Switched from Dry to Liquid yeast...weird!

[JDAK]

Hello,

Here are some things I noticed from switching to liquid yeast with starters after using mostly dry yeasts for the past year.

1. Fermentation kicks off way faster and finishes really fast! I did a 1.060 NEIPA using a 1L starter of 1.036. WHOA! Airlock activity within hours and final gravity of 1.014 reached after 2.5 days and remained constant for the following 3 days. Bottled after 6 days in primary. Never turned a beer around that fast before.

2. Fermentation seems to be LESS vigorous than with dry yeast....I have no idea why. Also the krausen layer has been thinner than with dry yeast....again, no idea why. Dry yeast would almost always race towards the top of the fermenter. Liquid yeast....not so much.

Has anyone else seen this?

- I have been using temperature controlled chamber for all batches set to about 18 C.
- I spin the starters for about 24 hrs with a stir plate, then refrigerate and pour off starter beer before pitching. (using Beersmith for starter calculation...)

 

[Pappers_]

I get vigorous fermentation with both, I use a blowoff tube all the time. Haven't scientifically compared though.

 

[Snuffy]

I like the way liquid yeast from a starter stirs in and doesn't float like dry and gob onto my Tilt. And it does seem to take right off without a lag. I use it if there is no good dry option that will give me the characteristics I want in a beer. Other than that, I use dry every time I can. Making starters is not my favorite task. If I can do a simple rehydration or just sprinkle on without the hassle of temp control issues during shipping, starter, nutrient and oxygenation - I'm there. Last liquid yeast I used was a Wyeast Belgian Ardennes in the smack pack. I beat the crap out of that thing trying to pop the capsule. Actually started apologizing to the yeast for being mean to it. Took 3 f-ing days for the damn thing to tighten up. That kinda reinforced my preference for good ole non-finicky dry yeast.