Hey guys, which dry yeast would you recommend for a Bohemian Dark Lager? My instinct is to just go with W-34/70, as it is reliable and pretty good with malt-forward lagers, but I have read positive remarks about about S-189 and I know Mangrove Jack’s Bohemian Lager purports to be an authentic Bohemian Lager strain (and it is available at my LHBS).
MY favorite beer in Prague last summer (by far) was Kozel Cerny. And, pretty consistently, I found the fresh dark lagers of Prague (especially the unpasteurized “tank beer”) to be superior to both the other Czech beer offerings (pale lagers of varying strengths and amateurish American-style IPA offshoots, with few exceptions) and to other regional dark lagers I have had.
Having done some research, I am determined to brew something similar, though I rarely brew lagers. I know I can get liquid forms of some of the legitimate Czech yeast strains, but I would prefer to use a dry yeast, as I find building a giant starter annoying.