I’ve generally had decent success with the Fermentis lager yeasts mentioned in the subject line (I’ve yet to try S-23), but my LHBS has them priced in the mid $8’s per pack at present, whereas Label Peelers presently has Diamond Lager on sale at $4.97 per pack combined with free shipping. I have a Dortmunder Export on deck and was going to use S-189, but I always pitch 2 packs, and the $4.97 with free shipping price for the Diamond got my attention at only $9.94 for two packs. And now I’m having second thoughts. I’ve never used the Lallemand lager yeast. Should I bite the bullet and buy the S-189, or go with the Diamond?
I haven’t used Diamond yet myself, but have heard very good things about it. I will be trying it soon.
Diamond is much like 34/70, it might clear a little better. I had a Pils split between S-189 and Diamond. Diamond was better in the Pils. I had a Rauchbier split S-189 and 34/70. Preferred the S-189 in that beer style as the malt flavor come through more, and it had better mouth feel.
S-189 better for malty
Diamond 34/70 better for a dry finish.
I used Diamond Lager yeast this summer to brew a Helles and it turned out great. It started a bit slower than 34/70 but it produced a nice beer. I’ll brew a Munich Dunkel with S189 I think its better for malty beers too.
I have used Diamond Lager yeast several times. I like it. It is similar to 34/70 which I think works well in all Pilsner type beers.
If you’re not opposed to paying for shipping Hop craft supply in Michigan still sells fermentis products for the $4.99 each and you can pick up a lot of stuff there and they’re shipping out of state less than 25 pounds is $8 for priority mail.
I have used the diamond Lager strain and it is very similar to 30/70. I use the S 23 strain in lager that is a little more malt forward such as a Bock, Helles, or dunkel.
RiteBrew.com in Wisconsin has 34/70 for $4.79 and their first class shipping is fair. They have good prices. I recently ordered grain and other items and I got my order delivered to Kentucky in 3 days!
I just discovered them myself and placed my first order with them today. It was shipped within a couple of hours. They seem to have a good selection and good prices as well. Shipping wasn’t free, but it was very reasonable given the lower prices they charged. I saw a Grainfather conical in their clearance section for $300
Back to the original post, I haven’t used Diamond yet, but I have some in my fridge that I will be using for my spring lagers. I like both 34/70 and S-189 quite a bit. I’ve started using 34/70 for pressurized fermentations, and it makes a clean beer fast. My only issue is that it doesn’t clear as quickly as I’d like. If Diamond performs as well as 34/70, but drops bright quicker, then it will likely become my go-to lager yeast.
I will also vouch for Hop Craft. They have a good selection of grains, too, if I want something Adventures doesn’t handle. Think old style hardware store vs a big box store (stuff has to move, can’t take up space). Was $5 in state shipping for me.
Ritebrew is excellent.
Last summer I made a bunch of lagers with the Diamond yeast. I thought it made very good beers. I have also used S-189 which I consider to have less character than Diamond… the beers were “cleaner” for better or worse. I also used to keep S-23 around for emergencies and I once made an English Ale where I was going to use harvested 1028 but the prior beer was somehow contaminated so now I had English Ale wort but no yeast so… I used S-23 and made an English Lager! :D That was quite a few years ago and I have no recollection about the yeast itself other than it saved my batch. Also, I love 2124 but I have never used 34/70 which is a supposed to be a dry version of 2124. If Diamond is similar to 34/70 then that’s close enough for me. I just received a packet of Diamond to keep onhand and also a pack of BRY-97 since I have never tried it.
I love BRY97. It’s become my American gop to when I make large batches, so I din’t have to make multiple starters.
Many years ago Chumley, who posts here sometimes, sent me a bottle of my BVIP recipe made with S-23. He knew I hated it. In that beer, it was fantastic. He got me.
I just purchased a bunch of dry yeast from RiteBrew in preparation for finally finishing my new brew house. What is holding me back is that I am in “pay as I go” mode, which means that my brew house build is being funded out of monthly discretionary income. I still need to purchase a keg refrigerator, a fermentation chamber, and a 240V induction cook top. I have my eye on a new 3500W induction cook top by Eurodib called the SWI3500. It is a monster compared to current 240VAC offerings. The induction hob is large enough for a 14" wide kettle to side directly on the glass. It has five cooling fans. Most of the other 3500W cook tops have two cooling fans.
I can’t remember where I was reading about BRY-97 (maybe here) but there seemed to be a lot of good news. When I make ales (which might be less than 25% of the time), I use a lot of 1056, White Labs 01 and the occasional English strain (I have 1968 on order now) so BRY-97 seemed like a logical choice for a dry ale yeast. Denny IIRC, you and I both dislike US-05. I have gotten that peachy-apricot character from it and I swore never again so that’s another sign that BRY-97 might be a good choice.
I have started pitching 1 pack each of 189 and 34/70 in my lagers.
I had thought about that, how do you like it?
And how do you know how it will turn out? Which yeast will dominate?
You tell me denny
So far so good. I used it in a festbier that turned out great and it’s working on an amber lager now.
I can’t remember a time when I used two strains in one batch unless I panicked when I was a newbie and thought the first yeast was slow so I pitched something else. If that was the case, it would have been so long ago that I wouldn’t know the difference anyway. So when you pitch two strains at once (say, a packet of S-189 and a packet of Diamond), does one yeast take over and you only get THAT character or do both strains work harmoniously and you get character from both strains?
The most consistent thing I have heard is that one strain will become dominant over successive generations. I haven’t gone further than 2 generations. I’m just a fool though.