What is your favorite pilsner yeast?

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cvisinho

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So I want to brew my pilsner this week...
I have a 2014 WL810 san fran lager yeast I was going to try but I have had zero activity in the starter for a couple days now.
I am looking to get another one so it is fresh and I have it incase there isn't any activity when I want to brew.

What is your favorite pilsner yeast? Why?

Im not afraid to try something non conventional either if it was good.
 
white labs cry havoc, one of my favorite lager strains, I have used it on a pilsner recipe before and came out great.
 
Wyeast 2002 (seasonal), or wyeast 2000. I prefer czech styles, to german. Both are reliable yeasts, and arent as prone to diacetyl as the pilsner urquell strains, they are pretty polite to work with, and floc out with ease. Work well at 48F. Works fine with very low mineral water.

They arent perfectly clean strains, they both have a faint floral, fruit note, while still being very clearly a lager. Just with a bit of character. Nice balance between really bringing out the pils malt character without killing the hops.
 
If you want a cleaner pils, wlp940 is a workhorse and is foolproof. Just ignore that is the modelo yeast.
 
WLP029 gives a really clean lager like profile, or you could use an american style strain to go a completely different direction.
 
Hmmm. choices.
I literally just used that WLP029 in a citra, mosaic, cascade pale ale and it was great.
 
great choices so far.

Any one dabble with ale yeasts as well?

I'm not a lager person or a purist. But I beleive they will tell you that if you don't use lager yeast then you won't truly have a lager.

That being said, I have made very lager-like ales using a pilsner recipe with Safale 05 fermented in the mid 60's to upper 60's.
 
I agree. I just don't have my controlled ferm setup done yet and I cant fit my spiedel into my mini fridge kegerator.
Best I can do in my basement is 65-68 deg
 
if you are not able to lager at all right now I would recommend the WLP029, it will give you exactly what you are looking for to make a lager style with out the lager tempts.
 
If you are doing at ale temps, wlp029(more hop forward) or wyeast1007(more malty) are your best choices. I always found a slight peach flavor in us-05 that kills the psuedo lager for me, other people think its the best option.

It is also said that wyeast2124 aka 34/70 can ferment cleanish at ale temps. The one time I tried it around 62, I got a diacetyl mess that wouldnt clean up. But that could have been some other cause.
 
if you are not able to lager at all right now I would recommend the WLP029, it will give you exactly what you are looking for to make a lager style with out the lager tempts.

Yes, and if you add gelatin to the keg and chill for 1-2 weeks, you will have a nice, clear "lager"
 
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