S-33 NEIPA

[LeeH]

Fermentis state this is ideal for NEIPAs but it doesn’t seem to be widely used. Anybody in here use it?

 

[Hoddy]

If you want to make a hazy Belgian esq IPA i guess it would work. And there are some commercial examples out there that do.

 

[Drunkula]

I've used it lots - and so will loads of people on here. It's the silver packet that comes with most standard beer kits that Muntons make, like Geordie, Tom Caxton, etc.

It makes a pretty good wheat. I've used it a few times in my wheat beers and I like it, but I'm pretty rubbish so can't say what it brings.

I've got a dark beer to highlight Special X on with it at the moment that stalled at 1.020 but I didn't temperature control it and I've had to kickstart that with some yeast from the beer I made before it. I'm not saying it's unreliable because the packets I'm using are ancient but have been kept in the freezer for 3 years.

Because I've used it mostly in the kits it came with I can't really say much about it as a lot of them were so samey.

Here's a list of recipes I copied out from Castle maltings. They're quite varied.
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=21
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=87
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=91
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=89
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=196
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=108
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=248
https://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingBeerRecipes.asp?Command=RecipeViewHtml&RecipeID=249

 

[LeeH]

If you want to make a hazy Belgian esq IPA i guess it would work. And there are some commercial examples out there that do.

This is where my confusion lies, NEIPA should not have that Belgian twang.

 

[Drunkula]

NEIPA should not have that Belgian twang.

And you sure as hell won't get one from S-33. It's about as Belgian as my wok.

Quotes:

• I've used it a couple times and it sucks. It is nothing like a trappist yeast.
• IMO? S-33 sucks. Bland, bready, blah. You can quote me on that.
  
• I used S-33 in an old ale. In turned out pretty well. I didn't want a high attenuating yeast. It cleared adequately. It was a little estery but I'd never use it for a Belgian.
• Tried this yeast twice. Bad results both times.
  
• IMO, S-33 is the single worst yeast available to home brewers, bar none. --- S-33 is a notorious underattenuation that somehow also doesn't clear well. It leaves malt and hops dull. Worst of all, it's somehow marketed by some as a Belgian yeast but it's not Belgian at all.
  
• I have tried this yeast on a few occasions. Here's my experience. It sucks. It's not Belgian. It's a bad yeast barely fit for bread making. It flocculates poorly, attenuates worse. It just stops fermenting somewhere around 1.030 for no reason.
  
• I won't use this yeast again. I used it for a milk stout and it stopped at 1.036. I had to pitch a starter of some ESB yeast I had in the fridge to finish it. :/
  
• ...took off like a rocket and stopped 2.5 days later at 1.030 and never dropped again in the next ten days. Probably won't use it again.

I wrote the other day that the beer I just did with s-33 was my first stuck ferment in over 2 years. In a few searches I found people saying sometimes it stops for weeks then finally starts again to finish. After three weeks I just put some other yeast in there and it's finished now.

So even though I've used it in wheats that I and others really like, there's no way I go out and buy it. I'll use up the 12 or so packs I've got left but that'll be it.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

And you sure as hell won't get one from S-33. It's about as Belgian as my wok.

Heh. S-33 is a close relative of Windsor and Muntons, and is presumably like them derived from the old EDME homebrew yeast.

They are also fairly closely related to T-58 (but not phenolic like T-58) which is interesting as T-58 is active in biotransformation - it turns the grapefruit of Chinook into something more limey. So they could be active like that.

I've not used S-33 but I have used Windsor - it drops quickly but doesn't flocculate, so you can get a sparkling clear beer out of it if you pour it really carefully, but if you're not careful it "puffs up" really easily.

If you're bothered by the attenuation and flocculation then just add a bit of Nottingham after 48 hours.