Speak for yourself! You big beer geek you. 
Interesting - I find 2278 to be fairly different from 34/70. In my experience, 2278 tends to let hop flavor shine through while 34/70 tends to mute hop expression. Also, I have never gotten any sulfur from 34/70 no matter how I’ve used it. WY2278 gives me that faint matchstick character that you get from a lot of continental lagers.
Yes, this is true… Still it’d be nice to have the option.
Indeed. I’d take a dry English strain that is fruitier than Winsor, a dry Belgian strain that is dark fruit forward and less phenolic, and a hop-accentuating dry lager yeast, even if they aren’t exactly equivalent to 1469, 1762 or 2278.
I believe that the seed culture is close to the original, but we are talking about an industrial process that takes a colony that grows from a single yeast cell on a plate and turns it into tens of tons of yeast via the respirative (aerobic) metabolic pathway. That is a lot of cell generations to go without actually fermenting anything. Fermentation is a selective stress because fermentation produces ethanol and ethanol places stress on a yeast culture. If you viewed the webinar, the speaker alluded to replicating yeast in a way that maximizes ATP production. ATP is a form of energy that can be used directly by cells. When we pitch yeast, the medium is above the Crabtree threshold; therefore, yeast cells replicate using their fermentative (anaerobic) metabolic pathway. Ethanol, esters, and diketones (e.g., diacetyl) are metabolic waste products that are the result of inefficiency in the fermentative metabolic pathway. The guys at the dry yeast plants are keeping the medium below the Crabtree threshold, so that the culture never produces any of these carbon-based metabolic products. It converts a carbon source (sugar is carbon bound to water) into energy, carbon dioxide, and water. It is a very efficient way to propagate yeast, but I believe that it has side effects. However, that is just my opinion.
Equivalent or not, does it give you the results you want in the finished beer!
I’d say…
Verdant IPA is English and fruitier than Windsor. It is not much different from 1318 and started life as 1318. I’m English and drink cask regularly in England.
And Lallemand Abbaye is dark fruit forward and less phenolic.
I like both of these a lot.
Thanks for the tips! I’ll have to add these to the queue.
yup i really want to try verdant IPA (what an odd name tho?) and to a slightly lesser extent lallemand abbaye.
anyone actually a fan of T58? It’s a nostalgic yeast, but honestly I find it versatile and the flavours it produces pleasant. it is also usually very cheap, around $3
I have a pack of the Verdant yeast as well, waiting to use that in a Hazy IPA sometime, maybe over the summer. I’m gonna throw out another Fermentis yeast that doesn’t get too much attention. S-33, to me it’s ballpark flavor profile and mouthfeel of Wyeast 1969. It gets to work fast, goes hard and leaves a bit of sugars behind, doesn’t drop clear like 1969 but for a few beers I really like it. English Porter, Stouts, Amber Ales, Browns…middle of the road ales where you can go either American or English yeast.
I have a pack of Verdant as well (thanks Mark). It’s from the Verdant brewery in the UK. I am going to use it in one of my small test batches sometime soon.
I plan to brew the fifth batch from a single sachet of Verdant tomorrow. Probably the last, only because I am anxious to get going with a few lagers.
If you like 1318 you will like Verdant. It does come across as slightly fruity to me, but not overly so. Predictable attenuation, and easy to top crop. I am quickly becoming a fan of this one.
I purchased four packages of Verdant IPA in the fall. I gave two packages to BrewBama when I mailed my remaining packages of W-34/70 to him.
By way, I now agree with you that 1318 is not Boddington’s. It is probably not Youngs or Fullers. What about the Anchor brewery? Is that a possibility?
Verdant is the best dry yeast I’ve used. I only use it for British ales, because I like them. I don’t like Nottingham or s04 and though I used to use s05, im not a fan of it these days. Very glad I tried verdant. If I don’t use 1469 I use verdant.
I’ve never been as happy with dry lager yeast compared to liquid. Not sure why, I just end up going back to liquids after trying dry lager yeast.
Wyeast calls it London III so if it’s Anchor maybe they got it from a British brewery.
Just picked up some Verdant for an IPA, but wondering if it’d work in something like an 80/- or a mild?
IMHO. Yes. I have used it in a Sweet Stout, Irish Ale, NEIPA, and a Pale Ale and have happy with all. Might be a bit fruity for a 80/- but that would be good for my taste. YMMV.
Ok, 2 packs of Verdant on order from Label Peelers. Ron Pattinson is on an AK kick right now, and he’s put that idea in my head. Looks like I’ll be having a nice light bitter on tap soon.
Bitter is one of those styles that’s pretty much impossible to get in the states. I used to live by a brewery that had mild and bitter in cask but now I gotta make my own if I want some. . .
Well, you can get it but it isn’t fresh. I saw some Fuller’s ESB in the store today but it was unrefrigerated on a shelf, and who knows how long it had been there. I really wanted to buy some but I decided it wasn’t worth it.