It is almost the end of the year!, any new favorite yeast strain you have been using this 2016?. I’ve been only using yeast from White Labs and Wyeast, maybe i will start the next year trying yeasts from other places as the Yeast Bay or Imperial.
Boring choice here but I have enjoyed k97. I brew a lot of German inspired beers and this works well for what I like to do. Stays in suspension early with a tangy note but drops clear easily with an nice clean finish.
I have also been pleasantly surprised with imperial g03 dieter for kolsch. Pretty similar to wlp029 but very flocculant in my experiences which makes it easier to make a brilliantly clear beer when compared to other kolsch yeasts.
Imperial A01 House
Wy1318 is my new favourite yeast. The Hazy IPA I made with it recently is the best beer I’ve made thus far. Going to have a go at a 70s Boddington’s clone with it in the new year.
WLP 072 French ale yeast. Bought it in May (seasonal strain) and just used the last of it. It was 3rd generation. It produces big beers that are extremely drinkable with malt, malt, malt, more malt and a touch of funk. And with all that malt I still get a nice dry finish.
Every beer brewed this year with a neutral strain has been a warm fermentation with 34/70. I’ve been pretty happy with the results.
I am working on finding the right balance with a mixed culture of saison strains (with brett) for my saisons. Haven’t brewed with it enough but that’s the plan for 2017.
I think it’s obvious what my favorite is…
This year I finally figured out a house Belgian “strain” I can use for just about anything, which is just equal parts 1214 and 3522.
Do you repitch that? If so, does it stay consistent?
Good results so far; tomorrow will be pitch #4 which is the furthest I’ve gone yet, and it’s a high-gravity dubbel so it should be a good test. I would expect that over time the 3522 would dominate since it’s the faster fermenter, but who knows? I keep the cultures separate so that I can play with the ratio and I may end up reducing the 3522 since it’s mostly there to aid in flocculation.
Very cool. Please let me know how it goes.
Yeah that’s very cool, Sean. I’ve blended several Belgian strains but never those two. Gonna give it a shot sometime.
I didn’t get to brew much this year, but the majority of it has been with 34/70. I’ve been playing with a super fast lager fermentation, where I pitch in the low 40s, let it go to 48 for about a day and a half, 52 for another day, then let it go at ambient in my basement (low 60s) to finish. It comes out lager-clean in my IPL’s, but I haven’t tried it out in a more delicate style yet.
Mine pretty boring but WY2124. Mostly because I use it so much and understand how it operates. I’ve been using the same strain on 12th gen right now and under a microscope no signs of mishapen cells, it is a powerful fermenter, and super clean Also seems to stay viable for a long time, last cell count (yesterday) was at 95% viability and that was after almost a week after harvesting. I have another pitch on the way so I am going to be starting over soon but such an easy strain to work with.
The one I have a love/hate relationship with is 1214 and I use it all the time because it works well in my #1 selling beer. It is stubborn as hell, refuses to drop out of suspension even after heavy fining but works great when your flagship is a Belgian Wheat beer. Seems to become less flocculant and more dusty over time as well.
The cells start to become mishappen after a few gens so I am constantly having to order a new pitch.
Sean, I would think the biggest concern with blending those two strains would be harvesting since the 3522 is so much more flocculant.
WY2124 for me. Love it. Fast fermenter. Works well at different temperatures and pitching rates = creates different flavors.
Last pitch I used it over 40 generations. Current pitch I am on 20 generations with no signs of slowing down.
It is true that yeast become more powdery with more generations but biofine clear can handle it.
That’s actually why I use it; the 1214 gets caught up in the flocs and the beer drops bright with just a couple days of crashing.
That’s very interesting. I may have to give that a try!
gosch, I’ve tried k-97 only once in an attempt at a kolsch(?). Drinking it now and it’s a bit thin and has a slight sour note. That the SG was 5 points low and mash ph was 5.04 could have something to do with it. Grain bill was 95% Best Malz pils and 5% Carahell. I’m interested in your thoughts on using k-97 in German beers.
WLP 023 Burton Ale Yeast: used it for the first time this year–for a porter, amber ale, and bitter. I’ll keep using it for the amber and bitter, but the fruitiness took a bit away from the malt flavors I wanted in the porter: still very good, but I’ll keep trying other English ale yeasts for future porters.
What also struck me about the Burton yeast on all 3 brews was how there seemed to be 2 krausens: an initial, small one, which deflated and then was followed by a big, bubbly, creamy krausen–a real top-cropper. I’ve never seen this in any other yeasts I’ve used, but I’d love to hear from more experienced brewers if other yeasts are like this, too, and what accounts for it.
As a german ale yeast I think it is more suited toward something like an Alt versus a Kolsch as the profile just isn’t there for a Kolsch in my opinion. Maybe if you ferment a bit warmer? I haven’t used it in an Alt so I can’t comment if it works well for that or not. I assume most would prefer WY1007 over 97 but I primarily use dry yeast.
I ferment 60-62F with good results. I currently have a dunkel inspired brown ale on that was kind of tangy for the first couple of weeks with a mash pH of 5.6 and high FG. Now it has smoothed out considerably. I have noticed this behavior in a few batches. Ultimately, I don’t find it to be too much different than 05 however I have yet to use it in a really clean style. I do find it to drop clear much easier than 05