i’ve seen a ton of dry yeast strains lately and i’m inclined to switch to dry, unless it’s a real specialty type thing, such as a sour. most of the styles i brew are covered by the dry yeast selections.
[quote=“beersk, post:20, topic:14323, username:beersk”]
No? That’s a shame. I’ve used it once or twice and thought it was good. Just hate getting liquid yeast shipped in the summer…perhaps in October or November I’ll try some other liquid lager strains out. Just not a fan of making starters either…
quote]I mainly brew my lagers in the winter. 1 pack/vial at $7 and a big starter, or 3.6 packets of 34/70 at $5each. I don’t mind the starters.
I think dry yeast is as good as liquid but I mostly use liquid for the variety. I have some favorites but haven’t settled on any in particular because I haven’t tried them all. 
Don’t care much for making starters. So what I do is make a starter for the first generation of liquid or rehydrate dry. I pitch into wort after chilling overnight and then separating wort from trub. Now I have a 5 gallon starter to build up yeast in the same environment in which it will be used in the future. I also reserve some of this wort for a wort stability test to ensure the next generation is clean.
I usually start with a small beer and this produces enough fresh yeast for 2 more batches. So I’m still using second gen yeast for the 2nd and 3rd batches. I brew often enough that the harvested yeast doesn’t have to wait too long. After 4 or 5 generations it’s time to try a new yeast. If I dry hop I use hop bags to keep my yeast fairly clean. So, in effect, even if I use dry yeast, the next generation is liquid yeast.
I should mention that if I don’t like the flavor profile of first generation there is no second. Wlp013 was my most recent “one and done.”
Back when I started brewing you got a small foil pack of yeast with a can (John Bull?) of malt extract. Or you could buy an additional pack of ale yeast. I don’t even recall if there were different strains of dry yeast at the time. Liquid yeast was such a huge difference, it was a no-brainer.
I keep a variety of dry yeasts in the fridge for emergencies and for spontaneous brew sessions (which don’t happen anymore), but if I’m planning a brew it gets liquid yeast 99% of the time.
Ya know, in these discussions of which is “better”, I’ve never seen a definition of what “better” means. Better fermentation performance? Better flavor? But isn’t flavor subjective? There may be differences in flavors, but after that isn’t it all preference? I mean, there are both liquid and dry yeasts that produce flavors I don’t care for, but in that case “better” becomes strictly my own choice. Right?
I’d say that’s a correct line of thinking Denny… It has to be about preferences and choice of options.
Instead of “better” perhaps “wider range” would be more appropriate in regards to my comment.
James Spencer of Basic Brewing Radio/Video did some unhopped worts with dry yeast and they came out sour. I believe the conclusion was dry yeasts have small amounts of bacteria that the hops either mask or prevent from working. I understand liquid yeasts are pure and don’t have that problem.
Also, I always had longer lag times when I was using dry yeast . Granted, I went all grain and did a starter of liquid yeast for the first time on the same batch. I have improved my process since the last time I used dry yeast so the long lag times I experienced may have been due to some other variable.
I have done a number of un-hopped brews and they almost always go sour anyway. We don’t always appreciate the full value of hops until we have tried to go without. not sure I would blame it on the yeast. not without side by side comparisons including controls and wort stability tests
AFAIK even liquid yeast has some bacteria present.
I don’t believe any of those statements are categorically true.
I’d say the insight and opinions gained from this thread should be sufficient in helping the OP decide on which is “better” based on his definition of “better”.
I’m not familiar with that one, but most brewing experiments I’ve seen suffer from extremely poor experimental design.
I have the exact opposite experience switching to all-grain at the same time I switched from liquid to dry yeast.
Performance-wise I haven’t personally seen a difference between dry and liquid yeast. There are other factors (temp, pitch rate, oxygenation) that are going to impact your fermentation more than the type of yeast, IMO.
Flavor-wise, you need to brew with it and find out for yourself. There are yeasts that perform/attenuate just fine for me but have flavors I don’t care for and some that have great flavor but require more care to get the attenuation I want. I like to do split batches to determine which yeast I prefer for a specific recipe.
THIS
Doesn’t matter what kind of yeast you use if you’re not on top of fermentation temperature, pitch rate, and oxygen content.
+1 for sure.
According to Fermetis, dry yeast sachets contain other microorganisms:
http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf
Wyeast claims to be free of other microorganisms:
"Wyeast 100% Pure Liquid Yeast™ cultures are pure, single strains of yeast with no contaminants. Dry yeast can contain contamination by multiple strains or other organisms, varying between manufacturers and batches.
"
http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_advantage.cfm
I don’t know whether this makes a discernible difference in 5G of beer but, IMO, this makes liquid yeast better.
If it doesn’t make a discernible difference, why would it matter?
I just don’t want to intentionally add more microorganisms or take the chance of them contributing some flavor. Again, I don’t know if it makes a diffence but I’d rather not chance it.
I would guess that the amount of beer-spoiling bacteria that is introduced into my beers from the environment of my brewery is much bigger than the amount in the yeast, liquid or dry.
Exactly.
Can we file the ‘infected dry yeast’ fear away? We can put it right next to hot-side aeration.