What is S-04?

I was wondering, since I had thought S-04 was the same strain as 1099, but noticed a different effect on the beers produced… is it 1098? And are 1098 and 007 the same strain? Mr. Malty says they are, but I have heard such different things about these strains.

Which Liquid Strain is Closest to Matching S-04?
  • Wyeast 1099 Whitbread
  • Wyeast 1098 British Ale
  • WLP007 Dry English Ale
  • Fleishmann’s
0 voters

I have never heard that before,but 1098 use to be my #1 English yeast, but recently switched over to 007. Next beer I brew with 007 I will have to keep this in mind :smiley:

To my tastes it is most similar to WLP007 - IMO it is a little one dimensional compared to WLP007 and WLP002 - lacking some sort of background - I’m not sure how to explain it. Not that it is bad, just WLP007/002 makes English beers that taste more authentic. Anyone else feel this way or am I alone in the woods here?

Nope

It makes a good beer but there is something missing, hard to put a finger (tastebud) on, might be the lack of fruit-ish esters?
I agree, hard to pin down what its missing.

I made a lot of bitters with that yeast and they were all very nice beers but Wyeast 1469 is my new house yeast for bitters, that stuff RULES

I tend to agree with you a lot, but on this I must disagree here. 1469 is too hard of a yeast for me to work with, so it is number 1 on my poop list as of this fall

Tell me about your issues with it.

I LOVE this yeast

Heck I dig that strain so much, I’ve sent Wyeast emails begging them to make this a year round release.  If anyone has a sympathetic ear over there, (hint mr. fav 50) tell them to that yeast back out to the people.

S-04 OTOH, seems to match up w/ 1099 from the specs.

I have had a hard time getting it to finish in the mid 60s,and once I ramped it up to get it to finish it threw off some harsh burnt plastic-ey aromas and flavors. I hat to think the yeast was autolyising with the krausen still floating on top

Strange, where is it stalling out on you?
What temps are you mashing at, the Brits mash pretty low on bitters. I’m around 150