We have had great luck with S-04. This is the yeast that was used to brew our English Barleywine, 10.44% ABV.
This beer took home a 1st Place Gold Medal this year.
I give the yeast all the credit!
Ale production at Bel Air Brewing is rather insignificant. But when an Ale is brewed, S-04 is our go-to yeast.
Highly recommended.
And thats what it’s all about
It does well with the BJCP types, so that’s a good thing.
At least in certain circumstances
I like S-04 because it starts fast, finishes fast, and drops clear. It does leave a bit higher FG by a point or three but as long as you plan for it it works out great.
I should have mentioned, this S-04 was the 5th Generation, being harvested from previous brews. I like it better than any liquid ale yeast (Wyeast) that we have used in the past.
Right. I suppose that once you’ve been brewing for a good amount of time, these things just naturally find their way into your recipe. I know that in the back of my mind during recipe design (and using S-04) that I didn’t want to make a “just barely enough hops” kind of beer, a beer that is maybe only hopped once (although I did make beers that were hopped that way… I just shot for a higher IBU), and all of that. I was probably more aware of the diacetyl because I absolutely hate it but making sure the yeast had taken things as far as they could go was definitely on my mind. You’re also spot-on on the quick starts. The yeast starts quick enough and finishes fast enough that you could brew every weekend with the same blob of yeast. Ask me how I know! ;D
04 attenuates about 1-2% less then 05 for me in similar wort compositions. Let’s not go into the peach thing in this thread please…
I thought it was more apricot but let’s move on. ;D
The other thing to understand, is that with a higher gravity beer, S-04 will perform very well when over pitched.
I don’t have the exact volume that we used on the Barleywine, but it was certainly close to 3 quarts of slurry or more, for a 5 gallon brew.
There was no peach, apricot, apple, or other fruity flavors with this. Pretty clean, overall. An excellent ale yeast.
The plan is to use this yeast in an upcoming Stout.
I think this yeast would work well for most any type of ale.
It certainly depends on what type of Stout you are looking for, but BRY-97 makes a far better (American or Irish) Dry Stout than S-04. I’ll die on this hill. 
The peach/apricot thing is in reference to 05. This has been covered in painful detail. It’s my fault. I mentioned as a comparison point to 04. Nothing else.
Ok, good to know. I have some S-05 in my fridge. Never used it before. It was purchased with the thought it was the Chico Ale Yeast strain.
It is for me but apparently not for a lot of others. You’ll have to form your own opinion and not let others tell you.
It’s a variety of the Chico strain. 05, 1056, and 001 all have the same heritage but produce different results.
I’ve gotten anywhere from 72% attenuation with S-04 in an attempt to recreate a 200 year old porter to 82% in a barleywine that got me the best score I ever received. And 75% in a best bitter and an export stout.
How did your Barleywine do in the competition? S-04 makes a great Barleywine (English).
I entered it and got mid 30s with the notation that it was too hoppy for style. I entered it again the next year and got scored a 42 and second in BOS.
Cool! This backs up what Denny said about the beer improving and doing better in competitions with age.
Our Winter Warmer (English Barleywine - 10.44% ABV) was brewed over a year ago, March, 2021. It will be entered in the 2023 Bluebonnet.
So you guys who are aging barleywines for a year or 2 (or more), what temperature are you storing them at for the interim?
I’ve got some I made about 6 months ago, my first time attempting this style, and I’ve got about half of the bottles in a fridge at 35 degrees, and the other half in my basement fermenting area which is currently about 60, and will reach about 63 in August before declining into the mid-50s next winter (which is about where the bottles started out 6 months ago).
I’ve tried a few bottles already, and they’re pretty good now… but I’ll try not to drink them all too early.