Survey - Dry vs. Liquid Yeast

[Ó Flannagáin]

I've been using nothing but liquid lately, I really feel I can more precisely control my beer's flavor this way. Not too mention, you can reuse the yeast quite a bit, it gets down to around $2.25 a brew if you reuse 3 times. I've started washing my yeast and I'm suspecting I'll be able to get more than 3 uses out of each. To each his own, though.

 

[Bobby_M]

I suspect there's a tendency to be dogmatic about this. Some brewing authorities have likely compared results at a time when dry yeast was garbage. They see no reason to change methods now and new brewers take their word for it.

I don't really know how using liquid yeast would yield more control. Exactly what control is that?

I agree that liquid is a must for strains unavailable in dry, but I'm getting really temped to do a split batch test here.

Realizing this thread is in the extract brewing forum, I think moving up to partial mash or all grain would be a bigger improvement in the end result than it would be to "upgrade" to liquid yeasts.

 

[FlyGuy]

I suspect there's a tendency to be dogmatic about this. Some brewing authorities have likely compared results at a time when dry yeast was garbage. They see no reason to change methods now and new brewers take their word for it.

I emphatically agree with Bobby here. Well stated.

Things are changing fast in the homebrewing world right now, and everyone should keep an open mind rather than get fixed on what book authors or established homebrewers have said in the past. If we believed everything that was written, I would have missed out on good dry yeast strains, inexpensive but high quality aluminum pots, batch sparging, quick single infusion mashes, foamy Star San, etc., etc., etc. Further, I would be spending all my time worrying about hot side aeration or getting my beer out of the primary exactly on day 7, and other such silly stuff.

I think part of the attraction and fun with this hobby is the infinite world of possibility available to us to always improve our brewing technique and our final product. Sometimes this means challenging the accepted practice and throwing out the dogma. So to all budding homebrewers, my point is don't knock something controversial until you have tried it once for yourself -- if you fail to keep an open mind, you might be hindering your own progress.

[/general rant]