Yeast Questions

[rotten]

Gday guys.
Since joining this forum not even 6 months ago, my home brew knowledge, techniques, & especially ingredients have improved dramatically. No longer kit of goop and kilo of sugar. The end product & enjoyment I get from the whole process is nothing less than inspiring. You guys (and gals) are a very big part of that.

One thing that hasn't really progressed though is my use of yeast. I do re-use, make starters etc but thats about it. Yeast of choice mainly has been US-05 and 4 brews of S-23 when it was too cold here. US-05 is a great yeast but I'm getting bored. Starting to notice some similarities through all of my brews even though most are completeky different.

So, could anyone suggest some yeasts to try? I'm mainly brewing high OG Pale Ales, Imperial, American and Australian. Can't get enough American hops, or combining them with euro style hops. I would like to do English Ales or Pilsener type lighter bodied beers for summer as well.

Haven't tried liquid yeasts but would like too, now I know how to make them cost effective I guess.

Any feedback greatfully received.
Cheers.

P.S. One more question, should my High OG beers using a high OG yeastcake, be increasing in temp while fermenting by 3-4c?

[timmy]

Hey Rotten,

Liquid yeasts are definitely an improvement IMO, although US05 is pretty decent. Check out the Wyeast/White Labs catalogues for something that takes your fancy in the American or English Ale area. Most of the Wyeast strains have information on what they are 'similar' to (remember the micro's use this stuff too). They are more cost effective, and by building up yeast population from doing starters you can get enough to ferment a big OG beer. Go and get yourself a couple of smack packs and read up about creating starters and you'll be on your way...

Cheers,

Tim

[Bum]

Gday guys.
So, could anyone suggest some yeasts to try? I'm mainly brewing high OG Pale Ales, Imperial, American...Can't get enough American hops

For these beers I cannot recommend Wyeast 1272 highly enough. Try it with any fruity American recipe you've made and loved before to see the difference. It really does seem to elevate the late hopping to a ridiculous degree.

As for cost effective - there's plenty of threads about that already. This is pretty much the same between all yeasts.

[hirns]

Rotten in order for others to give you additional advice on yeast please let us know what temp control you have, if any and what are your average temps for your part of SA. You've given us a snippet when you stated that you used lager yeast when things got too cold. Pilsener is made with a lager yeast so it may be too late for that at the moment. English ales as the name suggests tend to use an ale yeast which can be fermented at the higher temps, generally 16 degrees plus. I'm currently drinking one of Dr. Smurto's Timothy Taylor's Landlord.

I've recently made a few Kolsch style beers and have been very impressed with this yeast on the whole (low flocculation but I have a filter). Kolsch yeast ferments very clean like a lager but at warmer temps. Such yeast can often be used to make a pseudo lager. Having said that a psuedo lager can be made with US 05 if you can hold it at around 16C and make sure that it doesn't go to sleep. Wyeast 2112 - California Lager is also another psuedo style larger and is similar to US-05.

To save money on $11.50 liquid yeast then you don't need to do anything different to get better bang for your buck. You stated that you already reuse yeast and make starters(later you may go to cultures and slants, I'm yet to do so, and it's not worthwhile for me yet.

My recent brews have been Landlord yeast split into two, one refigerated and the other into the allgrain Landlord. I top cropped some of this yeast and it is in a grolsch bottle in the fridge too. Once kegged I put another AG Landlord onto that yeastcake which is has about a week to go. Today I bought a can of the new Cooper's International English Bitter and I'm going to put it onto the yeast cake for its third use if it all smells fine, if not I'll make a starter from one of the two bottles in the fridge.

In my second fermentor(60L) I have two cans of Coopers International Traditional Europeon Lager going with Kolsch II yeast. I've reverted to a few kits because of time constraints and the fact that the kits give me a better yardstick with which to compare the yeasts. My experimentation began after putting a Cooper's Pale Ale can onto Kolsch yeast from an all grain batch, The kit with this yeast was better than my all grain Kolsch, but both were very nice. When visiting tonight I was given a corona, the first I've had in a while. It's not normally my thing, but I've a mate that brews Coopers Mexican Cerveza so I've decided I'm gonna buy a can to through onto the Kolsch II yeast cake when it's done with the Europeon lager. Iwill also top crop some of the Kolsch II yeast this weekend.

I've written more than enough, you work out the maths from the $11.50 for each smack pack.

Cheers

Hirns

[rotten]

Alright, will try not to forget anything.
normal temps i can achieve are 16-18c for most of the year IF i keep my wits about me in summer, there is however about a month where temps of my brews dropped to 10-14c. Beleive it or not US-05 worked just as good as S-23 at those temps, and tasted better.

Kolsch II yeast

What brand is this hirns?
I don't need to move to cultures or slants yet, I'm not scientific enough. It's not all about the cost, but it does add up and re-using just makes sense to me. Have done 8 brews with 1 pack and I'm sure I can improve that.

rotten wrote:
Gday guys.
So, could anyone suggest some yeasts to try? I'm mainly brewing high OG Pale Ales, Imperial, American...Can't get enough American hops

For these beers I cannot recommend Wyeast 1272 highly enough. Try it with any fruity American recipe you've made and loved before to see the difference. It really does seem to elevate the late hopping to a ridiculous degree.

Noticed you left out Australain Pale Ale Bum, I know it's not High OG.. Will definately try that yeast, I know you love your AIPA's.

Liquid yeasts are definitely an improvement IMO, although US05 is pretty decent

I agree US-05 is good, if not great. Just ready to try something different.
Cheers guys.

[Bum]

Noticed you left out Australain Pale Ale Bum

Only because I don't think it is the best yeast for the job - not a comment on the style in any way. While I must admit to not brewing in the style I reckon you'd have to search for and wide to find better than some recultured CPA yeast for that one.

[hirns]

Rotten, I use Wyeast mainly but most strains have an equivilant in other brands. White labs and Proculture are other brands.

Cheers
Hirns