Has anyone had problems with obtaining Wyeast 1028 from their LHBS. Our local one has been trying to get it for over a month now with no luck. I am wondering if it is an issue with Wyeast or the distributor. I hate to mail order it because I will probably end up with an older batch and/or one that has gotten warn during transit. I always like to use the freshest yeast possible, do to my anal retentive nature when it comes to brewing.
Goose, I’m stopping by the Grape & Granary later today and I’ll ask if there’s an update. I see on their website that the Vine n Hop Shop in Brunswick (303 at I-71) has it in stock. (And they offer AHA discounts!) If it’s a Wyeast production problem, that’s a big problem, isn’t that still the house strain at Great Lakes?
UPDATE
So I had noticed that Grape & Granary had been out of stock on most White Labs and some Wyeast strains for quite some time. They say that both companies had “propagation issues.” They still can’t get 1028 (among other yeasts and other cultures) from Wyeast but some things appear to be coming through. I just got a 1318 with a production date of Oct. 4. I’d guess any 1028 you find out there won’t be very fresh. (BTW I don’t think a distributor is involved, they get it shipped right from the labs.) Haven’t looked on the labs’ websites to see if they are acknowledging a problem and giving updates.
I called Grape and Granary about this yesterday, Rob. They said that they have been trying for a month to get it. A couple months back they were having trouble getting White Labs WLP002 as well. Not sure what is going on either. Didn’t think about the Vine and Hop Shop though, will keep that in mind for the future. I finally mail ordered some yesterday and asked for the freshest lot that they had and will have it on Friday. I noticed that some bigger places like More Beer didn’t have it either so maybe it is a lab issue. Only places I found that had it during a cursory search were Midwest and Northern Brewer.
I see they’re still out of stock on 13 White Labs strains and 9 Wyeast. Includes a number of best sellers. Hope yours is fresh enough. There’s nothing on the labs’ websites, but it sure looks like a major issue at both places at once. Meanwhile I got the one I wanted, then found dead fruit flies in my starter. That’s what took me back yesterday, will try again!
This seems really odd. Must be pure coincidence?!
It certainly is disconcerting.
I am wondering if the issue that Left Hand had with White Labs has led both them and Wyeast to re-evaluate their yeast products? Left Hand had to tear all the piping in their brewery apart and fastidiously clean everything because of a contamination issue from the yeast. Just wondering.
Aha! You might be onto something, maybe.
I think I saw something on MTF about that possibility.
A quick Googling shows both companies have job openings in lab, production, and production supervision. Maybe this is perfectly normal, I’ve never searched this subject. Maybe it indicates some disruption. I hesitate to read anything into it. We may never know what happened. All we can really do is wait for the retailers to start getting fresh inventory. And maybe keep a pack or two of dry yeast in the back of the fridge.
Diastaticus?
A strain of yeast that con secrete an enzyme to break down higher sugars and dextrines once normAl fermentation is finished. Think 3711, it will take a beer down to 1.002 or lower.
My LHBS has been in the same boat. No WY 1028…back ordered direct from WY now for about 1 mos.
Yes, I know, but do you think that is what this is about?
It could be. Then again, it could be something else.
White Labs certainly seem to have been having real production problems this year. One imagines that the diastaticus thing at the very least prompted a whole lot of cleaning that might have disrupted things a year ago, but it seems to have been ongoing since then - seasonal/Vault strains coming out late, wholesale orders not being filled completely, that kind of thing.
I’ve not been aware of Wyeast having the same problems, but I (and the people I talk to) don’t use them so much. One could imagine that in both cases, all their energy would go on keeping the “core” strains available, but the others might get put to one side for a bit. Put it this way - if they don’t keep WLP001 and 1056 going to commercial breweries then they no longer have a business, homebrew 1028 doesn’t matter so much.
1028 isn’t just a homebrew boutique product though. It’s the house yeast at Great Lakes in Cleveland, a fairly substantial regional brewery. But perhaps commercial brewers have advance contracts which would further divert a limited supply from the homebrew market? Just guessing.
Presumably a brewery the size of Great Lakes do all their yeast work in-house rather than buying in fresh pitches? I’d assume they have their own yeast that started out as 1028 but has evolved away from the Wyeast version?
Regardless, there’s a whole heap of kit that is only used for yeast for the homebrew market (packaging etc) and that all needs qualifying before it can be used. If they’re struggling with the basics, then the homebrewers will go to the back of the queue.