Switching from dry yeast to liquid yeast

[trueblue]

How many generations do you let your strains run to?

Never really counted. Using the same strains you tend to get to know how they behave so if I feel a strain is lagging I ditch it. Not replaced the last 2 I ditched as I am starting to think keeping just 3 going means I am using them when they are a bit fresher.

 

[Tommo 2]

I quite like Belgian Blonde ale but have never brewed one because I understand that this style requires liquid yeast to contribute to flavour. Is that correct or could I use dry yeast for this style?

Trouble is most brewers using dry yeast just want to bung it in , give it a stir and bobs your uncle, try giving it some care and rehydrate it first done correctly it will serve you well and never let you.down, have used dry yeast now for longer than I care to remember and the choice of dry yeast is now amazing to what it used to be , just needs a little care and attention just need to learn how to rehydrate properly and not to expect the same results as chucking it in , storing and hoping

 

[Tommo 2]

Trouble is most brewers using dry yeast just want to bung it in , give it a stir and bobs your uncle, try giving it some care and rehydrate it first done correctly it will serve you well and never let you.down, have used dry yeast now for longer than I care to remember and the choice of dry yeast is now amazing to what it used to be , just needs a little care and attention just need to learn how to rehydrate properly and not to expect the same results as chucking it in , storing and hoping

Stiring even

 

[Northern_Brewer]

How many generations do you let your strains run to?

Somewhere between 8-10 is pretty typical for single strains from the US homebrew labs, but over 5000 if you're a British family brewer.

 

[Keruso]

For a few years, I have used dry yeast for my beers brews, but I’m now considering switching to liquid yeast. I only do American IPA, English 1PA, English Bitters, and some clones, so I’m wondering if switching to liquid yeast will make any real difference for those styles. I only do 11.5L batches so I’m wondering if I can just pour the liquid yeast directly into the fermenting bin without creating a starter.

I mainly make Double IPA's, APA's and the occasional English Ale, I switched to liquid and then back to dry. The reason I went back to dry is due to no real improvement in taste with the exception of English ales where the liquid choice is far more and genuinely tasted better. With Double IPA's OG 1.065+ you need to make a 3 litre yeast starter which is massive ball ache and you need to start day's in advance of brew day. Just can't be bothered with it anymore, if I was going to make something a bit different that requires a certain liquid strain then I would use liquid but just don't think it's worth the hassle.

 

[Keruso]

I quite like Belgian Blonde ale but have never brewed one because I understand that this style requires liquid yeast to contribute to flavour. Is that correct or could I use dry yeast for this style?

You can get Belgian golden ale dry yeast and it does add flavour.

 

[Cptn_Needa]

Somewhere between 8-10 is pretty typical for single strains from the US homebrew labs, but over 5000 if you're a British family brewer.

How do you store them?
Is it just in a jar with some sort in the fridge?

 

[BridgeBrew]

I only use dry yeast, and always rehydrate before pitching. Some great dry yeast available these days, a good one is the CML California common. Great for your style of beer, and well priced.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I rehydrated dry yeast made no difference so just sprinkle on the surface now starts fermentation within 12-24 hours.

 

[Irishwizard]

If you re-hydrate it you would have liquid yeast - I dont have an O level in Chemistry for nothing

 

[dad_of_jon]

You might want a look at this - saisons are so dependent on yeast for their character, it's worth taking your time to get something more interesting than Belle :

https://www.maltosefalcons.com/blogs/brewing-techniques-tips/a-guide-to-saisons-and-saison-yeasts


You could try WB-06, which contrary to the marketing is not a wheat beer yeast but closely related to strains alleged to come from Duvel. But I wouldn't use it for anything other than something along the lines of Duvel.

The yeast tolerance for alcohol in the wheat beer dry yeasts top out at 8% - so unless it's the stress at the top end of fermenting that gives that Duval character i'd suggest it's not used for Belgian strong ales. Having said all that if you have a lot of candi sugar to munch in the recipe it might just do it. - I did get 8% from a wheat beer yeast BUT there was no puff left in it to carb up fully.

 

[Tommo 2]

If you re-hydrate it you would have liquid yeast - I dont have an O level in Chemistry for nothing

Ain’t education a wonderful thing

 

[Tommo 2]

I only use dry yeast, and always rehydrate before pitching. Some great dry yeast available these days, a good one is the CML California common. Great for your style of beer, and well priced.

 

[BridgeBrew]

Yeah rehydrate, and you've got liquid yeast. And a lot cheaper. I've had brews start within 4 hours of going in the fermenting fridge...

