Yeast Recomendation

[Wors9281]

Hi all,
I just bottled my first batch, American Wheat, and I am ready to start my next one (can you say hooked?) I got two Kits as a gift to get me started and the second one is a Double Chocolate Stout. In talking with my local HBS he said to skip the dry yeast and go for the test tube liquid kind. I asked which one and he kind of danced around it a bit. Any suggestions? Is their any benefit to Liquid yeast Vs. Dry? Anything I should be aware of before bringing this into my house.....

Your help is always appreciated

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

First of all, I think you'll be fine with dry if that's your preference. There are advantages and disadvantages to both that can be argued, but dry is hard to beat for cost and convenience of storage.

If you were to go with a liquid (primary advantage is lots of varieties, IMO) then check out the manufacturer's website. I'm pretty sure Wyeast has recommendations of which yeast to use based on beer style (I can't get there from work, unfortunately). Check out what they suggest for a sweet stout.

 

[david_42]

For a stout there is no reason to not use Nottingham, safale-04 or some other dried yeast. Liquid yeast can add good flavors to an ale, but in a stout they would be lost.

Dried yeasts also have much higher cell counts than liquid, which give better starts, are more temperature tolerant, and can handle higher ABV's than the average liquid yeast. I always keep a couple packets of Nottingham around for kicking stuck brews, memory lapses resulting in forgetting to buy or start a liquid yeast, etc.

 

[Darth Konvel]

As has been mentioned, you have many more "flavors" to chose from when it comes to liquid yeasts. Your dry yeasts tend to be fairly clean fermenting, meaning they don't impart much of their own characteristics ('though this may be an overgeneralization).

 

[drengel]

the primary difference is variety. dry yeast is fine and can produce very nice clean flavors, but there isnt much variety. for example, if you wnat to brew a belgIAN BEER dry yeast isnt gonna cut it, you need to get belgian yeast. dry yeast is just sorta generic, good to have around though. i personally dont ever use it though. sometimes theyll produce a less clean flavor, but the nottingham strain is pretty clean. for that stout i'd go with an english ale yeast, or burton ale, which are very similar anyways, irish ale might be nice too. if you want to get a yeast you can use again and again on almost any style and is very clean get some Cali Ale yeast and read up on saving yeast. english ale is versatile too, but has more noticable ester production.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

check out www.whitelabs.con and www.wyeastlab.com for info and background on the selection of some liquid yeasts.

all good input from the gang above!

 

[Janx]

I agree that most esters and subtle flavors caused by the yeast will be lost in a stout. That said, I use liquid yeast whenever possible and I generally reuse it for about 4 batches by brewing a batch and throwing it onto the yeast in the primary. That makes the somewhat more expensive liquid yeast more cost effective.

Also, you MUST make a starter with liquid yeast. It's really essential to success.

I think liquid is really worth the additional work of a starter and cost. Some of the new dry yeasts are actually quite clean, but I've yet to brew with one that I think results in as nice a product as does a White Labs California Ale yeast.

Cheers!

 

[Rookie]

If you can find it go with the Safale-04. I mostly use liquid yeast, but the best score I ever got was for a stout brewed with Safale-04.

 

[Cheesefood]

1056 American Ale Yeast.
Probable origin: Balentine India Pale Ale, USA
Beer Styles: American Pale, Brown Ales, Porters, Stouts, IPA's
Commercial examples may include: Sierra Nevada Ales, Belentine IPA, and St. Louis Pale Ale, Flatlanders
Unique properties: Very clean crisp flavor characteristics. Low fruitiness and mild ester production. Slightly citrus like with cool 60-66º F, (15-19º C) fermentation temperatures. Versatile yeast, which produces many beer styles allowing malt and hop character to dominate the beer profile. Flocculation is moderate. Flocculation improves with dark malts in grain bill. Normally requires filtration for bright beers. DE or Pad filtration recommended. Flocculation - low to medium; apparent attenuation 73-77%. (60-72° F, 15-22° C)

1084 Irish Ale Yeast.
Probable Origin: Dublin, Ireland
Beer Styles: Dry Stout, Milk Stout, Oatmeal Stout, and Porter
Commercial examples may include: Guinness, Beamish Stout, and Murphy's Stout
Unique properties: This yeast ferments extremely well in dark roast worts. Beers fermented in the lower temperature range produce dry and crisp beers to fruity beers with nice complexity in the upper range. Ester production is enhanced and rich with fermentation temperatures above 64º F, (18º C). Flocculation is low to moderate with filtration typically required. Alcohol tolerance is approximately 10-11% ABV. Flocculation - medium; apparent attenuation 71-75%. (62-72° F, 16-22° C)

This is from http://www.wyeastlab.com. I'm using their Irish Ale yeast for my Oatmeal Stout because of the effect at higher temps. I'm right in the middle (about 68') so it should be not too sweet or too dry.

BTW, Milk Stout is the same as Sweet Stout.