Do you find it worth using lager yeast

[chthon]

I have tried Mangrove Jack's M76 Bavarian Lager and M84 Bohemian Lager for bock beer, and I was satisfied with them. However, I only brew 8 litre, so I have enough with 1 sachet. Even then, I hydrate it and then put it in the room where the fermentation will occur, place my cooled wort there too, and then add the yeast the following morning so that I am sure they have the same temperature.

 

[MyQul]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. My issue with dried yeast was when I last looked into it I needed 2 packs for a batch and they seemed to cost £3.50 a pack so it wasn't any cheaper than liquid, less hassle though. Don't think CML has lager yeasts at that point.

I did some sums last night an even using the Scottish Ale yeast I'd need a pretty big starter to help with the low temps so the big flask is probably a sound investment regardless, then I can experiment with other strains. I should probably plan brews to run off the same yeast in a row, since I swap about a lot I have to grow up the strains every 6 months to keep them going.

You can actually make a starter with dry yeast. Some people say your not supposed to, but I dont understand why. As a starter is just an extract mini beer. So if you use a calc like mr malty you can put a couple of g in a couple of L of starter and grow enough yeast for a lager. I've done this a few times (mainly because I'm cheap as I can get like 10 batches out of 1 pack of yeast if I want)

 

[jceg316]

Sounds like a fun experiment, crispness is something that's lacking in my Maibock. Never had a commercial one so don't know if they're meant to be crisp but I think that would make mine a lot nicer.

I made a Helles last year and it was alright, used WY 2124 with a fast lager fermentation, the last couple of bottles were much nicer so maybe if I'd lagered the batch for a month I'd have enjoyed it better. Was going to try another pseudo-helles with golden promise and the scottish ale yeast.

The commercial maibocks I've had weren't really crisp like a pale lager, but were still malty and had a bit of a fruity flavour.

I tried to make a Czech pils with WY2124 and whilst nice, felt it lacked body and dimension compared to the same beer made with W-34/70 (I read somewhere this is the dried version of 2124). I made a vienna lager with 2124, fermented at 18C and it was great! I think I made another steam style beer and it came out well with this yeast.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

You can actually make a starter with dry yeast. Some people say your not supposed to, but I dont understand why.

It's not that "you're not supposed to", you can but it just negates one of the big advantages of dry yeast, that you can use them without much aeration.

The main reason yeast need oxygen is to make sterols, which they need to reproduce. The way dry yeast are grown, they are stuffed full of enough sterols for 2-3 cell divisions, so they don't need oxygen in the same way as liquid yeast. Putting dry yeast in a starter means they use up their sterols so are in a similar starting position as liquid yeast - which is fine if you can aerate the wort sufficiently.

As an aside - there's a German on the HBT warm-fermented yeast thread who swears by Californian lager yeast such as Mangrove Jack M54, which is like a slightly better floccing version of 34/70.

 

[MyQul]

It's not that "you're not supposed to", you can but it just negates one of the big advantages of dry yeast, that you can use them without much aeration.

The main reason yeast need oxygen is to make sterols, which they need to reproduce. The way dry yeast are grown, they are stuffed full of enough sterols for 2-3 cell divisions, so they don't need oxygen in the same way as liquid yeast. Putting dry yeast in a starter means they use up their sterols so are in a similar starting position as liquid yeast - which is fine if you can aerate the wort sufficiently.

As an aside - there's a German on the HBT warm-fermented yeast thread who swears by Californian lager yeast such as Mangrove Jack M54, which is like a slightly better floccing version of 34/70.

Ah, I see. It never did make much sense to me when I read that, 'your supposed to make a starter with dry yeast' Just one of those internet brewing myths then.