 

[DavidDetroit]

Can't say enough about MJ M-41. Fast, fast, fast and great tolerance.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The yeast tolerance for alcohol in the wheat beer dry yeasts top out at 8% - so unless it's the stress at the top end of fermenting that gives that Duval character i'd suggest it's not used for Belgian strong ales. Having said all that if you have a lot of candi sugar to munch in the recipe it might just do it. - I did get 8% from a wheat beer yeast BUT there was no puff left in it to carb up fully.

What "wheat beer yeast" though? As I say - WB-06 is nothing like a true hefe yeast, and Fermentis claim it goes up to 11%, and I've seen people claim it can go higher.

 

[clib]

I choose yeasts for recipes based on whether I like the yeast rather than whether it's wet or dry. I agree that some styles benefit more from choosing liquid than other styles. For me that's saisons and pale English beers. Although Verdant competes with liquid options for English ales. Cost is not a factor as i will get several uses from a single liquid pack.

All that said, I'm increasingly happy with the dry options though, and using them more than liquid. I can make good enough beer with the styles I like to brew with dry yeasts, and I've started blending them with good results. I occasionally get a liquid pack, or culture a liquid strain up from a bottle sent to me. I've really enjoyed beers made with WLP644 and Wyeasts 3711 and 1469.

But I find Verdant and Notty/Muntons Gold cover English and American styles pretty well, and M44 for some beers too. I also have S-33 for blending purposes only. For Belgians I use M31, M41, Abbaye, Belle Saison. T-58 I use for blending, never by itself now. Notty and Belle Saison is a blend I like. M44 or Notty with T-58. Notty/S-33.

 

[Sadfield]

I choose yeasts for recipes based on whether I like the yeast rather than whether it's wet or dry. I agree that some styles benefit more from choosing liquid than other styles. For me that's saisons and pale English beers. Although Verdant competes with liquid options for English ales. Cost is not a factor as i will get several uses from a single liquid pack.

All that said, I'm increasingly happy with the dry options though, and using them more than liquid. I can make good enough beer with the styles I like to brew with dry yeasts, and I've started blending them with good results. I occasionally get a liquid pack, or culture a liquid strain up from a bottle sent to me. I've really enjoyed beers made with WLP644 and Wyeasts 3711 and 1469.

But I find Verdant and Notty/Muntons Gold cover English and American styles pretty well, and M44 for some beers too. I also have S-33 for blending purposes only. For Belgians I use M31, M41, Abbaye, Belle Saison. T-58 I use for blending, never by itself now. Notty and Belle Saison is a blend I like. M44 or Notty with T-58. Notty/S-33.

Pretty much where I'm at, although using BE-134 works as a dry Saison yeast for me. Currently experimenting with a house blend of Liberty Bell, Windsor and Safale Abbaye BE-256 in a shallow open Fv for anything British. Plus Kveik, cropped and dried myself, and all types of mix fermentation and 'wild' yeast, including wrangled yeast.

 

[clib]

Pretty much where I'm at, although using BE-134 works as a dry Saison yeast for me. Currently experimenting with a house blend of Liberty Bell, Windsor and Safale Abbaye BE-256 in a shallow open Fv for anything British. Plus Kveik, cropped and dried myself, and all types of mix fermentation and 'wild' yeast, including wrangled yeast.

I've not used BE-134 yet, it's on the list.

I suspect Liberty Bell is already a blend, possibly Notty and Windsor. I am finding that blending dry yeasts is an interesting and rewarding process. Lallemand have revealed that Notty, Windsor and London all came from a multistrain that contained 4 strains. They used to sell the other strain as well. Not sure what it was, possibly their Manchester strain. So combining dry strains makes sense, you can get different and maybe better results. In a simple sense, using Notty and Windsor or S-33 means you get the attenuation and flocculation of Notty, and the esters from Windsor/S-33, which are very similar to each other.

I've kveik 2 or 3 times and haven't been lured in by the results. I'm not using wild/mixed fermentations, I find that fascinating but it's too deep a rabbit hole for me ,and I only drink those beers occasionally, in bars usually.

I will continue to treat myself to liquid yeasts from time to time. 1469 next probably, I like making English bitters with it. I made several beers with 3711 this year, very enjoyable. The previous year i had a run of WLP644 beers, which were fabulous. It is brilliant in a pale hoppy beer, but it's quite versatile i have found, and it's a very resilient strain, can easily be reused over quite a long period of time. I made belgian pales with it too - I believe it is the primary strain used by Drie Fonteinen, before they chuck the wild stuff in. I suspect you could make english styles with it too, and not be very far out of style. Maybe.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

When you blend 2 yeasts do you then pitch 22g or 11g?