Specialty Yeasts

[Jayfro21]

Can anyone give me an example of why you would use a special yeast, as in what types of beers is the yeast strain an important characteristic of the finished product? I know there's many, just looking for some examples, thanks!

Jason

 

[ThomasRau]

There are many choices in yeast, first and easiest is Ale or Lager. Lager will produce a clean crisp beer with very few additional flavors (undertones). Ales on the other hand produce any number of "fruity" flavors. The various types of yeasts out there each have their own "charactor". So depending on temperature it is fermented and the yeast strain used you can have all types of subtle (and not so subtle) changes in the end product even when all other variables remain the same.

 

[coyote]

Can anyone give me an example of why you would use a special yeast, as in what types of beers is the yeast strain an important characteristic of the finished product?
Jason

the various Belgian-style ales immediately come to mind. the yeast characteristics are central to these styles.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Hefeweizen is a perfect example. The yeast produces particular esters/phenols reminiscent of banana and cloves. If you 'cheat' and use a neutral dry yeast, you're going to end up with a plain wheat beer that is NOT a hefeweizen.

Hefeweizen, Wit, and most belgian styles are probably the most prominent examples where appropriate yeast is crucial. There are specialty yeasts for english, american, german, etc beers but in many cases you can still get in the ballpark of the right style with a general neutral yeast.