead on arrival.

 

[Teacher]

I'm new to brewing. For many months, I've been reading about brewing online. I wanted to use a liquid yeast, but I'm far from distributors and it's hot out and I don't feel like paying $24 to ship two vials of yeast. So for my first two batches I used dry yeast, and they have come out extremely clean and clear. The flavor has been great and there haven't been any problems. I don't think I'll go liquid.

 

[Desert_Sky]

Well Im officially in the middle of dry yeast season. No more ordering any liquid yeasts until it cools down a bit.

 

[Teacher]

Well Im officially in the middle of dry yeast season. No more ordering any liquid yeasts until it cools down a bit.

Do you notice a big difference? If so, is the difference in quality or in variety?

 

[Desert_Sky]

Do you notice a big difference? If so, is the difference in quality or in variety?

variety yes...

Although the chico strain (California ale) is one of my favorites. Its just a great all around yeast strain, and most of the time I'd rather just pitch US-56 than a vial of WL001. No starter necessary, no re hydration necessary, and its been 100% reliable for me. I just pour the dry yeast on top of the beer in the fermenter and give it a little shake. Usually takes off in about 4 hours.

The US-56 and Nottingham are both fantastic yeasts. ANd they are both a fraction of the price too. 8 bucks a vial of white labs vs 1.50 a pack of US56

 

[Saccharomyces]

kicking myself right now for getting liquid yeast in two kits i just ordered from austin. probably too hot for them to travel to my house. worried they'll be dead on arrival.

Was at AHS yesterday they were discussing this very subject, summer the yeast may be slow to start if they get too hot because they get stunned but they won't die. If you're worried do a small starter and after they take off pitch that. Starter is a good idea for liquid anyway since you have only about half the cell count you get with a 11.5 gram packet of dry yeast. In winter, we get into trouble because if the yeast freeze they're dead.

- Eric

 

[Aubie Stout]

I've had two liquid yeast shipments from AHS to Alabama in the last month. Both started slow, but did the job. It might be hot in Tejas, but it DAMN hot here in Alabama......

 

[Brewbeard]

I was looking up a clone of the De Struiss Pannepot and I found out, from the brewer's themselves, that they use dry yeast to make the beer. They use Safbrew T-58 dry yeast. I was surprised to find out that one of the finest beers in the world uses dry yeast.

 

[korndog]

Dry pitched one pack of US-05 on a cream ale yesterday with 6 hour lag time. Going very strong now. I love US-05 and everyone that tries it never uses 1056 or 001 again.

 

[neilb]

I just used US-05 for the first time. Rehydrated it, pitched, and much like korndog had lots of activity in 6 hours. Shortest lag time I've ever had with yeast (including liquid!).

 

[cheeseshark]

I used it on a weizenbock for my first try with it. I had high hopes. I was greatly let down. It created this really odd savory note, soy-saucey almost, and the beer was drinkable but not very good at all.

I have yet to go back to it for fear of ruining another batch. Sure, it might've been something else, but am I willing to take that chance on 5 gallons? No.

+1 on that - I was greatly disappointed with this yeast (WB-06), for reasons very similar to yours. This happened to me a while ago, but I just came across this thread. I definitely would not use this yeast again.

 

[faber]

Another member of the full circle club (dry-liquid-dry)

I swear by Saflager 23--just pitched it in my Ululator doppelbock last night, this a.m., airlock is a-hopping. Saflager has taken a lot of the finger-crossing, nail-biting hours out of my lager brewing. It always makes a clean lager.

As for ales, Nottingham!

 

[mew]

Anyone know a good dry yeast that'd make a good blue moon clone? I'm thinking Fermentis WB-06 (see THIS THREAD)

 

[s3n8]

I was rather disappointed with the WB-06. I didn't have any of those soy sauce flavors Evan! talked about, but it did not impress me. I would go with a proper wit beer yeast.

 

[ApolloSpeed]

I was rather disappointed with the WB-06.

interestingly....The first time I tried the WB-06 with my partial mash. It was so wonderful!!!! Tasted almost identical to a Paulaner.

But after it aged 3 days in the bottle....it started to acquire a bad sour taste....... It never got better.

So I tried the WB-06 three more times, and used extra precaution to keep everything sanitary.....but to no avail. I could not repeat my results.

The WB-06 was absolutely amazing for the first 3 days in the bottle on my first batch. Soooo wheaty, I thought it was possibly better than Paulaner.

If the company could just fix that sour profile problem.....this would be a perfect wheat yeast!

 

[HippieCrack]

interestingly....The first time I tried the WB-06 with my partial mash. It was so wonderful!!!! Tasted almost identical to a Paulaner.

But after it aged 3 days in the bottle....it started to acquire a bad sour taste....... It never got better.

So I tried the WB-06 three more times, and used extra precaution to keep everything sanitary.....but to no avail. I could not repeat my results.

The WB-06 was absolutely amazing for the first 3 days in the bottle on my first batch. Soooo wheaty, I thought it was possibly better than Paulaner.

If the company could just fix that sour profile problem.....this would be a perfect wheat yeast!

I had the same sour taste issue.

 

[kappclark]

Given my success with Nottingham, and the cost, I wonder if it is worth harvesting, or just pitch anothe $1.50 packet.

I did an Irish Red Ale kit from NB, and on epacket had it going pretty steady w/in 5 hours.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Given the low cost, I don't bother harvesting dry yeast strains. However, pitching a stronger flavored or heavier beer directly on the leftover cake is worth consideration (for a maximum of two batches per dry yeast purchase).

 

[polecreek]

Where is a good place to find a dry yeast replacement for a liquid? I have a recipe for wyeast 3068 and dont know whether Nottingham or S-04 would be better.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

A recipe calling for Wyeast 3068 is one of the cases where it's best to stick with the liquid strain. There really isn't a good dry yeast substitute for 3068. WLP300 is the White Labs liquid substitute.

Danstar Munich and Fermentis WB-06 are both claimed to be good choices for classic weizens, but neither have very good reviews.

 

[polecreek]

A recipe calling for Wyeast 3068 is one of the cases where it's best to stick with the liquid strain. There really isn't a good dry yeast substitute for 3068. WLP300 is the White Labs liquid substitute.

Danstar Munich and Fermentis WB-06 are both claimed to be good choices for classic weizens, but neither have very good reviews.

Just curious how do you find these reviews? Is there a place or site that gives yeast comparisons or alternatives for different strains?

 

[mmb]

Just curious how do you find these reviews? Is there a place or site that gives yeast comparisons or alternatives for different strains?

Mr. Malty has comparisons between White Labs and Wyeast strains.

Yeast Strains

Otherwise, you'll just want to do a search on the yeast in question. Lots of good information on this forum.